SodaStream is using hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg to show how a small thing like switching from plastic bottles to the brand’s reusable bottle can be the most important, as the brand looks to solidify its positioning heading into a prominent sales period.
In its 2020 holiday campaign, SodaStream shows Snoop Dogg enjoying the small things from the comfort of his home – a subtle nod to the pandemic realities many will experience this holiday season. Instead of throwing a big holiday party, Snoop has a simple Christmas dinner with his family. Snoop also took up baking from home, since he and his family had to cancel their culinary trip. But the small thing that appears to be just as meaningful to Snoop is his SodaStream sparkling water maker and bottle, which can rid the world of up to 3,000 single-use plastic bottles.
https://youtu.be/gwj7fj05bUE
The campaign takes a humorous approach, with Snoop’s face super-imposed on his children and his dog with the same long braided hair. The spot also shows Snoop cheering his SodaStream drink with “a nearly extinct friend,” a sea turtle, who sing together in the artist’s recording studio.
“It’s a hard place to live in right now. We wanted to bring some sparkle to it – we wanted to brighten people’s days,” says Rena Nickerson, GM at SodaStream Canada, of keeping the brand’s environmental-focused message going. “The last thing we ever want to do is preach and tell people they need to be 100% sustainable in every thing they do. We want people just to take one step and try something new – sometimes humour is a much more effective way to get people to open their minds.”
Nickerson says the campaign appeals more to emotion than specific insights about what consumers are looking for in a home beverage system – people are looking for “small sparkling moments of joy” and ways to “take back some control” – something that has been as much a pillar of SodaStream’s brand positioning of environmentalism over the years, as it allows consumers to have flat, sparkling or flavoured water.
But the biggest component of the campaign is once again the environment and SodaStream’s mission of fighting single-use plastics. But during an economically tumultuous time like a pandemic – where people are concerned more about immediate life necessities – that can be a difficult thing to get people to think about. Nickerson notes how relating to small yet universal concepts with Snoop is an effective way to get the environmental message across.
As a Canadian campaign extension for the global campaign, SodaStream has created a social content series starring Canadian drag race star Priyanka. The series –executed by Mint – shows Canadians who, through small acts of kindness, spread joy in their communities and country this holiday season.
Nickerson says the brand has already seem a spike in both sales and consumption of SodaStream as people are working from home. It also enables consumers to avoid having to go buy sparkling water at a store.
The fourth quarter is typically an important one for the brand from a sales perspective – last year, roughly 40% of SodaStream machines were sold in Q4. “Black Friday and Christmas gifting are really big occasions for us,” Nickerson says.
SodaStream has also put a significant investment behind this campaign, increasing its Q4 media spend in Canada by more than 30% year-over-year. The investment spans TV, digital, social and earned media, with local media buying for the North American campaign handled by OMD. “People still watch TV – we see TV is effective for our business. Digital video and social media are great ways to engage the consumer and have a real conversation with them,” she says.
SodaStream developed the creative internally.
