For many ‘90s kids, SunnyD was their whole childhood. Getting home from school you’d grab one to sip on while watching music video countdowns on TV and putting off homework. With a rich history as Millennials’ preferred beverage over “purple stuff,” SunnyD has since been working to transform its brand from a nostalgic 1990s icon to connect with a new generation.
The main challenge with the new generation of youths (Gen Z) is they are notoriously critical of brands and leer at inauthenticity. As the generation that coined the phrase “silence brand” and bats away overt advertising with the “fellow kids” GIF, SunnyD couldn’t tap into their hearts and minds with traditional tactics. Instead, SunnyD would have to bring the brand to life, crafting a personality that would resonate with GenZ while still reminding Millennials of the good ol' days. Engaging the community through authentic interactions that build actual friendships, SunnyD has positioned itself to truly be everyone's bestie.
Understanding what authenticity means to Gen Z requires surrendering old ways of thinking and embracing the dynamic Gen Z culture. In other words,acknowledge and show genuine interest in the target audience. SunnyD shines bright in this aspect and forgoes the traditional brand marketing messaging and utilizes their platform to highlight and engage with the community.
Through the evergreen campaign, SunnyD engages their community with a highly accessible quirky, self-aware persona; paying attention to and embracing popular topics their community talks about. SunnyD delivers this message masterfully, constantly adapting their delivery based on each social platform. In short, they speak the language of the platform and in a way that shows their audience the brand is one of them and not an outsider trying to sell a product.
A prime example of this can be seen on any SunnyD social post and even more so behind the scenes in the DMs. Unlike other brands, SunnyD does not merely use the comments section and direct message inbox to further their brand message. SunnyD takes the time to listen to what their fans have to say and engages with them in a meaningful way. Whether it be a fan asking for a Birthday shoutout on stories or just looking for someone who will listen to how their day went, SunnyD is always there for their fans and relishes any opportunity to connect with their fans.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, SunnyD has also put their community at the forefront of their social media content via user generated content. One of the core objectives of the SunnyD community management strategy is encouraging their fans to share their unique and bold talents with the brand. To further encourage fans and creators alike, the brand has created a unique line of branded swag that act as rewards and a badge of honor for fans who produce stand out content. Along with their one of a kind SunnyD-branded hoodie, the fans are also highlighted and tagged on the brand’s social page for everyone to see. This provides an added layer to the relationship the brand works so hard to build and goes a long way with Gen Z.
With a hyperactive, snarky community management approach in place, no account is safe. SunnyD has made engaging with other brands another primary focus of their strategy. Creating brand friendships has played a pivotal role in initiating buzzworthy conversations on social and has landed SunnyD in the headlines on more than a few occasions.
The efforts around highlighting fan-created content and building authentic relationships had a notable impact on the SunnyD social community growth; total community size (FB, IG, TW, TikTok (launched in Mar)) grew 9.54% (442k – 486k) over 2021.
8.7% social action rate - #1 brand for fan engagement across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok (source: NSCS)
420M total impressions across IG, TW and FB
12,629,879 earned impressions on Twitter (no Media spend)
AdAge coverage [https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/marketing-trends-november-19-2021/2382081]
15,544,967 Video Views
172,360 Link Clicks
1.4M Engagements
.3% Engagement Rate
26,947 Comments
18,873 Shares
12,700 New Followers
257,801 Instagram Story Impressions
