University of Nebraska–Lincoln Student Wins National Competition to Connect PepsiCo and Musical Acts

Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - 7:00pm

Lincoln, April 16, 2015 -- Jake Bunger, a junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, won the PepsiCo Meeting of the Minds competition, a nationwide contest that challenged college students to come up with a concept that would tie the company to emerging musicians. Bunger won a summer marketing internship in New York City and a special meeting with PepsiCo executives.

Bunger, a Kearney, Nebraska native, created a 60-second video, “The Rhythm of Pepsi,” that proposed PepsiCo sponsor unannounced “pop-up” concerts in which interest could be built by delivering clues to fans through mobile devices. He was the only finalist from the Midwest, competing against students from universities from Berkley to Syracuse.

“Modern marketing is going to rely on smart, digital content that brings music and pop culture to our towns, TVs and smartphones, and PepsiCo is a pioneer in these endeavors,” said Bunger, a double major in Advertising/Public Relations and Marketing. “I hope that I can bring my enthusiasm and ideas to help PepsiCo create something extraordinary.”

​Before spending the summer as an intern in PepsiCo’s Manhattan office, Bunger will be flown to New York for a for a “meeting of the minds” with Frank Cooper, Chief Marketing Officer of Global Consumer Engagement at PepsiCo.

“We’ve created this program that connects the brightest young minds with PepsiCo executives, followed by a summer internship,” said Cooper. “We’re looking for two things: one, students who have this passion for learning, but also we’re looking for students who are passionate about executing. It’s that combination of creativity and execution – that’s what we’re most interested in.”

Bunger is an account executive and video producer at Jacht Ad Lab, the student ad agency in University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications, where he creates digital content for real clients such as the Nebraska Shrine Bowl. His winning PepsiCo video, as well as those of the other eight finalists, can be viewed at meetingoftheminds.pepsico.com

Jake Bunger
Jake Bunger