Schweppes enlists Vice to help it launch new drink ALT and its message of self-expression
Schweppes has partnered with Vice Media to launch a new soft drink range called ALT. The partnership will see Vice produce a four-part co-branded video series and large-scale, roving festival activation on ALT.
The video series, titled ‘Self Portraits’, was developed in collaboration with Schweppes Australia’s media agency Carat and creative agency TBWA and sees Vice help ALT position itself as a brand that does not just talk about self-expression, but enables it.
For example, one of the videos features Shanae ‘Sheezy’ Collins, an Australian female skateboarder who hopes to follow an X Games appearance with a shot at the 2020 Olympics. The intended message is that in a skate community dominated by young men, Sheezy has made it to the top, not by doing what everyone else was doing, but by being unashamedly herself.
Future episodes will feature Australian Paralympic sprinter, painter and fashion designer, Gabriel Cole and Melbourne’s Otis Armada, creators of cultish bootleg dining experiences which honour engaging service, artistic collaboration and creative eating.
“ALT is a brand that wants to ‘do things differently’, so a partnership with a like-minded collaborator such as VICE was a fantastic opportunity to help us champion the spirit of the individual, and amplify our ”Keep Doing You” campaign,” said Lisa Saunders, general manager of marketing at Schweppes Australia.
“We wanted a partner to talk to the millennial audience on our behalf with credibility, at scale, and in an engaging way. VICE was able to do this and more, with access to a range of unique and diverse young talent captured with expertise and pushed out across multiple platforms, exceeding reach targets. ALT is part of a broader business strategy to expand our low sugar offering, and the sentiment to date has been incredibly positive."
VICE and Schweppes have worked together on co-branded content before, producing the Knapsack Bartender series that ran for two seasons, visiting Sierra Leone, Romania, Bolivia and Japan and received over six million views.