Former PepsiCo marketer Jakeman questions research

Jakeman, who was president of the company’s drinks group until October 2017, has formed a consultancy with PepsiCo as a client.

Speaking at the 2017 Ad Age Next conference, he said: “The tools by which we research communications are woefully inadequate, given the type of content that we’re now publishing."

According to a Warc report, he suggested that many research approaches place “very little focus on the social impact among different audiences,” instead focusing on the commercial impact of advertising.

Insights on “social impact” now tend to emerge from “stakeholders [and] causes in society”, he said - not typically addressed by traditional research methodologies such as panels and focus groups.

"We live in a world now where one person with a 50,000 Twitter following can have a significant impact on your brand," he added.

Jakeman headed up marketing at the drinks brand when it launched its ‘Live For Now’ ad starring Kendall Jenner earlier this year (pictured). The ad attracted widespread criticism for co-opting the Black Lives Matter movement.