57 years after the brand was invented, Slurpee was set for a refresh. The brand was often looked at through a nostalgic lens as something people once enjoyed but not necessarily relevant in their lives today.

We set out to change that. In Summer 2023, Slurpee launched a new visual identity and brand platform, “Anything Flows.” We also planned to activate around the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop, to help modernize the brand and build relevance with Gen Z consumers – Slurpee’s core target.

As a cold, iced beverage it made sense for us to activate in the Summer. So, we set out to create “the song of the Summer” that would also shine a light on up-and-coming artists – celebrating new talent, new sounds in hip hop, and the new brand identity of Slurpee.

For Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary, Slurpee decided to pay it back to the genre that has elevated the brand for so long. We created “Anything Flows:” a campaign to get unknown rappers across America heard and recognized. Because with over 120,000 new songs on streaming each day, it’s almost impossible for many of these talented artists to break through.

First, a new rap song about Slurpee was created, with famous rapper Flo Milli and three up-and-coming rappers - getting unprecedented attention for these new artists. Then, on TikTok, unknown artists across the USA could show their lyrical flow over that same Slurpee track, for a chance to feature in the song’s remix produced by Grammy winners Nova Wav. The winner would also then join Flo Milli on her USA tour.

Slurpee aimed to establish a strong connection with Hip Hop fans during the genre’s 50th anniversary in 2023. Given the risk of brands coming across as insincere in the space, the challenge was to identify an insight that authentically connects Slurpee to hip hop and its fans.

Analysis revealed that over the years Slurpee has been mentioned in 386 official hip hop songs and thousands of amateur ones. This highlighted how much the genre has naturally elevated the brand. Based on that insight, the strategy shifted to one of reciprocation. Our aim would be giving back to hip hop, by uplifting the voices of emerging rappers.

Call to Action: We invited fans to showcase their lyrical flows over a Slurpee inspired track for a chance to appear on the remix track with famous rapper Flo Milli, produced by Grammy Winners, Nova Wav.

Slurpee’s activation was deeply rooted in hip hop. The Spotify Hit Awards named it the “most innovative audio campaign of 2023.” This was after the song made it onto some of the world’s biggest and most coveted playlists completely organically, including Rap Caviar (15.8 million followers), Get Turnt (6.6 million followers), and New Music Friday (4.1 million followers).

The activation reached 1.65 billion impressions and the song was streamed 20 million times. We also impacted our contest winner, Rhyan. He is now verified on Spotify, earned a 2,913% increase in streams, and is now performing across America despite never performing for a live audience before this campaign.

For Slurpee, unaided awareness with Gen Z increased 23%, and 96% of customers surveyed said they would be “more likely to purchase.” Overall, this led to a 2.3% increase in sales compared to a declining category.