Fortune 500 Corporate Blog Review: PepsiCo #61 (PEP)

PepsiCo (PEP) is much more than the 2nd biggest brand in soft drinks.  There are quite a lot of familiar brands that fall under the PepsiCo conglomerate.  From Pepsi, Tropicana, Gatorade to Quaker (and a lot more internationally known brands) PepsiCo has an arsenal of brand recognition under its corporate belt.  They are probably most known for Pepsi, though.  From Michael Jackson's hair on fire to Mariah Carey and Brittney Spears, millions of Americans also identify celebrities with the soft drink brand.

No Corporate Blogs
With so many brands, and such brand recognition one would think the company would be trying to be one step in front of its competition, Coca-Cola.  Unfortunately this isn't the case.  PepsiCo and its army of brands are lacking in blogs.  Corporate or marketing I couldn't find anything for Pepsi, Quaker, Tropicana, or even Frito Lay.

No executives are blogging either.  This is probably the biggest disappoint for me as a reviewer of this company.  PepsiCo has the most powerful woman in business today at their helm.  Indra Nooyi took over as CEO and president of PepsiCo on October 1, 2006 and is the first foreign born woman in the USA to hold the position of CEO in a Fortune 500 company.

Indra is also the 4th most powerful woman in the  entire world, according to Forbes.  She's also the most powerful woman in the Business World according to Fortune.  If Indra spoke, people would listen.  Understanding though that it comes down to being about the company and the brands, PepsiCo could benefit immensely by Indra Nooyi sharing her thoughts and plans for the future of PepsiCo.  PepsiCo has a powerful weapon here in it's battle for brand recognition, why they aren't using it is a mystery.

PepsiCo, has a long way to go when it comes to engaging their customer base.  Their well known competitor, Coca-Cola,  had a boon this past year with the folks from Eepybird and their fun Diet Coke/Mentos geysers.  The closest thing PepsiCo has come to that was the "make your own video" for Frito Lay Superbowl contest.  Someone in house at PepsiCo should start taking a long hard look at their internet marketing strategies!

For a full list of all the companies that have been researched so far, check out the Fortune 500 Blog Project.  For the list of Fortune 500 blogs researched by Search Marketing Gurus, check out the Fortune 500 Corporate Blog Review category.