SHANGHAI – Sprite China has launched an unique campaign empowering Chinese youth to celebrate their individuality through creating unique combinations. The work, created by MRM//McCann Shanghai, sees Coca-Cola’s Sprite collaborating with Jiang Xiao Bai, a popular budget Chinese white spirit, better known as baijiu. The partnership includes the creation of two unique products, a baijiu flavored non-alcoholic Sprite, with a separate, lemon-lime flavored alcoholic baijiu ready to drink soda, branded Jiang Xiao Bai, targeted at a younger audience than its traditional baijiu counterparts.
Mixing Sprite with other beverages has naturally occurred in China for decades, and its widely known that former Premier Li Peng used to enjoy mixing Sprite with black vinegar or red wine. Mixing Sprite and Jiang Xiao Bai has been widely circulated over the last year as a bit of an underground radical cocktail, crowning the sweet and bitter combination by netizens as “lover’s tears”. Online popularity of the concoction motivated the two brands to pursue a more formalized collaboration.
To promote the partnership, Sprite wanted to avoid a contrived message that would easily alienate its youth base. It instead wanted something that could inspire youth to mix and mash as they like, becoming a representation of being true to themselves.
The campaign for the joint collaboration, is entitled “Mixing Up Like This”. It does not mention the unique taste combination but is more of a call to action to encourage Chinese youth to create their own combinations as a way to express their individuality. Beautiful combinations are common and predictable, but interesting combinations are even more meaningful and personal.
The integrated digital campaign launched last month on social platforms, Weibo, Wechat and Douyin (Tik Tok) included social campaign messages from influencers inspiring self-expression. As a result, over 69 million user-generated content pieces of “Mixing Up Like This” were created by Chinese netizens, making this non-traditional take on flavor variances one of Sprite’s most effective campaigns this year.
“Chinese consumers are no longer satisfied with just manufactured flavors,” says Bryce Whitwam, CEO of MRM//McCann. “They’re looking for new variances that represent their individual tastes, something easily shared with their friends on social media.”
Context / Insight:
One image features a youthful couple with a young woman with dyed, short hair, next to a long-haired man. The caption reads, “the alternative in other people’s eyes is exactly the kind I alternative I like.”
Another ad featuring a male couple reads, “people say we can’t, but I say no! maybe!” An ad with a female couple reads, “it’s important not to follow suit”.
About MRM//McCann:
MRM//McCann, named Ad Age’s 2018 Business-to-Business Agency of the Year, is a leading data science, technology innovation and creatively driven relationship marketing agency that helps brands grow meaningful relationships with people. The agency leverages the power of creativity, the beauty of data, the magic of technology and the impact of connections to drive business results. MRM//McCann is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) and a lead agency in the McCann Worldgroup network, with 40-plus offices across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.mrm-mccann.com
