As resurrections go, it doesn't quite rank with the Second Coming. But by the standards of the promotional business, it's pretty significant.

The Pepsi Taste Challenge, a program offering consumers the chance to win prizes in exchange for taking a blind taste test, was first introduced to Canada in 1978. It ran until 1995, when Pepsi-Cola Canada shelved it in favour of Pepsi Stuff, a retail-focused promotion in which participants could collect points redeemable for Pepsi merchandise.

"We were looking for a new opportunity to connect with the consumer through retail, and we decided that this is the way we should go," says Richard Burjaw, director of marketing for the Mississauga, Ont.-based beverage company.

Last summer, however, Pepsi brought back the Taste Challenge, rolling it out in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. So enthusiastic was the consumer response that the company decided to expand it this year, adding the Diet Pepsi Taste Challenge, which will run in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces.

Consumers who participate earn a shot at prizes that range from free Chupa Chups lollipops to Sony DiscMan CD players. Everyone who takes the taste test also receives a Pepsi Taste Challenge Card, good for discounts at

Famous Players, Playdium, KFC, New York Fries and Music World.

The Pepsi Taste Challenge is that most coveted of commodities in the promotional world: the hardy perennial. That is to say, it's a program so powerful in its appeal that it can stand the test of time, returning year after year.

Properties like this are "the nirvana" of the sales promotion business, says Rick Shaver, vice-president of Toronto-based Encore Encore Strategic Marketing. "If you can find one that achieves the business objectives and catches the imagination of the consumer, then you hang onto it, repeat it and reap the rewards."

There are a great many factors that determine whether a promotional program has long-term potential. Strong brand equity is particularly key.

That's certainly what accounts for the longevity of the Pepsi Taste Challenge, Burjaw says.

"The Pepsi brand is all about choice," he says. "And that's what this promotion is all about. It's successful because it reinforces what's key to the brand." It also helps that Pepsi essentially "owns" the competitive taste-testing concept, having pioneered it back in the 1970s.

If there's a challenge associated with this kind of long-term promotion, Burjaw says, it's finding a way to keep it fresh. To this end, Pepsi works closely with its program partners to come up with new prize offerings that will capture the imagination of consumers.

Another promotion that has demonstrated remarkable staying power is the annual Robin Hood Baking Festival, now 18 years old and counting.

Each year, to promote its Robin Hood flour, Markham, Ont.-based Robin Hood Multifoods distributes 500,000 recipe books through grocery stores, and places another two million copies in consumer magazines such as Canadian Living, Reader's Digest, Chatelaine and Elm Street. The program, which entails a contest as well, runs from September through December.