Pepsi to Bring ``Joy'' to Laker Fans.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2003

The NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers has announced a long-term deal naming Pepsi as "The Official Soft Drink of the Los Angeles Lakers."

The three-time defending champs enter into a multi-year agreement beginning Jan. 1, 2003 with the Pepsi Bottling Group to bring "The Joy of Pepsi" to Laker fans throughout Southern California.

"We're thrilled to have Pepsi on the Lakers team," remarked LA General Manager Mitch Kupchak. "Fans look to both of us to deliver energy and excitement and we plan to do just that."

Craig Reese, Pepsi Business Unit General Manager, expanded on how that combined energy will benefit fans: "'The Power of Pepsi' at retail will work with the magic of the Lakers franchise to bring some huge promotional programs and special offers into our retail outlets." This product line-up includes flagship brands Pepsi and Diet Pepsi plus more recent extensions Pepsi One, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Blue, and Wild Cherry Pepsi, along with related brands Mountain Dew and Mountain Dew Code Red, Sierra Mist lemon lime soda, Aquafina water, Lipton Brisk tea, and FruitWorks juices.

The main focus of the partnership of these two marketing powerhouses will be "to bring the Lakers Experience to the average fan," according to Pepsi Field Marketing Director Sam Pontrelli. "The Lakers certainly don't need any help selling tickets; they sell out every game, every year. But we'll be leveraging the Lakers brand at retail very aggressively. We'll activate exclusive retail promotions at the thousands of stores which carry Pepsi products within the Lakers market area, giving the fans the chance to get special Laker merchandise, collectibles, and gear. And that's just the beginning!"

Bringing "the Lakers Experience" to fans who can't cheer on the team in person is also the prime appeal of the partnership to Kupchak, who believes "Pepsi's proven ability to reach so many segments of people important to us all over Southern California -- families, different ethnicities, various age groups -- helps us reach a mass audience in the kind of entertaining way everybody associates with the Pepsi name ... and with the Lakers."

Both Pepsi and the LA Lakers view the "Official Soft Drink" entitlement as creating a match-up of perennial winners for in-arena events at the Staples Center (where Pepsi was a founding partner and Pepsi products are sold); store-directed promotions; and community-based initiatives. "The Lakers are the champions of the NBA and Pepsi is the champion of the soft drink world, with 'the taste most preferred' by consumers," says Pontrelli. "And now the fans will win even more."