Pepsi announced the program details of the 2011 Pepsi Refresh Project, a crowd-sourcing movement that supports bold, fun creative ideas that have the power to move communities forward. In 2010, the Pepsi Refresh Project, an award-winning program, directed millions of dollars to fund over 1,000 great ideas across the country, and now it wants to fund twice as many great ideas.
In 2011, Pepsi will fund twice as many great ideas and make this year’s Pepsi Refresh Project even more social. It will give out more than a million dollars in grants each month, through 60 grants. The number of overall grants awarded each month will almost double compared to last year, daring people to do a little more and allowing more individuals to help bring forth awesome ideas, while still allowing America to decide which ideas they like best. To continue to make the world more fun, more vibrant, better, Pepsi is introducing four grant tiers: $5K, $10K, $25K and $50K.
“Consumers spoke up and we listened, setting into motion the vibrant changes we’ve made to the program,” said Jill Beraud, Chief Marketing Officer and President, Joint Ventures, PepsiCo Beverages Americas. “We believe that by challenging people to be optimistic, curious and creative, and daring them to do a little more, the Pepsi Refresh Project in 2011 is helping to curate ideas that make us think that anything is possible. Anyone can make good things even better and have fun doing so.”
Starting in April, consumers can submit ideas within four categories: Arts & Music, Communities, Education, and a new rotating category called the Pepsi Challenge. Every three months, Pepsi will rotate the theme of the Pepsi Challenge category. Within these categories, a new challenge will be announced on a monthly basis, in the form of a question that Pepsi is asking America to answer.
Pepsi will be accepting project entries during a five-day period at the beginning of each month. Each month, 1,500 new ideas will be randomly selected for voting, increasing the number of ideas posted to the site, and projects with the most consumer votes will be funded. From May through December, voting opens on the first day of each month, with grantees being announced next month.
In addition to online polls, people can vote through social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, the Pepsi Refresh Project mobile app and the text2vote program. From May 1 to September 30, Pepsi will also be introducing power votes, which give users the chance to apply extra votes to one idea by finding special codes on select Pepsi packaging.