Young Customers Connect Via Mountain Dew's Beeper Offer

In spite of Mountain Dew's strong market position, Pepsi-Cola wanted to build the brand's loyalty, attract new customers, and keep the growth rate above the industry average. To achieve those goals, the company developed the "Extreme Network" promotion, which offered a beeper in exchange for 10 Mountain Dew proofs of purchase, $29.99, and $5 for shipping and handling. The numeric pagers came with six months of free service. Total value: $125. The offer was promoted through in-store displays, promotional TV tags, radio spots, and more than 20 million multipack and single-serve packages carrying "Extreme Network" graphics. But it didn't end there. Pepsi now had the pager numbers of 200,000 of its customers. So it paged them weekly with an 800 number to call for special offers from celebrities. Partnership deals with Burton Snowboards, Sony Music, Killer Loop Sunglasses, Taco Bell, and Timex made merchandise available at discounted prices. Network members could also find out if they had won an "Extreme" prize, such as a Mountain Dew Hummer, a trip to the MTV beach house, or autographed memorabilia.