How PepsiCo looked to preserve ancient embroidery skills while alleviating poverty

PepsiCo China's 2019 edition of its annual 'Bring Happiness Home' campaign for Chinese New Year focused on protecting the art of embroidery, and helping those skilled at it rise out of poverty.

For its efforts on the campaign, BlueFocus Digital won gold in Corporate Image & Corporate Social Responsibility at the 2020 Digital Media Awards.

The campaign, called 'Show our culture with the moms', incorporated three phases: being 'seen', being 'understood', and being 'passed on'.

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For the first part, PepsiCo gathered nearly 100 women skilled in embroidery from Hebei, Shandong, Qinghai, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangdong provinces, who spent almost two months working on a 10-metre long embroidery scroll based on various Chinese New Year festival customs across China.

A documentary was produced on the story behind the embroidered scroll, called "Embroidery Culture with Mom", which was launched on Pear Video and exceeded 3 million views in a just a few days after launch.

For the 'understood' part, in order to attract young people to the trend, Pepsi created an experiential store which offered limited-edition products including an embroidered canvas bag and specially-designed Pepsi cans.

And finally, the drinks maker partnered with China Women's Development Foundation's "Mom Handworks" project, donating 370,000 yuan (US$54,900) to establish the "Mom Handworks Cooperative" in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province. The project helps create jobs for rural indigent women by providing them with some handicraft skills.

The campaign featured in more than 300 media reports with a media value of 9 million yuan ($1.3 million).

"The most impressive element of this entry is that it’s not only a pop-up shop for one-shot attraction and short-term discussion, but also leverages the influence of brand to ensure this unique culture could last to make a real change and demonstrate the real meaning of corporate social responsibility," a member of the DMA jury commented.