PepsiCo Philippines taps DoubleVerify to tighten brand suitability controls on TikTok

PepsiCo Philippines has turned to pre-bid controls from DoubleVerify (DV) to strengthen how it manages brand suitability across TikTok, as the scale and pace of content on the platform make manual monitoring increasingly difficult.

TikTok has become a key advertising channel for the food and beverage company, with 64% of Southeast Asian consumers using the platform several times a week, according to PepsiCo. While the company had already reduced brand suitability incidents to a low level, it said the volume of content uploaded to TikTok made it difficult to further limit unsuitable impressions through manual monitoring.

The initiative builds on PepsiCo’s existing relationship with DV for post-bid measurement and reporting. Working with DV and its agency, Publicis, the company activated DV Pre-Bid Video Exclusion Lists on TikTok, allowing it to identify and exclude unsuitable video content before an ad bid is placed.

Don't miss: Pepsi goes 'extra' with SB19 and Mimiyuuuh for Pepsi Extra Fizz launch

“Maintaining brand integrity while reaching consumers at scale is critical to our digital strategy,” said Harjyot Singh, head of media, digital and investments, Asia at PepsiCo.

The initiative also points to a broader challenge for advertisers on short-form video platforms: maintaining control over the environments in which ads appear without relying solely on post-campaign measurement or manual exclusion lists.

The exclusion lists were customised around PepsiCo’s brand suitability standards and informed by videos identified as driving the highest number of incidents through DV’s measurement platform. They are powered by DV Universal Content Intelligence, which classifies video, image, audio, speech and text, and can hold up to 200,000 video IDs per list.

The lists also refresh automatically, allowing PepsiCo to maintain its controls without manually updating blocklists as new content appears on the platform.

The approach produced a measurable reduction in unsuitable placements. Campaigns using DV’s pre-bid video exclusion lists recorded 2.4 times fewer brand suitability violations than campaigns without the controls.

PepsiCo said the results have given it confidence to extend the pre-bid approach beyond the Philippines into additional markets.

From AI-powered marketing and the friction economy to retention-led growth, DMA Philippines 2026 on 29 September in Manila will bring together marketers to tackle the opportunities and challenges shaping the next phase of digital transformation.

Related articles:
Pepsi just banned the S-word in its latest star-studded film
Pepsi turns viral kiss cam moment into cola smackdown in new Super Bowl spot
Seiko 5 Sports shakes up time with retro Pepsi collab