The Sun Drop campaign is the latest project of MTV Scratch, MTV's recently announced in-house creative team, and represents a new marketing approach for DPS, which will tap MTV's ability to reach and connect with young consumers, as MTV Scratch develops Sun Drop's brand strategy and creative across all marketing platforms.
Levi Moody, 19, hauled [image-nocss] eight cases of Sun Drop citrus soda from the Carolinas to Oklahoma State University in August so he'd have enough to last the semester. He's had to ration himself to two cans a day to make the 192 cans last until the holiday break. "I can't tell you why I love it so much but I do," he told The Wall Street Journal.
Sun Drop has a rabid following in the handful of mainly Southern states where it is currently sold, said the report. The drink was once pitched by the NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. Families have shipped it off to soldiers serving in Afghanistan; fans swap recipes for holiday turkey with Sun Drop glaze. Made with orange juice and packing more caffeine than Mountain Dew, it is sometimes used as a mixer with hard liquor.
Its expansion is part of Dr Pepper Snapple Group's strategy to fortify consumer interest in flavored sodas, a noncola segment of the soft drink industry in which the company specializes. Cola sales have fallen to 55.4% of the U.S. soda market in 2009 from 60.5% in 1999, according to the report, citing Beverage Digest. At the same time, sales of Dr Pepper, Crush, and other brands DPS owns have grown.
Sun Drop's owner is taking direct aim at Mountain Dew, the fourth-most popular soda in the United States after Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and Diet Coke.
Mountain Dew dominates the "citrus" category with an 84.3% share, heavily marketed by PepsiCo Inc. to teens through sponsorships of extreme sports and through advertising that's embedded into videogames. Mountain Dew's volume slipped 3.5% last year. (The citrus category doesn't include 7Up or Sprite, which the beverage industry classifies as lemon-lime. Orange sodas also are a separate category.)
To reach Sun Drop's target market of 15- to 17-year-olds, DPS developed a revenue-sharing agreement with MTV. The company offered up Hires Root Beer, RC Cola and Mistic juices, but MTV latched on to Sun Drop after a quick taste test on the streets of New York. Consumers thought the drink was refreshing and bright, Martin told the Journal.
DPS is a distant third in beverage sales volume to Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo., the report said, but its shares have outperformed its larger peers since the May 2008 spinoff from Cadbury PLC.
Jim Trebilcock, chief marketing officer at DPS, told the newspaper that the company spent the past two years focusing on its core brands such as Dr Pepper, Snapple, 7Up and Mott's juices. Now Trebilcock said the company is digging deeper into its portfolio to revitalize some of its brands, including Sun Drop.
"Sun Drop has an incredibly passionate fan base, and we believe MTV can help us broaden that connection with millennials who can take it to the next level," Jim Trebilcock, executive vice president of marketing for DPS, said in a press statement. "MTV knows this generation of consumers better than anyone, and their marketing reach will help drive demand for Sun Drop and expand national distribution."
Flavored beverages such as Sun Drop are the fastest-growing segment in all carbonated soft drinks, DPS said; also known as noncolas, flavored beverages have gained steadily on colas over the past 20 years and now represent more than 50% of all carbonated soft-drink retail sales in measured channels.
MTV Scratch will develop all aspects of brand marketing for Sun Drop, ranging from new packaging graphics to advertising and promotions. Sun Drop will also appear within some of MTV's hottest properties, including the 25th anniversary season of The Real World, which premieres this spring from Las Vegas, and MTV's college network indie music tent pole, The mtvU Woodie Awards, which will air live from Austin, Texas, during the popular SXSW festival. Additionally, Sun Drop will be featured as part of a multi-city consumer sampling initiative at music festivals and on college campuses across the United States.
DPS will leverage the strength of Sun Drop's brand equity, its network of bottling partners and its route to market to drive retail distribution with strong trade activation throughout the United States, it said. Retailer response to Sun Drop has been "tremendously positive" as a result of the DPSG and MTV campaign, according to the company.
Plano, Texas-based DPS is a leading producer of flavored soft drinks in North America and the Caribbean. It has more than 50 brands In addition to its flagship Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, the portfolio includes Sun Drop, Sunkist, 7UP, A&W, Canada Dry, Crush, Mott's, Squirt, Hawaiian Punch, Pe aafiel, Clamato, Schweppes, Venom Energy, Rose's and Mr & Mrs T mixers.
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