The old soda wars used to involve the “man on the street” blind taste test ads. Today, Pepsi is seizing the social media moment and engaging the public to do good. Since women make 80% of the consumer decisions, are the majority of socially responsible consumers and lead the use of social media it seems that Pepsi is targeting the woman consumer.

Their new campaign “be sociable, have a Pepsi” speaks right to the heart of what women want – a company:

1. with a social conscious that does good;

2. that taps people’s collective creativity; and

3. that connects people to each other.

You can see the campaign at: refresheverything.com.

Stuart Elliot, in today’s New York Times, covers the Pepsi push: ”Pepsi-Cola is formally introducing on Monday an ambitious campaign named the Pepsi Refresh Project, aimed at doing well by doing good. The brand…

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Have you seen the promos for the “Shine the Light” contest by American Express and NBC Universal?

The campaign, which invited the public to nominate and vote for the “small business story that most inspires them,” wrapped today with the announcement of the winner: Sacred Wind Communications, a telecommunications outfit based in Albuquerque that is working to wire Navajo lands with telephone and Internet access. The company will receive with $100,000 in grant and marketing support.

“Shine the Light” is a great example of a campaign that was not overtly marketed to women as the target audience, but nonetheless capitalized on a number of marketing principles and tactics that appeal to them:

1. You decide: The entire contest was driven by public input, from nominations to voting for the winner – the principle of putting women in CONTROL in action.

2. iVillage: This women-oriented online entity, which NBC…

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Forbes.com just released a column by Betsy Brill about how women are taking the lead in philanthropy.

Ms. Brill writes that a Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund survey found that women donors were more likely to be public about their gifts than their male counterparts.

Is it because women need their horns tooted more than men? Most likely not. She notes that women probably want to share to inspire others and “imbue a philanthropic spirit.”

We write in The She Spot that women are twice as likely to pass on information than men and that women like to share things with their communities. They may see announcing their gift as a call to action to friends. If NGOs can help tastefully assist these gift announcements they may see a multiplier effect with the initial gift.

She also noted the importance for women to have their children continue their philanthropic…

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