PepsiCo enters into a brand promotion deal with Netflix

With urban consumers increasingly switching to OTT streaming platforms from television viewing, beverage and snacks maker PepsiCo has signed a brand association agreement with Netflix, one of the first and biggest such deals across OTT platforms in India.

The association will integrate brand Pepsi with Money Heist, the Spanish show which is among the most viewed in India as well as globally on Netflix.

Spokespeople for PepsiCo and Netflix confirmed the development.

PepsiCo cola category lead Saumya Rathor said: “Money Heist and the swag of its characters fits in seamlessly with Pepsi’s brand proposition.”

The deal will involve brand Pepsi and Money Heist jointly promoting the show across digital platforms, virtual fan fests, Pepsi-Money Heist beverage cans and a digital film with actor Tiger Shroff who currently endorses the cola brand, among other activation, the executives said.

“We are also in talks for content partnerships with Netflix, for India-made content,” another PepsiCo executive said.

Industry executives said while premium streaming services aren’t advertising directly within shows since these are ad-free subscription-based, monetisation of content in different ways is inevitable. Brand deals, in-show integrations and promotional associations are set to escalate and could lead to over 50% overall revenues for OTT streaming platforms in India such as Amazon Prime, Netflix and Disney Hotstar, with the platforms actively engaging with brands both for promotional associations and content partnerships, according to them.

Anusha Shetty, the India chairman of advertising and marketing firm Grey Group, said: "Brands being part of content is an obvious evolution with OTT platforms. With the popularity of OTT and its growth, in-content participation for brands will be seamless."

Fuelled by data tariffs which are among the cheapest in the world, online content consumption in India has seen massive growth, with OTT platforms pushing regional content and mobile-only plans. A Media Partners Asia report released earlier this month forecast Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video to have a combined 80% share of subscribers by the end-2021 across all OTT platforms. The subscriber base of Netflix is estimated to grow to 5.5 million in December from 4.6 million six months back, while overall, the OTT industry is expected to invest $1 billion in content in 2021, it said.

In fiscal 2020, Netflix India reported a net profit of Rs 8.9 crore on revenue of Rs 923.7 crore, according to the streaming platform's filings with the Registrar of Companies.

Netflix India director, marketing partnerships, Shilpa Singh said the partnership would “celebrate the epic fandom of Money Heist and its finale with Pepsi”. The platform was previously associated with smartphone maker OnePlus for the original content film AK vs AK.