Aquarius: AQUARIUS

Credits & Description:

Category: Consumer Goods, including FMCG and Household Products

Advertiser: COCA-COLA

Product/Service: AQUARIUS SPORTS DRINK

Agency: SRA. RUSHMORE

Executive Creative Director: Miguel García Vizcaino/Marta Rico (Sra Rushmore)

Creative Director: Angel Torres (Sra Rushmore)

Creative Director: Lucas Paulino (Sra Rushmore)

Account Director: Marta Palencia (Sra Rushmore)

Account Supervisor: Ana Herrero (Sra Rushmore)

Programmer Director: Ruben Morato (Sra Rushmore)

Art Director: Amaia Ugarte (Sra Rushmore)

Art Director: Miguel Novillo (Sra Rushmore)

Art Director: Guillermo Sanchez (Sra Rushmore)

Copy: Carlos Mañas/Mayra Martinez (Sra Rushmore)

Account Executive: Veronica Barba (Sra Rushmore)

Photography: (Paloma Rincon)

Producer Agency: (Freelanceforfree)

Production Company: (Tesauro)

Director: Gabe Ibañez

Producer: Miki Heras/Pancho Alted/Pablo Heras

Postproduction: (Molinare)

Sound/Music: (Audioclip)

Media placement: CONSUMER PR - - 26 MAY 2011



Summary of the Campaign

Aquarius was launched as the official beverage of the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. When Powerade was launched to expand the sport drinks portfolio of the Coca-Cola Group, it soon shifted Aquarius out of its natural territory.



The objective of the brand was to reposition itself beyond the world of Sports. 2011 was a crucial year to propel this change and connect with consumers beyond the conventional media.



In 2011, the challenge was to create content that was relevant to consumers and make a connection with them beyond the media. Aquarius had to change its destiny so we set our consumers a challenge. We wanted to inspire them to break away from conventions and show them that, in a way, force of habit may unconsciously restrict our freedom of choice.



The creative idea is based in a small but hugely defining hallmark: Our name. It is given to us from birth and it marks us for our whole lives. It’s something we didn’t choose. To solve this problem we created an online agency to provide assistance with the legal paper work for changing your name. We also created 5 Facebook Apps to engage people by playing with the concept of a name-change.



The mentors for our agency were the residents of Huerta del Rey, from the Guinness Book of Records as the Spanish municipality with the strangest names.



We managed to reach both targets - the general public and the media - maximising investment in the campaign and achieving record levels of brand awareness.



The Situation

Aquarius was launched as the official beverage of the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. The arrival of Powerade to the CocaCola Group's portfolio of products displaced Aquarius from its natural territory.



The Brand's objective was to reposition itself to appeal to non-sport consumers since there was a growing consumption of the product outside the world of sports. This new stage started in 2004; however, 2011 was key to increasing brand awareness and pushing the trend of sales outside of Sport. Achieving this depended on a new communication and PR strategy.



The Goal

The objective of the campaign was to achieve greater brand awareness without any increase on the previous year's media budget, maximising the campaign budget, generating impact and getting people talking beyond a purely media based approach, focusing on 2 targets:



- The Media: Get them to report on the campaign and generate free media coverage



- Aquarius Brand lovers aged 15-34: As well as making an impact on Brand lovers, the objective was for the campaign to go viral through the social networks to boost its impact.



The Strategy

Aquarius had to change its destiny so we set a challenge for consumers to show them that it's never too late to make some small changes that can be very significant in our lives.



The insight of this campaign inspired us to change the things we don't like about our lives, taking the example of a small detail that affects us for our whole lives and that someone else chooses for us; our name. However, it was going that extra mile and making the brand a catalyst for that change that made the campaign so well-known and enhanced its potential to really catch on and create a marketing buzz.



Execution

To sort out the bureaucracy, Aquarius created a unique real and virtual agency that helped those who were applying to have their name changed with all the complicated bureaucracy. And for those who actually like their name, we wanted to inspire them by providing games for them to join in on the idea of a name-change, to have fun and for the campaign to really catch on.



Strategy for reaching the audience:



1. We converted the Campaign Media Launch into a news item by choosing to host it in Huerta del Rey - the village with the strangest names in Spain, a very charismatic place that is repeatedly featured in the news.



2. Through a website, some fun and different Facebook applications and viral videos on the internet, we made a connection with brand lovers who helped the campaign to go viral on the Internet.



Documented Results

- 65% of Total Brand Communication Awareness, the highest in the recent history of the Brand, reaching Coca-Cola levels for the second time in the history of Aquarius.



-80% non-sport consumption.



- 2,400,000 visits registered on the on-line agency, an all-time record that is twice the average visits for a campaign for any other brand of the Coca-Cola Spain Company, including CocaCola.es



- Facebook Apps engaged 750,000 unique users exceeding 5 times The Coca-Cola Spain Company benchmark.



- 3,500 applicants used our Aquarius Agency for a change of name. The average before the campaign was only 700 per year.



- 16,662 conversations and mentions in total throughout the internet, making Aquarius the second-most mentioned brand in Spain, after Coca Cola.



- Over 200 free appearances in the media with the campaign as a news item which is priceless publicity.