By Janis Herzig & London Nielsen, Program Ambassadors

If you are a PepsiCo associate based in Purchase, you may have found yourself rushing off to a meeting with a million things on your mind when you spot an adorable Guiding Eyes puppy.  Suddenly you feel a smile start to spread across your face and get a spring in your step!  Despite the fact that you’re running a bit late, you stop to quickly pet the puppy and go about your day feeling a little less stress and inspired by the a spirit of volunteerism and community service in the office.

Most people located in Purchase are aware that PepsiCo has a volunteer program with Guiding Eyes for the Blind.  Guiding Eyes is an extraordinary non-profit organization which breeds approximately 450-500 puppies a year with a hope that they will eventually become service dogs that help grant freedom and independence to the blind or children with autism. By providing these superbly bred guide dogs, training and support services, Guiding Eyes enriches the lives of visually impaired men and women by providing them with more freedom to travel easily and assure greater independence, dignity and new opportunities.

Today, the PepsiCo Guiding Eyes Volunteers are very excited about the announcement that the PepsiCo Foundation (http://bit.ly/JjcVar) has made a commitment of $3 million to Guiding Eyes for the Blind! The donation will go toward the renovation and expansion of the Canine Development Center in Patterson, N.Y., which will bear the name of the PepsiCo Foundation. Like most of the 150 PepsiCo associates who actively volunteer for Guiding Eyes, we first got involved because we each spotted adorable puppies in the office!  However, after hearing so many moving and inspiring stories of how these incredible dogs have changed real people’s lives, our volunteers have become committed to Guiding Eyes’ mission.

Thank you to the volunteers who have taken the initiative to build this program. We hope that the next time you see a puppy in the office you’ll come over to say hi, now knowing what important work these puppies will grow up to do.

1. Technology Tech startups from across the world go to SXSW to launch their company, application or service, and as an attendee we get to be the first to experience them, which is very exciting. The best place to absorb all of this knowledge was the Trade Show, Startup Village, and of course PepsiCo Central! At the Trade Show, apps were the big thing. All startups would encourage you to download their new app right then and there, to the point where they would incent you with gift cards and giveaways. And if you don’t have an iPhone, it’s your loss it seems almost every app is initially built for the iPhone. The apps ranged from basic music platforms to things like an interactive social media game where you “check-in” your “hitchhiker” in hopes he gets to travel around the world. Being mobile and constantly on-the-go seems to be the latest trend for technology.

“Homeless Hotspots” was a huge topic of conversation and debate in SXSW. The intent is that when you log onto this individual’s “hot spot” Internet, you give a small donation. From what I understand, all monetary gifts go directly to that individual and the wi-fi Internet cost is provided free of charge by SXSW. Before leaving Austin, I already started to hear the rumblings of possible conflicts of interest, so we’ll see how far this idea makes it. At PepsiCo Central, we featured the high-tech interactive vending machine pictured below. Unlike other vending machines, you have the option to “gift” a Pepsi! Simply pay for the drink, enter the phone number of your recipient, and type or record a message. The graphics were amazing and instructions were very user friendly. People were lining up for the chance to try this new innovation. It was a big hit among conference attendees as well as PepsiCo employees who had yet to engage with the system.

2. Social Media During our PepsiCo fireside chats we had the chance to hear from two of the most influential men in the industry – Alexis Ohanian and Gary Vaynerchuk. They both talked about many interesting things, but one item really surprised me. While I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about Social Media (ie Facebook, Twitter, etc) I had no idea how big Pinterest was! From what Alexis & Gary suggested, Pinterest is not only the next big social media idea, it’s also 90% female based and will eventually outgrow Facebook entirely!  Assuming their predictions are correct…..is this a blue ocean our brands can take advantage of? Perhaps this is a new opportunity to engage with the female consumer. Maybe even an option for the PepsiCo Puppy Partnership ?!

3. Philanthropy Biz Stone, best known for being the Co-Founder of Twitter was also named “One of the Most Influential People in the World” by TIME magazine, spoke on his work with “The Obvious Corporation”. This newly created business focuses on driving the agenda for philanthropic causes and “improving the world” through social media. Very passionate in his work, Biz explained why his theory of “helping others, helps yourself” exists in both corporations as well as your personal life. At the end of the panel, Biz announced that he will be partnering with AOL & The Huffington Post as a Strategic Advisor for Social Impact. Together they will rally companies to think about new ways of doing business, sharing best practices, and striving for positive impact in both the global and local markets. As I thought back to how closely this resonates with Performance with Purpose, he introduced the first six CEO’s he’ll be interviewing. First up – Our very own Indra Nooyi!

And last but not least…I got to meet some great people at SXSW:

London Nielsen & Jennifer Andert (PEP – Chicago) at the Pepsi Turntable Event

(5) Conn3ct Members (1) PEP Ambassador – I’m outnumbered!

London Nielsen & Trent Warren (BIS – Plano, TX)

At the Nokia Lab London w/Mike Shanahan (PCNAB – Purchase) & Jennifer Andert (PCNAB – Chicago)

London & Amy Mixa (PCNAB – Purchase) at the Brisk Bodega Event (I already know her but we had a great time anyway!) Altogether SXSW was a great experience and I can’t wait to go back next year!

• Check out Dan Bena’s blog, Rethinking Water and Business, where he discusses his “careful celebration” in regards to the recent announcement by the United Nations that the Millennium Development Goal for access to clean water has been reached, ahead of the target date of 2015. Dan also talks about PepsiCo’s belief that water stewardship is an important part of our core business.

• Our partners at the Earth Institute just did some great infographics that highlight our work together and show:

• The Story of Water in Ceará, Brazil
• The Story of Water in India
• The Earth Institute also just released a video with PepsiCo Foundation support, Deeper than Water that can’t be missed.

• We are proud to work with a great group of partners through our business and our philanthropic arm, the PepsiCo Foundation including The Nature Conservancy, Water.org, Safe Water Network and the Earth Institute.

• We are also delighted to have recently won several awards for our water activities:

• 2012 U.S. Water Prize, given by the Clean Water America Alliance, for our corporate-wide stewardship on water and energy conservation
• Gold Green Apple Award, sponsored by the Green Organization, for our PepsiCo South America, Caribbean and Central America team’s project, “Water: we love it and we care for it.”

For more information about the importance of water to PepsiCo please see our website and let us know what you are doing to recognize World Water Day!

PepsiCo is North America’s largest food and beverage business and we measure our success across all categories. That said, it’s pretty cool for PepsiCo to have three of the industry’s top five LRB (Liquid Refreshment Beverage) trademarks (Pepsi, Dew and Gatorade) – and four of the top 10 with Aquafina.

In fact, earlier this year we announced there were three new members added to our Billion Dollar Brands club: Diet Mtn Dew, Lipton Brisk and Starbucks’ Ready To Drink beverages. We were really excited to share that news because it gave us the opportunity to talk about the world-class marketing talent inside PepsiCo and our ability to build global brands.

That brand-building capability is why we have some of the best trademarks in the world. In fact, we’d put PepsiCo’s trademarks up against anybody’s. Where and when consumers are free to choose, we really like our chances. In C&G (Convenience and Gas), the ultimate “freedom of choice” channel, we have three of the top four LRBs (Dew, Pepsi and Gatorade) and a wide CSD (Carbonated Soft Drinks) share lead in total – in fact, 20 oz. Mountain Dew is the single bestselling SKU in C&G.

With a legacy of some great successes, and some exciting plans on the horizon, PepsiCo’s total beverage system is charged up to win.

That’s how Reid Hoffman kicked off the “Start Up of You” seminar. The panel focused on how to think about your career strategy in the 20th century. I thought it would be a good time to streamline the focus on my career path at PepsiCo. And it was….

Wait…that’s not exactly true. I was pretty sure I’d trip over countless twenty-somethings sitting on the floor, recharging their devices at every available electrical outlet.  I also figured I’d collide on the sidewalks with thousands more, staring down at their smartphones with blithe disregard for where their feet might take them. (For the record, I was 2-for-2 on these predictions.)

After attending my first couple of panels on day one my head was spinning, but I felt like I was beginning to understand the reasons behind all the buzz.  Several PepsiCo associates and agency partners hit the town for dinner that evening, and I was eager to share my enthusiasm for the day’s experiences.  After a few Shiner Bocks, the laughter among my millennial colleagues ensued:

“Did anyone read in Fast Company how Instagram thought they could utilize the new Twitter API to gamify the use of their photo filters?” Zach mused.

“Seriously?” Kaitlyn smiled.  “That sounds about as likely as my grandmother’s Klout score reaching 100!”

Everyone laughed, so I nervously giggled along with them (or maybe a beat or two behind).

I was no longer so eager to share the details of my day.

Undaunted and determined to conceal my digital naivety (whoops – too late), I voraciously researched every iPhone app that seemed even remotely important to the SXSW attendees.  If a location-based tool was mentioned in the official guide or by a panelist, I installed it.  If I heard someone on the street or in a cab talk about an experience with an aggregator unfamiliar to me, I bookmarked it within minutes.

Reddit?  Pin it?  Digg it?  Done!

I registered for each app fearlessly, tossing aside any notions of privacy I’d developed in the past 41 years.  I found myself gleefully checking-in to new locations on Foursquare and Facebook every 10 or 15 feet, consuming snackable content on Mashable while stumbling upon anything and everything the Austin Convention Center served up.

Like the moment of epiphany for an immigrant in a strange new land – after immersing himself in a completely foreign language and culture – the garbled words and acronyms suddenly started to register in my brain as hauntingly familiar.  Soon sentences – even entire conversations – started to make sense.

I attacked each successive panel with fervor, absorbing more and more of the content as my listening efficiency increased.  Soon I was expressing my excitement for the next presentation with complete strangers in line, and passionately discussing what I’d learned each day with my colleagues.  Surprisingly, they actually seemed interested in what I had to say!

By the last day of the interactive sessions, I was confidently raising my hand during the Q&A’s, eager to build upon my new understanding of this mysterious digital world.  A couple of the panelists were kind enough to give me the ultimate Newbie reward:  prefacing their answers with, “That’s a great question…”

As I sit here in the airport awaiting my flight home – thinking back on my week at SXSW – I chuckle quietly to myself:

You know what, Kaitlyn, that joke is funny…

(I think.)

See you next year.

At the “Tech + the Evolution of the In-Store Experience” panel, a few key trends were discussed:

Interactive Video Screens

Now that huge touch screen displays are both reliable and affordable, experts expect them to take over retail lobby displays and entrance points in innovative ways. For larger stores, they can display maps and deals in a dynamic way. For smaller stores, they can help personalize the experience, allowing for more one-on-one interaction. All Saints was cited as a best practice–by placing iPads all over, they transform their stores into showrooms. You can touch and feel the clothing and then turn to the iPad screens to order from their full collection or see how the looks come together.

At PepsiCo Central in the Convention Center, we’re displaying the new Pepsi Smart Cooler with engaging animated video playing on the cooler door. Interactive screens may go beyond displays and maps in stores and be integrated into the very shelves we choose our products from.

Tablets and Mobile

Whereas video screens make more sense for “broadcast,” tablets and mobile devices can allow for more personal/individual experiences. Retailers (and brand) should seek “edutainment” experiences on mobile–inform shoppers about the products, but make it fun and entertaining.

There was debate among the panelists as to how to effectively drive shoppers to the appropriate content on their mobiles. QR codes can work–at Best Buy, a QR code on every item helps tech savvy shoppers see online reviews and more–but with only 35% of consumers owning smart phones, retailers and brands are ignoring 65% of the populace if they aren’t using mobile web or SMS. Mobile apps are another option–but it can be difficult to educate consumers to get them to download the apps.

In-Store Augmented Reality

Currently, augmented reality experiences tend to be restricted to the home–for example, Doritos bags unlocking an exclusive Rihanna music video. A few years down the road, experts predict augmented reality will take the in-store experience by storm, and already there are some strong examples. At the Lego store, consumer can hold up boxes to an augmented reality screen, and they can see the product built out right in front of them.

Airwalk shoes took augmented reality to the next level–creating an entire pop up store in geogated areas, using only mobile phones and word of mouth. With this technology, there were essentially able to “create” retail experiences out of nothing.

RFID/NFC

Panelists have seen a shift from RFID to NFC technology, although they admit that RFID never lived up to the hype it received over the past decade. While RFID marketing has rarely gone beyond trade press “stunts” and tends to center around bringing on-site experiences to individual Facebook profiles, NFC activations have been in the mobile space, allowing consumers to pay with their mobile phones. Panelists believe it could be the technology that finally goes mainstream, living up to the promise RFID showed years ago.

Loyalty

NFC and RFID could also help drive new mobile loyalty programs, which was discussed in detail at the Alternate Channels of Digital Distribution panel. Loyalty programs have moved from the physical (punch cards) to online to mobile. NFC and RFID based mobile loyalty programs could help retailers and brands reward their most loyal customers on an individual level.

If Verne could somehow attend SXSW (maybe in H.G. Wells’ time machine?), he’d be proud. Everyone here – presenters, panelists and attendees alike – is inspired to take a look over the horizon – to imagine what the future will look like for our lives, products, services and businesses.

Interestingly, here in Austin, I’ve seen three distinct approaches to predicting the future. The first is probably the most familiar to us all: analyzing the massive amounts of data available, discovering trends and plotting them into the near future. Incredibly valuable (of course), but it’s incomplete without looking at the trends outside our normal sphere of influence that may impact the results of our data modeling.

The second approach addresses this potential shortcoming, and adds another layer to the first: Advancements in our current understanding of climate change, energy technology, mobile ubiquity, genetic sequencing – whatever it may be – can have various degrees of impact on the future of our (or anyone’s) business. Failure to consider these developments when planning ahead can leave us behind, choking on the dust of the competition who does.

The third approach – and by far the most stimulating – is inspired less by prediction than by imagination and vision. It’s a space in which Verne and so many others since have experimented playfully, but this club is by no means exclusive. This model relies simply on faith in the triumph of the human spirit – that many of us want our lives to be better and are willing to do what it takes to improve our own existence, and often – as a result – those of the people around us.

Think about it. We will cure cancer. We will rid the world of hunger. We will invent robots that will perform much of the menial, repetitive tasks we humans so despise. We don’t know how or when, but we will.

And when these dreams become reality, how will life and our experiences change? What I’ve learned at SXSW is that we don’t all need to be a Verne or Asimov to apply this style of thinking toward answering questions about how these improvements will impact our lives and businesses.

Simply ask yourself: What is it about my current experience (life or work) that bothers me? What can be improved? Even if you’re not the one who fixes the problem, someone else will. We’re all human (except for those crazy robots), so it’s inevitable that there are others who share in your pain and your vision of a better future.

The world is constantly changing – some say now faster than ever – so our collective challenge is to figure out where this train of change is carrying us, and to already be there when it arrives.

As part of PepsiCo’s efforts to be a digitally savvy company throughout the ranks, locations and functions, I have the opportunity to experience 3 days of seminars, small group chats and creative, cutting edge booths where big and small companies share with digital influencers what they have to offer and also tap into the collective skills and ideas of the attendees to craft the next big technology that people will appreciate to enhance their lives.

Here are the top 5 highlights of my first day at SXSWi:

• “100% of people are local”: At the seminar, “Your Marketing Sucks: Why you need to think local” Mike and Tiffany from Local Reach helped organizations of all sizes ensure that they are serving their local customers and building a relationship with them. Key to do: Ensure that your business’s mobile app prominently displays the local location’s name and phone number because “88% of people who look for local information on a smartphone take action within a day.”

• Increase your odds of being awesome by doing a lot of good things and hopefully something gets noticed. Good advice for business and life, from the Fireside chat with Reddit.com co-founder, philanthropist and industry mentor Alexis Ohanian

• The goal that digital tools, sites etc. are not all encouraging people to sit in front of a screen, but helping people connect, engage & have experiences

• I’m proud to be part of PepsiCo and excited for the future! Pepsi, Doritos, etc. logos can be spotted all over the conference and the PepsiCo Central presence at the trade show is cool, useful and cutting edge. I can’t wait to use our social vending machines out in the market where I’ll be able to buy a beverage for a friend and send them a text to let them know that they can use a code to pick it up at any social vending machine. Then they’ll see a video message from me when they do, so fun ! ☺

• I’m pretty sure that the couple hundred people we encountered on the streets of Austin having a flash-mob style dance party sporting 80s workout clothes, boomboxes and a couple of surfboards had the best party in town ☺

I look forward to sharing more learnings, ideas and reminders of core strategies back in the office with my PepsiCo counterparts in sales, shopper marketing, nutrition, category management, etc.!

#sxsw #pepsico fireside chat with Alexis Ohanian

The PepsiCo Zeitgeist displays curated and original content at SXSW.

One such company is Samsung. Samsung’s execution aims to provide utility for conference attendees by surfacing the most relevant information from moment-to-moment. Their team of curators scours the incoming data streams for trends, changing the screen display to reflect key topics. In the morning, bleary-eyed conference goers are greeted with humorous gems from the previous night’s revelry. As keynote speakers take the stage, the screen changes to display tweets about the keynote and other information about the speaker. Meanwhile trend counters on a side screen tally the total number of conversations about specific topics.

Dell, on the other hand, is utilizing real-time data from SXSW to demonstrate the company’s day-to-day approach to social listening. In a setup quite similar to Gatorade’s Mission Control, Dell’s proprietary software pulls in social media data from Radian6 and analyzes and flags key consumer conversation pertinent to the brand. Dell’s SXSW data stream puts the focus on key conference influencers, depicting real-time updates from the individuals with the largest online reach. A separate data visualization illustrates the volume of conference-related tweets coming from different geographic regions.

Here at PepsiCo Central, the Zeitgeist board constitutes a fusion of data mining with data gathering, ultimately providing a unique glimpse at the culture and atmosphere of the conference. The flipping screen display, designed to resemble an old-fashioned train station departure board, updates every few seconds to surface curated tweets and photos, interlaced with volume metrics such as the number of Foursquare check-ins at select Austin venues. Meanwhile, hundreds of specially selected LiveScribe journalists have been documenting their experiences on the ground via the “Little Book of What If,” which prompts them to answer questions ranging from their current mood to the operating system of their mobile device. These data power playful infographics on the Zeitgeist board, interspersing the curated data with original content.

In our increasingly digital world, big data will clearly be an important trend in 2012 and beyond. We’re proud to join the community at SXSW that is exploring new ways to identify, collect, and visualize those data for meaningful business applications. From the ground in Austin, one thing is certain: No matter how you choose to slice it, there’s plenty of data here to feast your eyes on!