6 Beverage Promotions to Watch
By Hannah Hammond on Feb. 26, 2021CHICAGO — Beverage companies are launching promotions this spring that convenience-store retailers can use to help enhance packaged beverage sales.
From soda bottles that pay tribute to local heroes to beer campaigns that encourage people to watch soccer and basketball, here are the latest beverage promotions to watch …
Jones Soda
Jones Soda, Seattle, is paying tribute to inspiring private citizens with a limited-edition, eight-bottle “Unsung Heroes” collection. The campaign features photographs of various people or groups who took extraordinary steps to help others during a difficult year, the company said.
Examples include a truck driver, a California restaurant that provided hundreds of meals to the 2020 Glass Fire evacuees and a nonprofit organization that delivered 55-gallon barrels of clean drinking water to remote areas of the Navajo Nation since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The series is appearing on Jones Green Apple Soda bottles in the United States and Canada with a total print run of 500,000. Honorees are also profiled on Jones’ website. People can also use Jones’ custom label program to order personalized bottles spotlighting the heroes in their own lives.
Bud Light
Bud Light, from St. Louis, Mo.-based Anheuser-Busch (A-B), is celebrating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Super Bowl LV win with custom packaging and a new anthem. The Super Bowl LV Champion Real Men of Genius anthem will air locally in the Tampa Bay region and can also be found on YouTube. The spot highlights the team’s perseverance.
The “Real Men of Genius” campaign has been resurrected as part of the new Bud Light Legends campaign, which pokes fun at trends, human insights and cultural moments in time, the company said.
Celebratory beers in a Super Bowl LV Championship pack in honor of the Buc’s will also be on shelves on March 22.
Heineken
Heineken, White Plains, N.Y., is boosting support for soccer through its Soccer Anytime campaign. The promotion connects soccer fans to the came through its MLS, UCL and Euro scholarships.
The retail promotion with an enjoy-scan-win consumer engagement featured at point-of-sale (POS) encourages customers to purchase a Heineken and win weekly prizes including streaming service credits, merchandise, viewing parties and more, the company said. Customers can use a QR code or visit the website to access more.
Dos Equis
Dos Equis, from Heineken, is launching a multi-channel promotion through March that coincides with college basketball.
The promotion encourages shoppers to “Take Your Shot at $5k Every Week,” and includes merchandise and other advertising materials. Customers can take a photo of themselves enjoying a Dos Equis and upload it to Instagram with #XXhoopssweeps for the chance to win a $5,000 prize weekly.
PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Purchase, N.Y., is launching Fizz, a global football campaign in support of the UEFA Champions League partnership.
Pepsi is working with some of the best football, or American soccer, players including Leo Messi, Paul Pogba, Jadon Sancho and Shanice van de Sanden.
The effort is led by a film, “Fizz to Life,” that showcases the football skills sets to a custom music track created for the campaign, “Rotate,” by Becky G and Burna Boy. The film shows how Pepsi football breaks the bubble of the 90-minute game, according to PepsiCo.
The campaign’s limited packaging will feature the four players and give fans an augmented reality experience accessed through a QR code on pack.
In the U.S. the campaign will have the taglines “That’s What I Like” and “Es Lo Que Quiero” for American consumers watching on CBS and Univision. There will also be a national sweepstakes campaign in the U.S., interactive social content, limited-edition packaging and more.
Rockstar Energy
Rockstar Energy, from PepsiCo, is partnering with gaming organization 100 Thieves in 2021 to further its immersion into the gaming world and alignment with cultural leaders.
100 Thieves founder and CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag had a cameo in the recent “Spotlight” Super Bowl ad narrated by Lil Baby.
"100 Thieves is the epitome of a successful hustle to the top, and we're inspired to share their story and, in turn, inspire 'everyday hustlers,’” said Fabiola Torres, CMO and senior vice president of the PepsiCo energy category. “Partnering with 100 Thieves allows Rockstar Energy to engage and fuel new communities and energy drinkers in the gaming and lifestyle space, alongside our core fanbase and action and motorsports stronghold."
The category-exclusive partnership will deliver original social content and interactive experiences to inspire gamers to reach their next level.