“In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event,” Frank Cooper, senior vice president of PepsiCo Americas Beverages, told the Wall Street Journal.

Pepsi’s new strategy is a combination of web-focused advertising and cause-marketing. They plan to kick off “Pepsi Refresh Project” in a few weeks, a program that enables consumers to pick community projects for the softdrink giant to sponsor. Pepsi told the Wall Street Journal $20 million of its ad dollars have been set aside for the grants in 2010.

As for the web, Pepsi says it will spend 60% more on online ads in 2010 than it did this year. This, they know, is the best way to reach younger audiences who comprise Pepsi’s primary target–as well as to keep consumers engaged.

“You can’t just go to market with a TV ad anymore,” says Lee Clow, chief creative officer of Omnicom Group’s TBWA Worldwide, the agency behind the new campaign, and one of the creators of Apple’s infamous 1984 Super Bowl commercial.

He might be right, but the pioneering decision carries some risk. First, it leaves the field open to Coke, which made its comeback to Super Bowl advertising in 2007 after an eight-year break, and has been giving Pepsi some serious competition since. Two, consumers have come to expect Pepsi’s entertaining spots and their absence could trigger a backlash.

Pepsi, however, has weighed the risks.

“Brands should not blindly anchor themselves to history,” Cooper said.

We’ll see how that pans out.

Information from the Wall Street Journal, via @Nordette_Verite.