Pepsi is rolling out a mobile and Web site that leverages social media and video to drive product samples of its Next beverage.

This is the second year that Pepsi Next has been available to consumers, which is positioned as a lower-sugar soda with the same flavor of regular soda. Pepsi worked with The Barbarian Group on this campaign.

?Consumers are multitasking and have multiple devices at any time, which is why it?s so important for us to have this great experience on mobile,? said Esperanza Teasdale, senior director of Pepsi Next & TM Pepsi Innovation, Purchase, NY.

Spin on mobile
Pepsi has created a microsite for the campaign, which is built in HTML5 to render across mobile devices and PCs. The microsite is https://www.wheeloflevy.com.

The site is set up to feature a wheel along the bottom of the screen that consumers skim their finger over to pick from six different videos that feature spokesman and actor William Levy.

Each video is associated with a different persona from Mr. Levy that are all geared towards the common goal of getting consumers in the United States to try the soda. Each video is less than one-minute long.

The campaign is multicultural to target with a language button in the top right-hand corner of the screen that can be toggled between English and Spanish.

One of the sections of the wheel features a can of Pepsi Next, which is linked to an entry form that lets consumers receive a free liter of Pepsi Next.

By filling out a form with information including name, address and email, consumers can sign up to receive their free trial of the product.

Social media also plays a big role for the campaign, which is emphasized on the mobile and Web site with links to Pepsi Next?s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube pages stretched across the screen.

Additionally, content can be shared via Facebook and Twitter.

Pepsi Next claims to be giving out 400,000 coupons via the microsite. Roughly 300,000 have been given out so far.

The site has generated more than two million visits so far.

Mobile trials
Using mobile to offer free products is a marketing tactic that many consumer-packaged-goods brands seem to be embracing.

For example, Schick is also currently running a campaign on its print ads that encourage consumers to text in a keyword to a short code to receive a free razor product (see story).

Pepsi Next also ran a Super Bowl campaign this year with a similar mobile component that encouraged consumers to visit a site promoted during the spot to receive a free sample of the soda (see story).

"So much of this campaign is going to be running on Facebook and Twitter, and so many of those accounts are activated on mobile, so we wanted to make the experience as seamless as possible," said Lauren Hanin, business director at The Barbarian Group, New York.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York