A GIF is worth a thousand words: How PepsiCo, KFC, Hotels.com, and others are using GIFs to slip into consumers’ conversations

Anne Field

Explains the increasing value of marketing through GIFs and provides marketers with advice on how to use them effectively.

When marketers at PepsiCo were planning the February 2018 launch of bubly, a new line of flavored sparkling water, they knew they wanted to make a splash, of course. But the campaign also had to be playful, entertaining, and relevant, to better emphasize the brand's core message. "Our mission is to help people crack a smile every day at the moments they need it most," says Todd Kaplan, VP of the water portfolio at PepsiCo North America Beverages.

That's why Kaplan and his team decided to go all-out with animated GIFs. Invented in the 1980s as a way to pack...

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