PepsiCo celebrated the launch of its new lemon-lime soda brand Starry during the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend through an omnichannel ‘Starry Hits Different’ campaign leveraging its status as the new official drink of the NBA, WNBA and NBA G League.
The new soft drink activated around the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend – held between 17 and 19 February in Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena (the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz) with the aim of familiarising the public with Starry and establish its association with basketball through title sponsorship of ‘The Starry 3-Point Contest’ and ‘NBA Crossover’, plus hoops ambassadors and an integrated ad campaign.
The marketing burst, created with agency VaynerMedia, was spearheaded by a hero commercial featuring actor, singer and media entrepreneur Keke Palmer and a liquidy CGI soda man (the Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey) finding love (in a hopeless place) whilst sitting courtside at a game.
The 30-second spot, titled ‘Starry Struck’, dropped online on 15 February across PepsiCo, Starry and ambassador online platforms and then made its on-air debut during the 18 February broadcast of the NBA 3-Point Contest (of which the drink is the title sponsor).
The narrative arc sees soda man, who is some effervescent and energetic form of animated ripped and rippling Romeo-meets-Terminator seemingly formed from the drink itself effervescent product, steals the show and Palmer’s heart.
The brand’s animated mascots ‘Lem’ and ‘Lime’ also appear across the creative.
The lead ad was backed by a range of at-event, on-ground activations during All-Star Weekend activation as PepsiCo’s new Sprite-rival Starry’s launch phase leaned heavily into hoops.
As well as its official leagues’ status, at the 2023 All-Star Weekend the brand serves as the presenting sponsor of a revamped 3-Point Contest which includes a new shot contest with a dedicated ‘Starry Range’ and custom, soda branded Wilson basketballs. It is also the title sponsor of the WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest.
Starry also had a major presence at the NBA Crossover fan event and the Live Fan Festival through its work with player ambassadors (who include NBA stars Zion Williamson, Zach LaVine and Klay Thompson, as well as the WNBA’s A’ja Wilson), plus a separate, brand-backed shooting challenge and sampling of the product’s regular and zero-sugar variants.
Starry, which only launched at the start of 2023, is planned as a key pillar in parent PepsiCo’s sports-marketing strategy and the NBA, WNBA and NBA G League tie-ups not only build on PepsiCo’s current relationship with basketball, but also is part of the shared objective of the brand and the sporting organisations to connect with a younger generation of fans.
According to PepsiCo, Starry is positioned to offer a ‘fresh perspective’ on soda and on basketball and its future activations will continue to focus on ‘enhancing fan and game experiences’.
“It has an attitude that embraces the irreverent optimism of our consumers and basketball fans alike,” explained Starry Senior Director of Brand Marketing Michael Smith.
“The commercial is so cool,” commented Palmer in the campaign PR. “First of all, it premieres during NBA All-Star Weekend, which I’m so pumped about. “Pepsi is a legacy brand, but then when you think about Starry, I also get the opportunity to introduce a new drink to the world.”
The campaign was briefed in by and created for a marketing team at client PepsiCo which included Michael Smith (Head of Marketing), Yasmin Grant (Head of Communications), Brendan Mallick (Marketing Manager), Louis DeCosmo (Director of Brand Communications), Jayme Mizzoni (Manager, Brand Communications), Louis Arbetter (VP of Content) and Barry Rosen (President of Direct Focus).
It was created by a group at agency VaynerMedia which included Rob Lenois (Chief Creative Officer), Mike Pierantozzi (Executive Creative Director), Chris Greer (Creative Director/AD), Nick Greenberg (Associate Creative Director/Copy), Anne Flavin (VP, Group Account Director), Bruce Andreini (SVP), Karla Macias (Senior Producer), Alaina Zuniga (Senior Account Director), Shenneth Dove-Morse (Account Supervisor) and Megan Lavelle (Business Affairs Manager).
Film production was handled by SUPERPRIME/ProdCo with Directors Rick Darge and Ian Pons Jewell, Producer Lisa Ruffler, Production Supervisor Kathy Hofmann, Managing Director Rebecca Skjinner, Managing Director/Sales Michelle Ross, EP Maddi Carlton and HOP Matt Sanders.
Editorial was run through The Den Editorial, VFX/Finishing by The Mill, music by Squeak E Clean Studios and sound/mix by Deaf Mule.
Comment
This is a creatively busy campaign mixing basketball, animated mascots, CGI and real footage of a star. It’s also somewhat goofy: after all, Palmer seems to be half kissing and half-drinking soda man’s face in the hero spot.
Starry, which sees PepsiCo take on Coca-Cola’s Sprite one-on-one, has replaced Sierra Mist in its parent company soda portfolio. It is being heavily marketed and positioned as a ‘purpose-driven brand built for Generation Z’ and emphasises themes like fun and sustainability.
Parent company PepsiCo first became the official food and beverage partner of the NBA back in 2015 as part of a tie-up that spans multiple brands including Aquafina, Brisk, Doritos, Gatorade and Ruffles, as well as Mtn Dew which had previously been the league’s official soft drink.
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