PepsiCo CMO Greg Lyons Urges Brands To Lead With Empathy In COVID-19 Rebuilding Phase

In this interview, PepsiCo CMO Greg Lyons urges all brands to leads with empathy as we enter the rebuilding phase of the pandemic.

By: Amanda Montgomery, Associate at CAD Management and Clayton Durant, CEO of CAD Management

It has been almost three months since the United States categorized the Coronavirus a national emergency. Since then, the pandemic has been so detrimental, that the U.S. gross domestic product, which measures the value of economic activity within the country, has decreased by 4.8% in the first quarter of 2020. With the government issued “social distancing” orders showing no end in sight, unemployment continues to rise and as of May 2nd, there have been 27,263,538 jobless claims according to the Department of Labor. 

With growing unemployment rates and economic uncertainty for many Americans, brands now more than ever have a social responsibility to lead and provide for their employees and communities. PepsiCo, an American multinational food and beverage company, is one of the leading brands who have taken empathy to heart during these unprecedented times. Through their philanthropic arm, The PepsiCo Foundation, over $50 million has been invested to help people and communities impacted by the pandemic – including providing funds for protective gear, testing and screening services, and donating over 50 million meals to food banks and global partners supporting at-risk communities. PepsiCo uses its brand reach to ease the burden on our communities through donations, technology, and entertainment. With a history of bringing people together through music, PepsiCo has also been providing a sense of escapism and entertainment during the stay-at-home period through supporting Altisimo Live!, a live stream festival supporting the Farmworkers’ Pandemic Relief Fund, and John Krasinksi’s “Some Good News” with a $3 million donation. PepsiCo also partnered with Global Citizen on their One World Together At Home Event, which raised nearly $128 million for COVID-19.

“94% of Americans say empathy is important in today’s society”

PepsiCo, who prioritizes empathy while approaching their marketing, employees, and business, decided to see just how important empathy will be for consumers in North America post-COVID-19. The study, titled, The Empathy Imperative: Consumer Perceptions On Brand Empathy Through a Pandemic, found that 94% of Americans say empathy is important in today’s society, with 79% believing it is even more important in light of COVID-19. Only 50%, however, believe that our society is empathetic, jumping 7 points since the initial study done pre-COVID. PepsiCo’s study outlines the top five ways brands can show empathy to their employees and communities in response to the pandemic, which includes providing salary and sick leave support, manufacturing essential resources, and helping local businesses who are struggling as a result of the crisis. To discuss these findings even further, we chatted (virtually) with Greg Lyons, CMO of PepsiCo, to further discuss the data from their study and how these insights can inform CMOs, brand marketers, and executives at large in their marketing strategies for the post-COVID-19 future. 

So, tell us what inspired PepsiCo to field this survey?

Empathy has been important to our business as a whole for a while now. Since stepping into my CMO role years ago, we’ve been focused on making more data-informed marketing decisions and we have put a lot of resources against measuring our marketing spend in real-time and building our first-party data.  With this push, I was worried that our brands’ relationship with consumers might become more transactional in nature, so an important layer has always been ensuring we don’t lose humanity to the data. It’s critical to understand the people beyond the data point and to have our brands build deep, meaningful relationships with their consumers.

We embarked on this study in the days before the pandemic (without knowing that it was coming) to understand people’s perception on brand empathy.  We decided to re-run it to see how perceptions changed during this unprecedented time. 

One of the big findings from your report was that Americans almost universally think empathy is important, but just half feels like it describes the US today. Can you give us more insight into this finding, what it means for the PepsiCo brand, and how other CMOs should interpret this?

There’s still a gap in how consumers see and feel empathy in society. But more importantly, in under two months, we’ve seen that gap close, with empathy up nearly 20 percent in our society. It shows that we can move the needle as brands. 

It was the most hopeful finding from the survey, confirming that some good things might actually come out of this pandemic. I do think that collectively the marketing industry has been empathetic to society during this time, and people are recognizing that. Of course, there will always be brands that misstep.  The ones that focus on answering the question of how can we truly help and bring value to people’s lives will be the most successful. This mindset should continue beyond the tragedy and be something we continue to ask ourselves in all decisions.

Your study also noted that the tone in which brands have to communicate with their consumers is changing. Is PepsiCo changing the way they spend their ad dollars and the type of content the brand is marketing with? How should other brands be thinking about their advertising and marketing strategy during a pandemic like this?

We did shift our spending and the tone of our content immediately.  We wanted to make sure that our brands were not tone deaf. Our first priority was to make sure that our employees were safe and that our business stayed operational, so people could continue to enjoy our products during the shutdown. We also shifted a significant amount of money to support the communities where we live and work. With our philanthropic arm, The PepsiCo Foundation, we have invested more than $50 million to help people and communities most affected by this pandemic–including funding vital support such as protective gear for healthcare workers, testing and screening services and distributing more than 50 million nutritious meals to at-risk populations by supporting food banks and other global partners. 

“People are more stressed than ever and want to feel supported and connected”

People are more stressed than ever and want to feel supported and connected right now. As brands, we should be focused on helping people, and that can come to light in many different ways, through donations, technology, or entertainment. It’s about identifying the way your brand can effectively and authentically deliver help to people during this time.

It was not too surprising to see that your study found that 74% of consumers want brands to help provide a sense of escapism and entertainment during their stay at home period. How is PepsiCo providing this to their global consumers? How should other brands look at this finding in the way it informs their overall marketing strategies?

It starts with understanding the role your brand plays in people’s lives. For example, Pepsi is a brand that has a history of bringing people together through music, so it absolutely made sense that we joined with an organization like Global Citizen.  They had the right artist connections, voice, and passion for helping. Global Citizen One World Together At Home Event raised nearly $128 million for COVID-19 relief.  We also supported Altisimo Live!, a Livestream Festival Supporting the Farmworkers’ Pandemic Relief Fund, and John Krasinksi’s “Some Good News” with a $3 million donation. 

“story-doing vs. story-telling”

Brands should be story-doing vs. story-telling right now.  Looking for actions that authentically help people and acting in a way that is true to their brands.

PepsiCo is a global brand, serving products in almost every country in the world. So, how is PepsiCo looking at the findings of this study from a global perspective? Are there any insights here that marketers who also operate global brands should internalize when thinking about their own brands that expand way beyond the US into other major territories like Latin America and Asia?

Our study focuses on American consumers, but empathy is universal. The findings of this study can be a reminder to marketers around the world to invest in understanding your consumers better than ever, to be very clear what your brand stands for, and to authentically look for ways for your brand to make people’s lives better.

The study clearly points to the fact that consumers are very aware of how brands are taking a stand during this crisis. Do you think that corporate reputation will play a big part in determining the companies that come out on the other side of this crisis?

A brand’s reputation is always critical and our role as marketers and leaders is very important right now.  The companies and brands which will emerge the strongest from this are the ones who are spending time and energy helping their employees, their consumers, and the communities in which they operate.

Let’s talk about the CMO position for a moment. Can you give our readers some insight into how your job of leading the PepsiCo brand has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic?

It’s ironic since we’re not physically together, but we’ve seen our department grow closer during this time. From people’s dogs climbing on them to their kids in the background of a Zoom meeting, one thing is clear: we’re getting to know each other as human beings better than we ever have and that’s great for the team and the business. In many ways, it’s made my job even more fulfilling. Our marketing has become stronger and we are more consumer-centric than we’ve ever been to. We are also making decisions faster as a business and are a bit less siloed in our thinking.  

Lastly, CMOs everywhere are trying to figure out what trends will emerge post-COVID-19. Outside of some of the insights noted in this study, what other trends are you seeing that brand marketers in the US and across the globe need to be paying close attention to as we move away from the reaction phase and into the rebuilding phase of this crisis? 

Not surprisingly, we’re focused on what’s emerging in the digital world. We’ll want to continue to pay attention to how people’s lives and habits shift, but one clear sizable shift is the acceleration of eCommerce.  The shift to consumers buying things like food and beverage on eCommerce has probably accelerated by 3-5 years because of this pandemic.  People will of course be more health and hygiene focused for years to come.