The “A Swim in the Love that You Give Me” music video by Leah Dou and Pepsi Black engages fans through messages of empowerment and positivity. This was essential to the collaboration from the start. Leah, coming from music royalty, has consistently worked to forge her own road outside of her parent’s spotlight, and has been meticulous in forming her own sound and image. That is why her first brand partnership had to be a perfect match and the results prove this was. The alliance generated huge consumer attention and positive feedback for both the artist and the brand.

Situation: Pepsi has authentic roots in music. In 2018, the brand wanted to leverage its global stage and storytelling ability for emerging artists as well as newcomer to China - Pepsi Black, through a collaboration with Chinese Pop Star, Leah Dou.

Brief: Utilize entertainment to recruit the next generation of cola drinkers by inspiring them to find what they love, be bold and live without compromise. The campaign centered around Leah Dou and her emerging talents and unique perspective. She is bold, authentic and intriguing - traits that are synonymous with Pepsi Black.

Objectives: Create awareness and engagement for the brand and Leah Dou by connecting to Gen Z consumers with a 360 campaign. It was important to maintain credibility with these consumers by selecting someone who is relevant, real and embodies the unique cool that aligns with Pepsi Black. Leah Dou and the studio hired exemplifies those traits completely.

The song by Chinese Pop Star, Leah Dou is a meditation on tapping into one’s true passion and creativity. The story explores the dichotomy between the positive or light and the negative or darkness within us all. The struggle between these two sides is universal, and especially poignant for an artist’s creative process. Ultimately, the side we feed is the one that wins. In the video, the light represents creativity and self-love, and the dark represents self-doubt. These dueling parts within Leah – the artist and the protagonist – reveal how, by feeding the right one, by nourishing our creative essence, we gain access to our purest potential. The overall tone of the music video reflects Leah Dou’s music, attitude, style and desire to empower her generation to find their passion without compromise.

The focus for Pepsi Black was to drive brand awareness by leveraging a music collaboration with pop star Leah Dou. It is well known that Leah is the daughter of famous musicians in China, but she is very much her own person, curating her own path. The brand tapped the studio for concept development and their creative direction skills as documentary filmmakers to ensure we captured the most authentic parts of Leah’s personality. The partnership was timely for the brand as Leah launched the music video and her next album, on which she experimented with new sounds and new experiences in fashion and film to showcase her continuously evolving appeal and widening audience.

3:42 minute music video

Release date: November 2018

- Leah Dou video viewership reached 51.6M+

- Video successfully drove search for #PEPSIBLACK, increasing the search +280%

- Video helped drive Pepsi Black Ecommerce growth >+90%VS.LY

- Video was supported by an impressive OOH campaign with billboards and digital signage across China, including airports in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu

- Total Impressions reached 700.9M+

Engagements:

- Total Engagement reached 5.2M+

- Tmall landing page, 120K+ page views with a conversion rate of 2.4% against a 1-2% benchmark

- JD landing page, 530K+ page views with a conversion rate of 4.1% against a 1-2% benchmark

Impact:

- Earned huge amounts of KOL/Media exposure – Earned Media Value: 11.9M+

- Helped launch new global packaging design for 2019

- The collaboration became a buzz topic and generated huge consumer attention. Comments included:

o “Pepsi is so cool!”

o “I really want to get a Pepsi Black and try it”