Pepsi Cola on Tuesday pledged to engage the youth of China in a nationwide "Voice of Next Generation" campaign to identify the country's most stellar musical band that can best represent the voice of the next generation.

From May to July, Pepsi will stage a series of local and regional auditions and concerts. The beverage company has set an ambitious goal of holding over 5,000 such concerts in May and June. The top bands will then compete in a national television show, to be broadcast in collaboration with Zhejiang TV, one of the country's leading satellite television networks.

The winning band will earn a trip to the entertainment capital of the world, and work with Hollywood's top music producers to create an album of original material.

"Pepsi believes there is no better way to connect with the aspirations and culture of young people than through the power of modern music," said Harry Hui, CMO of PepsiCo greater China region.

Extensive consumer research conducted by Pepsi has found a strong sense of "collective individualism" in today's generation of Chinese youth, a phenomenon that many believe can be attributed to the country's one-child policy, first implemented in the late 1970s.

"This era has been underscored by a 'me-to-we' mentality shift amongst Chinese adolescents. Young people have evolved from taking a 'me'-focused mentality to adopting a collective attitude. They enjoy doing things together, and at the same time, uphold the deeply rooted values of tradition, respect and heritage," said Hui.

The notion of collective individualism was perhaps best articulated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with every citizen coming together to create a spectacular whole. Band music, as a vehicle of expression, fits this mentality well. It allows bandmates to express themselves individually, be it through instruments or vocals, while at the same time drawing members together to achieve the same creative goal.

Although there are over 20,000 underground bands championing China's burgeoning music scene in tandem with a growing number of concerts and music festivals, there is still very little in the way of a national platform that can facilitate group music, a void the "Voice of Next Generation" campaign hopes to fill.

Winning band's RMB 1 million dream prize:

A set of best-in-class music equipment

A cash prize of RMB 200,000 for development of the band

A national concert tour to five major cities in September and October

A "dream trip" to a studio in Hollywood, California, to produce an album

(China Daily, April 2, 2009)