Michael Smith, head of brand marketing, discusses ‘irreverent optimists’ an NBA partnership and why he admires YouTube TV
PepsiCo may have retired Sierra Mist, but it remains bullish on the lemon-lime soft drink space behind its new brand, Starry.
Though commonly referred to as a brand made for Gen Z, Starry’s target audience is more specific than that, according to Michael Smith, Starry’s head of marketing. Starry was made for “irreverent optimists,” or people who maintain a positive perspective amid society’s flood of negative news, and find relief in the off-beat and weird, Smith said.
“We saw people who had more access to information than anyone has historically. And fortunately or unfortunately, a significant amount of that information is negative or skewed negatively. It’s where terms like ‘doom scrolling’ come from,” Smith said, speaking on Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast. “And what we saw was the group of people that in the face of this kind of onslaught of negative information, maintained a level of optimism and positive outlook on what the future could look like.
“We saw something interesting in the tension between how the world and society articulates itself and how this group of people responds to it.”
Starry found a key partner in the NBA, which helped to drive trial and awareness while delivering Starry’s target customer. Starry is now the official soft drink of the NBA, the WNBA and NBA G League.
“The NBA possesses the scale necessary to drive the awareness of Starry that was necessary because … in year one, it’s an awareness and trial game. The NBA was really a huge galvanizing force in helping us build the initial awareness that we were trying to drive,” Smith said. “But what I really think unlocks the NBA as a partner is they were able to do that while still possessing a really strong equity with an exposure to that core irreverent optimist target. So you’re not selling out your target for mass awareness.”
During the NBA playoffs, Starry debuted a commercial and short film called “3>2: A Starry Story,” which presented a fantastical history of the three-point shot as told by Starry’s characters Lem and Lime. Featuring hoops stars Zion Williamson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Angel Reese and Matt Barnes, the spot capitalized on debate among basketball fans while delivering a “weirdly refreshing” message that resonated with Starry’s target customer, Smith said. The agency Ten35 was behind the work.
Smith, who previously worked on stalwart brands like Gatorade and Pepsi, said working on a new brand was “liberating,” noting how the company was free to start from a blank sheet. “The name, design, packaging, partners, marketing, strategy, creative execution—all of that flowed from the brand positioning,” he said of Starry. “And so I think that for us, starting with the consumer, focusing on the product, delivering the brand positioning, and letting all of the advertising and marketing flow from there is what’s allowed us to be successful.”
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This article first appeared in adage.com
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