The long-term brand strategy for Pepsi® is one of continual evolution, setting the trend to be relevant for each generation of fans. In 2018, Pepsi celebrated its legacy with the global Generations campaign. As a hit maker in pop culture and music, Pepsi set out to create designs that celebrated specific generations and the unique contributions made to pop culture and our collective memory.

The design strategy for the Generations campaign was to tap into Pepsi equity as a dynamic, evolving brand and celebrate its ever-changing expressions that remain iconic today. Each generation of Pepsi fans has an emotional connection to the Pepsi designed in their decade. These fans see it as “their” Pepsi, and reviving these designs brings back an individualized Pepsi moment to loyal Pepsi consumers.

The brand’s packaging has changed over the years, and a digital archive doesn’t exist for vintage designs, so the design team revived these iconic designs from the product archive to fit today’s manufacturing standards. The team created these designs in multiple languages and across dozens of new formats. The biggest challenge was to maintain the iconic presence of each design, while ensuring that they also worked together seamlessly as a series.

The iconic 1980’s can was remastered from a signed custom can made for the 1984 Victory Tour by the King of Pop. The design team reworked the design to accurately reflect the original, while formatting it for the new 2018 can shape. Once guidelines were established, it was released to the global markets and individually reviewed to ensure visual consistency.

Pepsi Generations took this 360-brand moment across the world in myriad ways, from fashion capsule collections to Pepsi coolers at consumers’ favorite restaurants. In Turkey, an emerging fashion designer (Deniz Berdan) created a bespoke collection for her runway show. In the USA, dozens of fashion brands launched throwback designs for today’s Pepsi generation. The successful campaign deeply resonated with consumers around the world, celebrating and increasing brand love across the generations.