In an era when it is easy to boil media down to maths of reach & frequency across channels, this entry shows the advantage created by focusing instead on contexts as a gateway to a deeper relationship with consumers, transforming the fortunes of a brand along the way.

We created a media channel, turning every bottle of Sprite into a comedy gateway.

Our packaging became an access point for unlimited content thanks to the smart use of QR codes, data and technology.

And, of course, we promoted it with paid-for activations designed to make Sprite synonymous with comedy across India.

Sprite has a simple message: ‘We help you cool down when things get heated’.

Across the world, this mantra helps the brand identify potential moments of consumer connection through what we call worlds of heat – moments when things get a little bit too much. In those moments, Sprite’s role is to offer people a refreshing escape.

In India, the brand was facing increased competition from local brands. Bisleri Lemonata and Lime Jhatka were looking to drink some of Sprite’s market share. They offered the same single-serve packs as Sprite, at the same price point. We needed to find a way to reinforce Sprite’s position in priority markets, including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra and relieve the pressure in the on-the-go category,

We had one simple aim: sell more Sprite to on-the-go consumers.

Our brief was to deliver the highest-ever H1 on-the-go volumes for Sprite and retain more drinkers by focusing on the brand’s unique “cools me down” benefit.

Objective: More people drinking more Sprite than ever before.

They say that “laughter is the best medicine” and when it comes to GenZ & Millennials nothing could be more true. This generation have fuelled a huge rise in comedy consumption in India (78% Gen Z stream comedy content, average consumption 55-60 mins a day)

Our insight was that when things get heated, making people laugh is always the best way to calm things down.

This helped us identify a bold opportunity: transform every bottle of Sprite into a gateway to a great comedy moment.

Our idea was to combine the Sprite bottles and our insight to give our target audience a new reason to buy (and engage) with the brand.

We would turn each bottle of Sprite into a media channel, providing people with a source of laughter.

With 150 million bottles of Sprite in circulation, our idea had the potential to reach millions across the vast nation.

We would harness India’s increasingly sophisticated smartphone market and the estimated 500Mn+ plus smartphones in circulation, using QR codes to turn every single bottle into a comedy portal.

“Scan Karo, Joke Suno”, or “Scan the bottle and listen to a joke” in English, would be a way to experience the comedy our audience craved. And they’d be able to combine this with the refreshing taste of a cool Sprite.

“Scan Karo, Joke Suno” would connect Sprite buyers with a WhatsApp Bot, which could provide personalized jokes in local languages, targeting everyday scenarios around work and school.

Our comedy would resonate with the daily frustrations faced by young adults in modern India such as office stress, examinations and, of course, high temperatures in the summer.

To build awareness, we’d collaborate with some of India’s leading comedians, its biggest radio station and create user-generated challenges designed to refresh our pool of jokes.

We helped India stay cool with unlimited jokes in six languages – Hindi, English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada (covering 90% of Sprite markets).

Any user who scanned a QR code on a bottle of Sprite would be connected to our WhatsApp Bot and be able to select their chosen language and the topic of the joke they would like to hear.

And we backed this up with huge awareness initiatives, teaming up with India’s No. 1 TV comedian, Kapil Sharma, and integrating Sprite into the Kapil Sharma Show, the highest-rated show in its late-evening slot.

We also partnered with prank shows on India’s biggest radio station, RedFM. The UGC challenge asked listeners to volunteer their worst jokes, a challenge amplified by more than 20 regional influencers.

Paid activity on digital media extended the message, with a targeted campaign designed to maximise reach across key on-the-go channels such as radio.

Joke in a Bottle smashed historical business benchmarks. Sprite hit its highest-ever market share in the on-the-go segment, with a rise of 0.9 share compared to 2022.

Our WhatsApp platform attracted 2 million visits, with 1.5 million content views.

We gained more than 750,000 registered users (a 42% acquisition rate, with 84% unique new acquisitions).

The PJ Challenge was Sprite’s best-ever user-generated content initiative, providing more than 20,000 potential jokes for our Joke in a Bottle campaign.

By the end of the campaign, two out of three jokes on the platform had been provided by users.

Sprite achieved the milestone of becoming the $1 Bn brand.

UGC ensured there was a constant flow of new content, assuming a life of its own

We helped Sprite help India stay cool.