Over the last year, I have often used the Pepsi Refresh Project as an example of how corporates are combining social as in connecting people with social as in benefiting the society and moving from short-term TVC-centric campaigns to long-term community-centric 360 degree commitment.

Last week, WSJ reported that Pepsi has lost its #2 position in the US carbonated soft drink market to Diet Coke. (Disclosure: Coca Cola is a MSLGROUP client and I'm delighted that Coke and Diet Coke now occupy the #1 and #2 positions in the category.)

In response to the report, some people are speculating that PepsiCo's 2010 decision to cut down TV ad spends in half to $20m and invest the $20m in the Pepsi Refresh Project might be responsible for Pepsi's loss of market share (see The Ad Contrarian, Megan Gibson at Time, Dale Buss at BrandChannel, Natalie Zmuda in AdAge, Quentin Fotrell in WSJ). Pepsi's decision to return to TV in 2011 with a traditional $60m tie-up with Simon Cowell's show X Factor (see David Goetzl in MediaPost, Meg James in LA Times, Mike Estrel in WSJ) has added to the speculation.

I believe that we are missing the point here and confusing correlation for causation. Pepsi has been losing market share in the US for years now and its loss of the #2 slot is a continuation of a long-term trend. It was losing market share when it was spending millions on Super Bowl ads with Britney Spears and it might continue to lose market share in 2011, in spite of its return to TV (I hope it does, for more reasons than one).

Pepsi Refresh Project was not meant to increase revenues in the short term and it's no surprise that it hasn't. PepsiCo maintains that the Pepsi Refresh Project was successful in its purpose of connecting with consumers, strengthening the Pepsi brand image and improving PepsiCo's corporate reputation. In fact, PepsiCo plans to not only continue with the Pepsi Refresh Project in the US, but also expand it to new markets in 2011.

Participation and Purpose are the fifth and sixth Ps of marketing, along with Product, Price, Place and Promotion. While Participation and Purpose are not enough by themselves, we will see more CEOs putting them at the core of their corporate strategy and invest in long-term initiatives like the Pepsi Refresh Project