PEPSICO WINS ETHNIC ADVERTISING AWARD

Barbara Murray

PURCHASE, N.Y. -- PepsiCo and its ad agency Dieste & Partners took home top honors in the Hispanic television and radio category at an ethnic advertising award ceremony.

The ads promoted Frito-Lay's Doritos and Pepsi as a natural go-together.

"It was a unique situation to work with both," Roberto Saucedo, creative director at Dallas-based Dieste, said at the Advertising Club's "Creatively Correct" recognition ceremony in New York. In total, 15 companies were honored.

The Pepsi/Frito-Lay campaign included point-of-purchase materials and merchandising, as well as radio and television.

"The core idea is that Doritos and Pepsi are each great alone, but when you put them together, it's a party of flavor. In Spanish, it comes across as a double entendre," Saucedo said.

Randy Melville, vice president and general manager of urban and ethnic marketing, PepsiCo, said Hispanic ads are good for business.

"We drove double-digit indices with both brands," Melville said.

Also in the Hispanic category, honorable mention went to Heineken and the Vidal Partnership, New York; and Miller Genuine Draft, with Latin Works, Austin, Texas.

In the African-American category, honorable mention went to Coors Brewing Co., Golden, Colo., and its agency, Carol H. Williams, of Oakland, Calif., as well as to PepsiCo for work with UniWorld Group, New York.

Jose Gonzalez, account director, Vidal Partnership, said the real trick to the ads was a certain insight into the Caribbean customer, who refers to the bottle of beer as being "dressed like a bride." Which is to say, figuratively, that it is so cold that the bottle is coated in a sheen of ice, like a white gown. "It's a good beer," Gonzalez said. "The ad reinforces its quality."