Objectives

To build on the brand's equity and popularity, bubly aimed to expand their product offering through a whole new suite of products & flavors.

PepsiCo/bubly knew that 45% of consumers look for the benefits of caffeine in beverages but don't want the calories and sweetners[1], so bubly created bubly bounce, a sparkling water with a new value proposition, a kick of caffeine! bubly bounce delivers all the delicious flavors and hydration of the original bubly product with 35mg caffeine. To keep up with the demand for "better for you" beverage options with added benefits and set them apart from competitors, bubly aimed to drive awareness & purchase consideration of their new value proposition.

We know that 61% of American consumers list diversity in advertising as critical[2]. Championing inclusivity and communicating this in authentic ways continues to be a priority for the bubly brand. So, the brand tapped into RuPaul's Drag Race, an Emmy award-winning show that celebrates love for all flavors. RuPaul's Drag Race (RPDR) has invented a new social media subculture, with RuPaul regularly directing viewers to engage with the show and encouraging the audience to support their favorite Queens.[3] Knowing RPDR has one of the most socially engaged fan audiences out there, we were tasked with creating new playful content that would help us with our goal to drive engagement and generate positive sentiment amongst the LGBTQ+ community.

[1] Food Navigator 2021 - https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2021/02/12/PepsiCo-s-launch-of-bubly-bounce-expands-foothold-in-functional-beverage-space-consumer-appeal

[2] Forbes, 2020.

[3] The Fifth Trends, 2021

Strategy and Execution

Due to strict Covid-19 protocols, bubly, OMD, and ViacomCBS collaborated to navigate an ever-changing landscape to produce the show and the bubly integration content. During the pandemic, RuPaul’s Drag Race was uniquely positioned to continue delivering the entertainment fans were craving safely through a production bubble. Building upon a successful Season 12 partnership, bubly sashay-ed onto the Season 13 (S13)runway to bring smiles and align with Queens, who represented the brand’s values of positivity and inclusivity. bubly chose this stage to debut the all-new bubly bounce, giving the Queens a little kick of caffeine to slay all season long!

How did we do it?

• bubly created short-form video vignettes designed to drive fan buzz & engagement while weaving the brand’s new value proposition into the fabric of the RPDR Universe. bubly partnered with iconic RPDR fan-favorite Queens Manila Luzon, Latrice Royale, & Vanessa Vanjie Mateo to get them drag-ready for the night! The Queens debuted looks SNATCHED for the Gods inspired by mango passionfruit, triple berry, & blood orange grapefruit bubly bounce flavors in colorful and comedic spots. The sparkling personalities of the Queens, custom bubble graphics, & playful music all came together for the perfect so-fizz-ticated bubly bounce creative.
• Two vignettes were made to air throughout the back half of RPDR S13. A :30 teaser vignette aired in the lead-up to the show to generate fan excitement and drive awareness of bubly’s new product offering. The :60 vignette ran adjacent to the show airing as a payoff to see the full gorgeous bubly bounce creative. The short-form video content drove tune-in to the reunion & finale episodes with bubly bounce show-shopping integrations! The top Queens Simone, Kandy Muse, Gottmik, and Rosé sipped on bubly bounce while looking back on their season during the reunion show before the winner of S13 was crowned. For an epic finale, bubly treated lucky fans to an exclusive drive-in screening experience hosted by Season 12 winner Jaida Essence Hall. bubly bounce became a part of Drag Race herstory as the brand helped RuPaul tee up the final Lip Sync battle of the season.

bubly bounce leaned into the show’s super-engaged social audience to amplify the custom creative across the show’s talent’s and bubly brand’s handles. Manila Luzon, Latrice Royale, and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo sipped on bubly bounce while they highlighted the kick of caffeine in playful behind-the-scenes content from filming the custom vignettes that left fans eager for more!

Results

bubly drove fan social engagement & generated positive sentiment amongst the LGBTQ+ community by creating content that fans craved:

• The program generated 291K social engagements[1][SB(1]
• The finale episode was #1 cable original of the night with P18-49[2], garnered 1.8M series social interactions & was the most social single episode of Reality TV in 2021 to date [3]
• The campaign generated over 40% emotional reactions, with “Joy” being a shared emotion [4]
• Those exposed were more likely to see bubly as a beverage brand that is inclusive & promotes acceptance (87%), celebrates love (85%), and as a brand that helps consumers express themselves (80%), proving that the campaign delivered on our goals[5
• bubly’s partnership with RuPaul’s Drag Race drove significant shifts across brand awareness measures and purchase consideration
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race helped contribute to bubly sales, resulting in a +28% increase during launch in February 2021 compared to the previous year
  • +17% brand awareness and +8% purchase consideration which exceeded PepsiCo x VCBS partnership benchmarks[6]
  • The program garnered 30.1M social impressions and 5.23M Video Views[7

[1] ViacomCBS Proprietary Data Reporting Dashboard

[2] Nielsen, C3, 4/16.

[3] Talkwallker, 4/16.

[4] Talkwalker  Bubly x RPDR campaign tracking, February-April 2021

[5] ViacomCBS latitude study

[6] ViacomCBS latitude study

[7] ViacomCBS Proprietary Data Reporting Dashboard

Media