SunDrop

SunDrop ... This is a brand that just hit my radar during the 2012 Billboard Music Awards, but as I did some research found out that it's been around since 1949 and has recently been showing some aggressive marketing activity as it rolls out nationwide for a second life ... as part of the Dr. Pepper Snapple group.

The marketing is aggressive.  Broadcast advertising, brand integration during the awards show, a tie-in with ESPN, viral videos, and a social media campaign with Facebook where "fans" can collect points towards merchandise ... ala Pepsi points from about 15 years ago.

Seems like everything old is new again, particularly in the soft drink category.

Do we have another contender in the battle between Coke and Pepsi ... or better yet do we have another non-cola player along with Dr. Pepper and 7-Up?

Not sure if there's space in the category and certainly Coca-Cola is doing a bang-up job with its portfolio.  In fact Diet Coke just beat out Pepsi as the number two "brand" for the first time ever.  Pepsi has long been the oh-so-close number two and just got bumped off its pedestal.

There is one thing very interesting to note about SunDrop.  While the marketing is certainly aggressive, the attitude and language is even more so.  The videos portray a certain "swagger" shall we say ... ala Snapple from about 15 years ago ... consistently portrayed in the advertising, the website and promotional elements ... and they apparently the brand is catching on like wildfire.  Social media has the "f bomb" littered all over the place.  Meant, I suppose, to identify a target psychographic willing to switch over from its favorite brand.

Now I've long been a believer that brand personality and attitude can differentiate.  Just look at Kenneth Cole.  Apparently the makers of SunDrop think so too.

Will SunDrop make it in this century after years of being under the radar?  Not sure.  But I will say that the creative executions are incredibly consistent from element to element, something I give props for in my book.  A clearly well thought out "experience effect", with a clearly defined personality to boot.  It'll be interesting to measure its success.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe North America
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU