Following today’s news (14 April) that PepsiCo’s LIFEWTR will team up with US actress Issa Rae to launch ‘Life Unseen’;

Carmen Bryan, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“Brand partnerships with A-class celebrities – particularly those focused on a popular social cause – have seen tremendous success during the pandemic period. This is in part owing to increased cocooning behaviors, which have seen consumers’ engagement with brands via social media platforms increase. In December, GlobalData found that one in four (24%) global consumers are spending more time browsing social media since the pandemic, with this rising to nearly a third for US respondents*. Shining a spotlight on critical social movements can only further promote a brand’s goodwill.

“LIFEWTRs unique positioning – to promote diversity in the arts – pulls it apart from the crowd; it is almost uncanny how well the brand’s objective fits today’s CSR climate, and this will only continue to garner attention when big names like Rae’s are attached to it. In fact, supporting a social cause is an ‘essential’ driver of purchase for over a quarter (27%) of US consumers, while a further 45% agree such claims are ‘nice to have’**.

“The partnership also reflects a holistic approach to marketing that creates a multi-channel platform and goes beyond the FMCG industry.”

* GlobalData’s 2020 COVID Recovery Tracker Survey, December 2020 – Global and US – Combined responses: “I intend to spend slightly more time on this than before” and “I intend to spend significantly more time on this than before”

** GlobalData’s 2021 Q1 Consumer Survey, March 2021 – US.