Sprite Zero Sugar sought to design an end-to-end commerce campaign for its partnership with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Targeting Black and Hispanic youth (16-24) with a passion for music, film, art, and entertainment, the brief had two objectives:

1) build brand love with Sprite’s core audience; 2) drive sales of Sprite Zero Sugar.

Achieving these KPIs would require overcoming several critical barriers:

LOW ZERO SUGAR PREFERENCE. African American youth have less affinity for Zero Sugar sodas, drinking regular Sprite monthly or more far more often than Sprite Zero Sugar.

DEMAND FOR SINCERITY. The audience expects brands to do their homework in order to come through as sincere and altruistic

CUT THROUGH IN COMMERCE. The partnership would have upper-funnel media support, but the bulk of the campaign would need to break through clutter across in-store and online channels by putting tailored messaging and career-making opportunities in the palm of their hand.

The Infinite Potential. Zero Limits. campaign brought the technology of Wakanda to life. We targeted Sprite’s Black & Hispanic youth consumer and showed them their potential through the journeys of people like them. Inspirational content and practical resources tied to the theme of the film with our fan’s behavior.

Upon launching an immersive AR experience, a Dora Milaje guard from Wakanda Forever appeared in their environment and guided fans through a custom designed interface to gather information about shoppers’ artistic interests and matched them with creators from the film. The creators then shared their “Origin Stories”—mini-masterclasses that introduced specialties like production design and storyboard artistry, with a focus on how these Black and Hispanic professionals translated their talents into successful careers in film.

The stars weren’t household names, and that was the point: to connect with everyday consumers. If you have talent, there are zero limits on your potential.

We used mobile ethnography to gather intimate and contextual insights from our Sprite consumer. We learned they aspire to entrepreneurship and creativity but feel the deck is stacked against them (1 in 3 Black Gen Z don’t believe in the American dream). Black and Hispanic people are also underrepresented by 44% in Creative Arts and STEM; one of the most limiting factors is not seeing other diverse individuals in those roles first.

With these truths laid bare, plus an audience seeking more authenticity from brands, meant a campaign not built to sell a movie, but instead the possibility of a brighter creative future. Infinite Potential. Zero Limits. would inspire consumers through journeys of people just like them. The value-added and purpose-driven mobile experience would leave shoppers not only excited to see the Wakanda Forever film, but also energized at the possibilities that lie before them—all thanks to Sprite Zero Sugar

Each pack featured a QR code that invited our Black and Hispanic youth to “Scan to Find Your Gift,” using their mobile phone, which would then launch the exciting AR experience using technology and actors from the film.

The depth of the “Origin Stories” within the AR portal was a mobile-first engagement driver because it connected the diverse women who created the film with our Black and Hispanic youth target. But, our digital content hub, HBCU screenings, and HBCU scholarships worked to further connect with our diverse target.

The campaign launched on October 3rd to leverage excitement for the “Wakanda Forever” release on November 11th, and closed on November 27th after 8 weeks. Our mobile activation was nationwide, as was social & digital supporting media.

This campaign had two objectives: deliver a purpose-driven message to Black & Hispanic shoppers, and spark sales for Sprite Zero Sugar. It was successful in both regards.

Media drove 2.6 billion paid impressions, driving shoppers in-store and online to purchase the limited edition product. Millions of consumers viewed the on-pack AR content through their phones, and spent 3x longer in the AR experience than industry averages (watching 2+ videos and spending even more time exploring deeper content on a secondary digital portal hosted on Sprite.com).

And millions more bought the product, with sales of Sprite Zero Sugar growing 54% over the prior year period. By only featuring the work on Sprite Zero Sugar and not base Sprite, we built new rituals for buying zero sugar soft drinks—rewarding that behavior not only with a refreshing Sprite Zero Sugar, but with an emotionally resonant and mobile-centric commerce experience