Ellen Healy & Bozoma Saint John
Senior marketing director of global consumer engagement; cultural branding marketer
PepsiCo
pepsi.com
@mybizyo, @saintboz
LEGACY IN MUSIC
The word “partnership” gets bandied about a lot in the music industry, particularly when it comes to brands that don’t want to be perceived as mere “sponsors” of an event, artist or experience. But Ellen Healy and Bozoma Saint John are two of the main reasons why Pepsi can proudly stand by the other “P” word. Whether it’s developing multitiered deals with artists like Beyoncé and Hunter Hayes for their respective tours and premiering new music in commercials, creating an original global hit with Calvin Harris (the Pepsi Max-inspired “Let’s Go”) or developing global acts like Jasmine V, Lido Lido and Eva Simons, Pepsi has gone way beyond putting a can in the hand of a pop singer. It’s also the second-largest sponsor of music events and live music, with a projected spend of $325 million through the end of 2013, according to IEG. “Pepsi has a legacy in music,” says Healy, who reports to PepsiCo global chief marketing officer of consumer engagement Frank Cooper, “but as the space was getting more crowded, we looked at how we could go deeper into the music ecosystem. We set up a strategic framework that we introduced in 2012 to be a part of rising artists and iconic artists’ careers, and let the industry know that Pepsi is one of the only brands that can pull that switch when you have something to say.” Saint John oversees the brand’s music programs in North America, which will include the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show with Bruno Mars in February and a huge entertainment initiative on par with the brand’s 2013 Iconic Summer program. “You’ll see us come together as one big organization to make sure there’s a global message and continue to do that in 2014,” Saint John says.