The last time Pepsi Wild Cherry was on the scene with a national campaign was in 2015. By 2021, Pepsi knew it needed to rethink its approach to traditional marketing and deliver a format designed for modern behaviors. To do so, the brand would need to consider what excites the Pepsi consumer and how they were choosing to spend their time.

Pepsi’s consumers believe in the possibility of winning big and are always up for a challenge, so giving them an opportunity to win big anytime, anywhere with an immersive experience was critical for the Wild Cherry relaunch. At the same time, game shows saw a renaissance on TV screens and on mobile phones as a form of entertainment.

Knowing that it’s increasingly difficult to capture audience attention with traditional advertising, Pepsi’s challenge was to stand out and drive consideration for Pepsi Wild Cherry, while reimagining media partnership models.

To reimagine the game show experience for today’s fans, the partnership leveraged each partner’s strength: Pepsi, with its legacy in developing out-of-the-box marketing executions to support its global distribution machine, developed the idea. FOX, a media juggernaut with a formula for creating ground-breaking new shows, was the production lead, placing Reality guru, Rob Wade, president of Alternative entertainment, at the helm.

Together, these entertainment giants built an interconnected program extending the 6-episode game show from the TV screen, to the Pepsi Wild Cherry products in-store, to the custom-built gaming app in the palms of hands, all rooted in giving fans a chance to win in a seamlessly straightforward way.

Each element within the Cherries Wild ecosystem was thoughtfully developed with the goal of driving unapologetic enjoyment every Sunday night for 6 weeks.

Each element was part of one cohesive unit that created multiple immersive experiences and opportunities for fans, viewers, and consumers to be entertained and engage with Pepsi.

Every Cherries Wild episode featured a Pepsi-owned “Wild Moment,” which put Pepsi front-and-center with a branded on-screen visual, plus callouts from the hilariously fun host and actor, Jason Biggs.

To drive awareness of the app, FOX produced innovative commercial-time content that encouraged viewers to play for a chance to win cash and prizes in real-time. The app’s play-along features supported the in-show Wild Moment and a fast-paced Trivia Rush challenge, offering fans next-level engagement, which kept them glued to their screens.

Pepsi supported the show with retail displays in over 30,000 stores and QR codes on over three million in-store packages. Fans could win instant prizes in stores by using the app to scan unique QR codes on specially marked packs and bottles.

Pepsi and FOX’s innovative and interactive approach clearly and positively resonated with consumers, raising opinions and sales. Partnership exposure resulted in double-digit lifts across all key brand metrics:

+14% Brand Purchase Consideration;

+20% Brand Opinion;

+16% Brand Recommendation.

The Cherries Wild app earned a spot in the top 3% of all mobile gaming apps based on downloads, out of millions of total apps available, and demonstrated the successful connection to the in-show play along moments with the peak app play time aligning with Cherries Wild airings.

The format for each Cherries Wild episode, featuring an in-show brand integration and custom spots promoting the app that aired adjacent to Pepsi Wild Cherry ads during commercial time, earned triple-digit lifts in Brand Opinion compared to Beverage Benchmarks. The brand ads that aired during Cherries Wild significantly outperformed the same ads airing elsewhere.