The biggest challenge surrounding branded mobile apps is that they are difficult to promote and to ultimately deliver downloads. A full 80% of branded apps fail to be installed more than a thousand times. We knew we were entering a crowded marketplace and needed to deliver a stellar product with the right promotion in order to be successful.

We created the Brisksaber app to be a highly addicting free mobile game that would generate an online community. The game turns your finger into a lightsaber and allows you to battle against key characters from the epic Star Wars franchise, competing with other players for top score on leader boards on Facebook.

The way to progress through the game was to buy specially marked Brisk bottles with codes to redeem on Brisksaber, thus creating a real loop between sales and entertainment. Ultimately, by giving the Brisk audience an app, we put the brand in their pocket, exposing them to more brand messaging than a 30 second spot ever could. Furthermore we entertained them with something they actually cared about, creating a massive mobile network from scratch that allowed us to re-engage with our audience in ways we were never able to prior to the launch of the campaign.

Our goal for consumers was to engage and entertain them in a big way, and our audience ate the app up! Only 2 months after launch Brisksaber was installed over 1.5m times and has been played over 12m times, with average engagement time with the brand via the app around 10 minutes. For Pepsi, our goal was to help them launch their 1-litre format drink and push sales for the brand overall. Only 2 months in Brisk’s 1-litre business was up 50% since launch and overall sales were up 27% across the board for the Brisk brand. Lastly, during the campaign Brisk became a coveted billion dollar brand within the Pepsi Family.