Pepsi made national news when they pulled their entire media budget from the Super Bowl and instead opted for a more social promotion called the Pepsi Refresh Project.

Basically, they’re giving millions of dollars to ideas that can make a difference. They want individuals to think of all the ideas, submit them to the project website, promote them on their own social networks and vote for the best. The idea is explained a little more in their promotional video:

Edward Boches is a bit of an expert on this sort of thing, and he wrote a great post about this project. But the question that grabbed my attention was, is Pepsi a legitimate example of a shift in marketing or a contrived brand-centric attempt to appear customer focused?

Pepsi also has a good question. Could a soda really help make the world a better place? I think both questions have the same answer. It depends on you. It depends on us.

If this project works, things could change. They should change. That’s what proves it worked. This project shouldn’t be measured in the amount of clicks, views, submissions or votes. It should be measured in the overall difference it makes.

And that’s how I hope marketing will change in the near future. Not that promotions become more social, but that companies try to make a stand – make a real difference.

It’s our job as consumers to provide the access to accomplish that. With Pepsi, it’s about giving and voting for the best ideas. We also need to support these companies. Even if you don’t like Pepsi, support the project itself.

I hear all the time that marketing is just about self-promotion and not about the customer. Here’s your chance to stand up and prove that something new like this can work.