Sobe: SoBe Try Everything Challenge

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Mobile Devices
Advertiser: SOBE
Product/Service: SOFT DRINKS
Media Agency: OMD USA, New York, USA
Marketing Manager/Ignition Factory: Sam Olstein (OMD)
Group Director: Brad Valeri (OMD)
Group Account Director: Gail Stein (OMD)
Managing Director: Aj Storinge (OMD)
Media placement: Television - MTV, BET, Various Cable, Brightline ITV - 31 March 2011
Media placement: Out-Of-Home - Various Units In New York City And Los Angeles - 25 April 2011
Media placement: Mobile - RockLive, Adenyo, JumpTap - 4 July 2011
Media placement: Print (Advance Publicity) - Sports Illustrated (SI) Swimsuit Edition - 7 February 2011
Media placement: Radio (Advance Publicity) - Spot Radio - 31 January 2011
Media placement: Digital (Non-Mobile) (Advance Publicity) - Sports Illustrated, Facebook, IndieClick, Pandora, Xbox Live, College Humor - 3 January 2011

Insights, Strategy & the Idea
SoBe, a non-carbonated beverage, launched with great success to young males based on a bold attitude, 'carpe diem' outlook and unique flavour combinations. But in a competitive category, it became overshadowed by giant competitors with bigger budgets. SoBe needed fresh communication and an unconventional approach to capture young males’ attention to keep the brand relevant.

But the target was challenging to engage. Having grown up digital, they lived in a world rich with experience and access, where brands are ignored unless they can unlock opportunity, enhance the consumers’ lifestyle and bring value beyond a product benefit.

With those insights, SoBe launched the “Try Everything” campaign, delivering once-in-a-lifetime moments as unique as SoBe’s flavours. A combination of media partnerships and exclusive access was used to re-launch the brand and regain relevance for SoBe, making other beverages look conventional, flat and boring.

Creative Execution
SoBe infiltrated media with the Try Everything Challenge: epic experiences centred on sports, women and gaming; areas our target was passionate about.

Executions included Major League Baseball pitcher Jered Weaver throwing apples to batters on TV; supermodel Kate Upton engaging in a virtual staring contest via mobile; a mobile gaming integration for the iPhone and a contest rewarding SoBe drinkers.

By leveraging the popular Mike Tyson: Main Event iPhone app, SoBe included a new training mode integrating its flavour portfolio into the game, custom "fruit" punches that enhanced game-play and a SoBe leaderboard that synced to Facebook. The Try Everything Challenge also allowed the game's highest scoring player to get in a real-life boxing ring with heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson at Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Results and Effectiveness
SoBe’s Try Everything Challenge pioneered a new way for brands to partner with celebrities in the mobile space.

Once the program was announced, word of the Try Everything Challenge immediately went viral. Competition stakes inspired droves of prominent celebrities to promote the challenge themselves, resulting in 25 million+ organically earned impressions. We leveraged this buzz to extend the conversation to SoBe’s Facebook page, recruiting millions more to play. Within the first week alone, we saw 500,000+ downloads of the game and by the end of the program SoBe gamers had played 12,000+ hours (469 days) of the Try Everything Challenge.