As the weather gets warmer, Sprite wants to help consumers cool down with a new, limited-time product that delivers a cooling sensation along with cherry-lime flavor. Temperature-themed Sprite His Chill begins with an online video ad starring Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young, aka “Ice Tray.” Trae Young, with the help of an intellectual property lawyer, “freezes and stops” from shaking fans on the court as they borrow his autograph. I notice.
AP Cheney, Sprite’s senior creative director, said the concept for the comedy, which portrays Young in a self-deprecating light, was inspired by the colloquial use of the word “cold” to describe someone who is at their best. He says he got it. Coca-Cola’s Fanta. The term is particularly popular with African American and Hispanic American consumers, who constitute the brand’s primary target audience. Sprite His Chill was initially planned to be promoted with a low-key campaign focused on shopper marketing, but the idea snowballed into something more substantial, with Sprite His Ambassador starting in 2021. It proved to be a natural fit for Young, an NBA star in his current role.
Additional elements include outdoor purchases in Atlanta, Detroit, New York and Los Angeles, paid and owned social media. Agency Majority developed the creative with support from WPP’s bespoke Open X unit, which includes EssenceMediacom, Ogilvy New York, VML and Momentum Worldwide.
“After we had; [cold] The foresight made me realize it was like lightning in a bottle and I needed to make it bigger,” Cheney said in an interview.
Gen Z sets its sights on
Sprite Chill, available in low-carb and low-carb versions and arriving in stores on Monday, features distinctive packaging that combines a green and frosted blue color scheme with cherry accents. The visual of cracked ice emphasizes the tactile cooling effect of the beverage. This is made possible by Sprite’s new proprietary flavor technology, similar to those used in the confectionery and baking world.
The limited edition Sprite Chill has a cooling sensation and a cherry-lime flavor.
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The chill factor is further enhanced by outdoor advertising integrated with Snapchat’s Sprite Chill Cam. This photo tool allows users to upload their photos to real-life billboards, which display a trifecta of Young being cold, regular Sprite being the coldest, and Sprite His Chill being the “chillest.” Sprite held an event in their hometown of Atlanta’s State Farm Arena in early April, which included samples of Sprite Chill and previews of Young’s commercial.
The official rollout of Sprite Chill comes as parent company Coca-Cola continues to experiment with products that seek to bottle unusual sensations and cultural trends in place of traditional flavors. Since 2022, the core Cola brand operates the Creations platform, which produces drinks with themes such as dreams, space, and tears of joy. Creations has become an important marketing tool for reaching his Gen Z audience, which is also targeted by Sprite, as competition intensifies.
Sprite is taking a more measured approach to limited-time products, Chaney said, with regular rotations of holiday-themed products such as Winter Spice Cranberry. The company aims to move Chill beyond a one-time novelty and into a springboard to meet real consumer needs, the executive said.
“It depends on how it performs and how we do it, but hopefully this becomes a sustainable platform where we can introduce more flavors, do more things, and create more equity within the Chill platform. ” Cheney said.
“That’s really [about] We are committed to the lifestyle field and want to become a lifestyle brand that goes beyond just a beverage brand. I think Chill will help us achieve that,” she added.
Last week, the brand brought back its “Follow Your Thirst” campaign and slogan, which it first scrapped in the ’90s, in a more Gen Z-focused format. Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards leads the latest edition, joined by Shakari Richardson, the world’s fastest female sprinter, and NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill, who has appeared in previous ads. Sprite also runs his Gen Z Council, which informs product and marketing decisions and exists to complement traditional testing methods and social listening.
competition on the court
Sprite has used basketball as a cultural touchpoint for decades, and past campaigns have featured legends like Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. While the brand still works with athletes like Young and Edwards on an individual basis, Coca-Cola relinquished its NBA sponsorship to arch-rival PepsiCo in 2015, and PepsiCo recently signed Staley to the league. It became the flagship of
Starry, which replaced Sierra Mist in PepsiCo’s portfolio last year, competes directly with Sprite in the lemon-lime category and sells primarily to Gen Z consumers. Starry made its first Super Bowl appearance in February, part of a flurry of marketing activity among the beverage giants. That revived the discussion about the cola wars.
“I don’t think it made us aggressive. But I will say that we always look at the market and try to see what our competitors are doing,” Staley’s NBA sponsor Cheney said of Shipp. “[Basketball] It continues to be a powerful touchpoint for us with consumers. Whether Staley is doing it or not, we’re always going to live in the basketball world, because we have a lot of capital there. ”
