Sprite is probably the most popular lemon-flavored soft drik, created by the Coca-Cola company back in the 60s. The brand is currently active among the main social networks such, with almost 56,000 followers on Twitter and 14 million fans on Facebook.
Over the last few years Coca-Cola has launched several campaigns to promote the Sprite brand through social media in Brazil, often integrating campaigns among Facebook and Youtube, where Sprite has uploaded videos and ads to support both online and offline marketing activities, comprising indoor and outdoor display, live events, point-of-sale viewing and merchandising.
It’s worth to mention that Sprite’s Brazilian Facebook fans are over 2.5 million, the second largest group after US fans out of the total 14 million fans of the page – source: SocialBakers.
We’ve already seen some cool example of brands using extensively Facebook and Youtube in Brazil – as in the case of soft dring Guaraná Antarctica and Itaú Bank.
Let’s see what Sprite has been doing.
Shoes Case
In 2011, Rio de Janeiro-based agency WMcCann released a shared content campaign, modifying the cans of Sprite into blank screens. They encouraged people to create new artistic designs that would appear on the cans. 250 thousand artistic designs were submitted, and four of these were placed in cans and sold all over the country.
The positive aspect of this campaign is that it did not intend to simply satisfy the four winners: Sprite decided to give a reward to all of the other participants in the competition by placing the rest of the drawings in a large collective print.
This print was then used to make unique shoes, one different from the other, which were sold in more than 200 different stores. Thus, in a collaborative form, the designs of the participants were disclosed in the streets of the country.
Sprite Shower
In 2012, the Copacabana beach hosted an environmental marketing campaign called “Sprite shower”, which was focusing on the “wow” effect and on the concept of a shared and happy experience.
During a hot summer afternoon, a 10 meter high structure of showers was developped on the beach where many people were resting, which reproduced the classic vending machine. Moreover, many bottles of sprite were offered as a refreshment to people at the beach.
Despite the fact that this kind of event is common, Sprite has succeeded in anticipating much of the brands of reference.
Sprite Shower has been able to leverage the brand above all others in its field. Also, consumers more than simply hearing about refreshing power of Sprite, heard directly over the body.
Here’s the video on Youtube:
Sprite Pixeletas
In 2012, WMcCann Brazil created a campaign reinforcing the innovative character of the brand and emphasizing its packaging as an expression of urban creativity.
Through a web app (available on sprite.com.br and on a Facebook tab) the brand invited citizens to work together to build a statue in the city of Porto Alegre. It was built with collecting cans of Sprite, each representing a pixel, through regional events dedicated to street art.
The campaign allowed the participants to follow each steps through the fan page. There was also a ‘pixelometro’ which monitored the number of tins collected. In addition to the digital part and events, this camaping was also intended for the planning of a TV commercial made in stop motion by AD Studio/Animatorio:
At the same time, an application with games was created on the facebook fan page and resources that would help in the construction of the monument.
Sprite lemon trees
In the summer of this year, WmcCann came up with another way to refresh the citizens – and Sprite fans – during this hot summer. They developped portable shadows consisting of lemon trees planted in giant cans of soda to help people cool off on hot days.
Furthermore, cans of the soft drink were given, as usual.
Sprite Sticker Art
This year Sprite – and WMcCann – are back, using street art for their new campaign of shared content: consumer are asked again to create the packaging of the Sprite can.
The campaign proposes that people use the sticker art to create adhesives through an application using the Sprite website. Once ready, they can be shared with friends on Facebook and the top rated will be printed on the packages of Sprite during the month of September.
Barbara Celloni