PepsiCo is looking to simultaneously strengthen its licensing business and establish its brand as an icon in the fashion world with the launch of a dedicated e-commerce site dubbed House of PepsiCo.
Launching today (31 October), the site houses and apparel and accessory collections from PepsiCo’s brand collaborations with labels from around the world.
Its first iteration includes clothing developed with the likes of Forever 21 and DSquared2, as well as more obscure brands such as the exclusive Chinese line of Pepsi accessories created by Mandarina Duck. Featured brands include Mountain Dew, Cheetos and the Pepsi flagship.
The site also includes past collections and ‘classic’ pieces created in-house and sold on to other retailers.
However, the website is not an exercise in direct-to-consumer retail: each piece redirects to a brand partner’s page where consumers can purchase. Featured online shops include Amazon, Urban Outfitters and Pull & Bear.
Instead, the site was developed in a bid to shine a spotlight on PepsiCo’s licensing business by pulling together past and current collections into one cohesive hub. It has also been designed to offer added value to current and future fashion partners, said Matthieu Aquino, design vice-president of global beverage design and brand experience at PepsiCo.
“We are integrating licensing to strengthen the brand narratives around our campaigns and biggest events of the year,” he said. “With this online portal, we are creating added value for our partners with a new traffic driver to their e-commerce pages.
“This gives visibility to the latest and greatest in our PepsiCo portfolio globally, and to our partners internally and externally.”
Mauro Porcini, PepsiCo’s chief design officer, added: “The creation of House of PepsiCo is another indicator of our commitment to licensing as an extension of our brands’ equity and presents an opportunity to build stronger fan bases for our core products.
“The platform mirrors the lifestyle that has sprung up around our and creates an added value ‘click-to-buy’ traffic driver for f our retail and licensing partners in a design-forward, seamless format.”
