Pepsi has it backwards

I thought the point of advertising was to convince people to actually buy your product.

Apparently I was wrong.

According to Ad Age, Pepsi has just signed a deal with IntoNow, a social media service that allows users who download the iPhone app to share an announcement of what they're watching on TV with their friends via Facebook and Twitter. The app uses an audio recognition program to sample the soundtrack of what you're watching identifying the show and episode, then posting that information to your account. Pretty cool, if you want everyone in your social network to know you enjoy watching reruns of Mr. Belvedere.

Of course it didn't take Pepsi, that brilliant early adopter of social media technology, long to incorporate this into their marketing arsenal. If viewers tag this new Pepsi Max commercial, they will receive a coupon via text message for a free bottle of Pepsi Max and that information will be posted to their social media accounts.



Now, I know this is just a form of digital couponing. A way to leverage mass media viewership into actual behavior.

But what does it say about your advertising if you have to pay people to make it work?