Uncle Drew Helps Pepsi MAX Go Viral…Again

Earlier this year, Pepsi MAX released Part II to their now infamous “Uncle Drew” Series. This continues on with the same premise as Part I, which you can check out here. The original premise was Pepsi went to a pick-up basketball game in Bloomfield, New Jersey pretending to shoot a documentary on a basketball player named “Kevin.” All spectators were given free samples of Pepsi MAX, and were told to point them at the camera. This was obvious product placement, but what the crowd didn’t know was that they were in for a surprise. When a player gets injured, Kevin volunteers his “Uncle Drew” as a replacement. “Uncle Drew” is noticeably a good 40 years older than everyone else, and appears to be slow and un-coordinated at first. But after a few missed shots, “Uncle Drew” starts playing like a pro, and wows the crowd with his seemingly unbelievable play, all while sipping Pepsi MAX. Turns out, Kevin’s “Uncle Drew” was actually NBA point guard Kyrie Irving, fresh off his unanimous win for the league’s Rookie of the Year award two days prior to the shoot. The 2^nd video in the series has “Uncle Drew” recruiting an old team member named “Wes” for a pickup game in Los Angeles, California. Once again, the players and spectators had no idea what they were in for as “Wes” was actually Kevin Love, another NBA player who just so happens to be a two-time all-star, and Gold medalist from the most recent London Olympics. At the end of the videos, you see Kyrie and Kevin undergoing their transformations with the tagline “a zero-calorie cola in disguise.”

The LA crowd is in disbelief when Uncle Drew reveals how much better he really is.

After watching these videos, I was obsessed. Now sure, as a fan of the NBA, I can admit I’m a little biased here. But you can’t deny the sheer marketing brilliance behind this video series. First and foremost, there’s the obvious fact they’re trying to make the comparison between these NBA players and the qualities of their product, Pepsi MAX. Kyrie and Kevin may have appeared to be old, but they were by far the best players on the court. Accordingly, just because the Pepsi MAX can is labelled as a zero-calorie cola, Pepsi wants their target market to know that what’s inside still tastes great.

Secondly, the use of basketball superstars such as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are consistent with their intent for their product to be positioned as a men’s diet cola. As influencers within their target market, Pepsi aims to have an effect on customers’ decision journeys. For more on how influencers can affect decision journeys, check out my previous blog post titled Adidas Beliebes in Bieber.

Lastly, I couldn’t help but notice the impact that this viral video had. They initiated a conversation online which encouraged engagement through the Social Technographics Ladder. By applying social technographic segmentation, Pepsi’s viral video had an effect down the chain. “Creators” uploaded the video and wrote articles about it, “conversationalists” updated statuses about it through their various social media platforms, “critics” commented and shared their views, and “joiners” and “spectators” were then exposed to the brand by viewing the video, and reading the content from the “conversationalists” and “critics”. By creating a video that triggered such positive reactions from the first three groups, Pepsi indirectly had an impact on the “joiner” and “spectator” groups as well.

“Kyrie Irving” and “uncledrew” trending on Twitter

Five days after the first video was released, it received 3.1 million views, and 20,000 likes on YouTube. A month later, Sam Duboff (a spokesperson for the brand) said that 80% of the viewers had actually gone back to re-watch the video at some point in time. It was so popular that it was then turned into a 30-second commercial that ran during the NBA Finals last season which resulted in the hashtag #uncledrew to trend worldwide on Twitter. If you ask me, there’s no doubt that Uncle Drew was a slam dunk for Pepsi.

Nike Wins Gold in Olympic Marketing

Every Olympic Games presents the opportunity for brands to strut their best in order to garner the attention of millions of people. With over 219 million Americans tuning in, the 2012 London Olympics became the most-watched event ever in United States TV history.

Nike edges past Adidas in this event

Knowing this, it should come as little surprise that brands were willing to shell out top dollar for a spot as an official sponsor of the games. Adidas, for example, paid close to $60 million for their official sponsorship status. One would think this much money would certainly pay off right? Think again. In an article I recently read on AdAge, 37% of respondents in a Toluna Global Omnibus (TGO) survey mistakenly identified Nike as an official sponsor of the games, whereas only 24% of respondents correctly identified Adidas as an Olympic sponsor. Nike didn’t pay a dime to the International Olympic Committee or the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, and yet they still managed to reap the benefits from the event. How did they do this you ask?

Over the years, Nike has been no stranger to ambush marketing, a strategy where brands capitalize on a marquee event by associating themselves with it, without paying a sponsorship fee. Nike decided to launch “Find Your Greatness,” a global ad campaign via YouTube specifically designed to coincide with the start of the London Olympics. This ambush marketing campaign features videos of everyday athletes in towns and cities around the world named “London.” Take a look for yourself.

In an attempt to “cash in” on the Olympic frenzy this past summer, they subliminally linked their brand to the name of the city which just so happened to be hosting the biggest sporting event of the year.  In addition to their series of videos, the campaign was also fueled by a #findgreatness hashtag via Twitter, and various billboards located within Great Britain.

One of Nike’s many billboards displayed during the Olympic Games. This one in particular references Wimbledon, where Olympic Tennis took place.

Although this campaign was brilliant on Nike’s part, it’s also important to keep in mind how they succeeded in pulling this off. It’s interesting to note that (prior to the Olympics) according to Forbes’ athletic footwear brand Customer Loyalty Index, Nike ranked 2^nd, and Adidas 5^th in customer loyalty and engagement. So maybe the results of TGO’s survey should come as no surprise seeing that Nike’s brand was already considered more powerful than Adidas’ before the games even started. It makes me question, was Adidas’ sponsorship of the Olympic Games worth it? Maybe Nike’s ambush marketing campaign wasn’t necessary at all. Maybe their brand awareness is so superior to Adidas’ that they would’ve gotten recognition regardless. Maybe Adidas should have anticipated this and spent that $60 million elsewhere. Even though I wasn’t aware of their “Find Your Greatness” campaign, I for one thought (or maybe assumed) that Nike was an official Olympic sponsor. Then again, it definitely didn’t hurt their cause.

Perhaps, it’s time to introduce marketing as a new sport for Olympic competition.

Juicy Couture Takes Full Advantage of YouTube

Last week, Juicy Couture launched a new video via YouTube which has supermodel Candice Swanepoel modeling a variety of their clothes and accessories. Sounds like the typical ad we’ve come to expect right? Guess again. What’s so brilliant about this campaign is the fact that they made it interactive. Each and every time Candice is shown with a different article of clothing on, or a different piece of jewellery, a box appears and if clicked on, links you directly to their site where you can purchase said item.

Like something you see? Juicy Couture provides a call-to-action by linking products in their video to their website

I love this new form of video advertising, as it makes it very easy to purchase anything that catches the consumer’s eye. Juicy Couture has found a way to utilize YouTube and their website together by integrating interactivity between the two. By showcasing their product, and then providing a “call-to-action” by enabling their audience to click through to a purchase screen, this will undoubtedly increase Juicy Couture’s conversion rate.

Juicy Couture enables an easy way to shop through their ad

Where will this go from here? It wouldn’t surprise me to see more companies taking advantage of this, as it’s very easy and simple to do. One thing that is a concern though, is that every time you click the video to view the item you’re interested in, the video stops. Perhaps if there was some way they could make it so that a mini pop-up tab came up, it could go hand in hand with the video where the user could shop while the video simultaneously played alongside it.

In addition, I think a big thing for companies to consider is how to implement this through mobile technology. I view this as sort of an interactive magazine, where now, when you see something you like, you can buy it instantly. It also wouldn’t surprise me to see this starting to appear in television shows, especially with the increasing use of product placement. Through smart TV’s, touch screens, and tablets, companies may start to implement this same sort of concept through that medium as well.