Sprite was the first brand to truly be down with hip-hop culture, as one of the first brands to feature hip-hop in national advertisements since 1986. As hip-hop approached its 50th anniversary, Sprite aimed to reassert its longstanding connection to the genre through a comprehensive campaign. The brand's objective was to celebrate this milestone by honoring hip-hop's past and future, leveraging its cultural influence and historical relationship.

The campaign's brief focused on launching a multifaceted approach: introducing a limited-edition flavor, Sprite Lymonade Legacy, and a high-profile centerpiece film featuring hip-hop legends alongside emerging stars.

Objectives included driving brand engagement/loyalty by tapping into Sprite's hip-hop heritage, boosting sales through innovative packaging with QR codes, and enhancing Sprite's reputation as a culturally relevant brand in today’s competitive market. All while making Sprite Legacy a sought after limited offering. The ultimate goal was to deepen consumer connections and celebrate hip-hop's rich cultural impact.

Sprite's creative idea for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop celebrated its longstanding relationship with the genre by intertwining the brand's history with the evolution of hip-hop. By remixing "Rapper’s Delight," the first hip-hop song to chart in the Top 40, Sprite connected hip-hop's past with its present, featuring artists including Nas, Rakim, Latto, and GloRilla. This musical blend served as a metaphor for Sprite's ongoing commitment to hip-hop, from its early days to its current global prominence, while also looking forward to its future.

The insight that hip-hop appeals across generations influenced the campaign's execution, ensuring Sprite’s messages of authenticity and legacy resonated widely. Leveraging both hip-hop legends and modern stars, the campaign highlighted Sprite’s role as a consistent advocate for the culture. This approach celebrated the genre's significant milestone and reinforced Sprite’s identity as a brand deeply embedded within hip-hop, boosting consumer connection and fostering brand loyalty.

To celebrate hip-hop's 50th anniversary, Sprite's strategy hinged on honoring its unique legacy with the genre. The brand engaged a diverse audience, from long-standing hip-hop fans to younger listeners, through a carefully crafted campaign that highlighted hip-hop's past, present, and future. Legendary artists like Nas and rising stars such as Latto were featured, bridging generational gaps and maximizing appeal across demographics.

Sprite utilized social platforms strategically, targeting younger demographics through Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, while reaching older fans via Facebook. This approach leveraged the viral potential of the campaign, using social media to amplify the impact of a remix of "Rapper’s Delight" featuring iconic verses from both legendary and contemporary artists. QR codes on packaging linked to exclusive digital content, enhancing user engagement and ensuring a seamless integration of physical and digital experiences, thus driving brand relevance across all consumer touchpoints.

Sprite’s execution of the “Icon’s Delight” campaign was meticulously timed and rolled out during the summer, aligning with peak consumer engagement and various hip-hop cultural events, culminating with the BET Awards. The campaign was launched nationwide, with a specific focus on major U.S. markets well-known for their hip-hop influence.

The implementation involved an integrated mix of media placements including TV, digital platforms, and social media channels, ensuring widespread visibility. Special emphasis was placed on social media to leverage the real-time engagement capabilities and to tap into the viral nature of hip-hop content. The campaign also featured interactive packaging with QR codes, available in stores, enhancing physical product engagement with a digital layer.

The scale of the campaign was extensive, involving collaboration with high-profile hip-hop artists and influencers to create authentic and compelling content that resonated across demographic and geographic boundaries, thus maximizing reach and impact.

Sprite's campaign reached 5B+ impressions across Paid and Earned Media, 1.4B of which were digital, driven primarily by social media. It engaged audiences broadly, seeing 1.5M views on the "Summer of Drops" page and 250M+ sweepstakes entries, demonstrating substantial interaction.

Sales of Sprite Lymonade Legacy hit $25M over 13 weeks, significantly surpassing targets and prompting a second market run, which is a very rare move for The Coca-Cola Company. The campaign impacted retail with 62% penetration in large stores and 63% in convenience retail, outperforming competitors with 1.5x better household penetration and 2.5x better repeat purchase rates than similar 2023 LTOs. Additionally, the overall Sprite trademark experienced a 9.5% sales increase and an 8.5% increase in sales velocity.

Digital QR code interactions enhanced the quality of experience, deepening consumer engagement. The campaign successfully boosted Sprite’s brand perception, reinforcing its connection to hip-hop culture, influenced consumer behavior, and surpassed its objectives.