SweeTARTS’ set out to refresh its heritage-based perception by focusing on growing brand affinity with Gen Z and increasing awareness of its broader product portfolio. Although SweeTARTS experiences strong brand awareness, its main challenge was moving beyond their notoriety as the brand who makes your favorite candy from childhood: SweeTARTS Originals.
With the program objectives of 1) uniquely showcasing the breadth and depth of their product portfolio, and 2) building brand relevance with Gen Z by solidifying the SweeTARTS position in culture - the SweeTARTS SweetBEATS music mixer was born.
Through SweetBEATS, Duncan Channon imagined and executed an interactive music experience brought to life via an interactive site, a celebrity contest featuring Christina Aguilera, and a 360 media plan consisting of influencers, a partnership with Spotify, PR, and paid social to drive reach and engagement. A variety of KPIs were used to measure reach and engagement across our channel mix by looking at metrics like impressions, video views, social post engagement, contest submissions, site views, and time on site.
SweeTARTS embodies duality; it’s in the name and the tagline “Be Both”. But the product line goes beyond just “sweet” and “tart.” SweeTARTS products are a collision of flavor and texture, shape and color because candy is more interesting when each bite has a little bit of duality.
We knew that Gen Zers have bucked conformity and refused to be pigeonholed into certain aspects of their identity over others. Half of Gen Z is nonwhite and many are also bicultural. They are also more likely than others to identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Gen Zers want the freedom to express their authentic selves because no one is ever just one thing.
Those product & consumer truths informed our choice to use music as a form of self-expression to introduce the product portfolio to Gen Z in the form of the SweetBEATS mixer. The program itself was designed to meet Gen Z in spaces they were naturally occupying online (e.g. Tiktok, Spotify, etc).
Via the SweetBEATS mixer, we let visitors play with SweeTARTS candies to create custom beats. We gave users four melodies and four rhythms to mix and match, ranging from vintage to vibey. The design intentionally infused product discovery into the experience with each custom beat inspired by the distinct vibe of SweeTARTS candies: Ropes, Chewy and Originals. By manipulating the various settings (candies), no two beats would be the same.
The incentive to test out one’s music-making prowess was a social contest layered into the experience. Creators were able to share their beats with friends and the 20 most-liked beats would receive a prize pack with a Summer's supply of SweeTARTS as well as be eligible for the grand prize - joining Christina Aguilera for a 1:1 virtual studio session to turn the beat into an extended track. The winning beat would be hand-selected by Aguilera herself.
The SweetBEATS experience was supported by a stellar interagency team and promoted through TikTok influencers, a partnership with Spotify, PR, and paid/organic social media. We launched the SweetBEATS music mixer site with a big promotional push consisting of outreach across a range of Gen Z, gen-pop and trade media outlets, Christina Aguilera announcing the contest across her social accounts, and Tiktok influencers demoed the mixer and promoted the contest on their feeds. The launch was also supported by paid/boosted social placements on FB, IG and Tiktok with specific targeting layers to ensure our message reached Gen Z and drove traffic to the mixer. Our partnership with Spotify included using their proprietary targeting to position our ads in playlists that had the highest Gen Z listenership.
When the contest concluded, one lucky winner’s final track was uploaded to SweeTARTS artist page on Spotify. And in the end, the SweetBEATS music mixer was able to give thousands of Gen Z consumers what it loved most: music, a chance to create, and the opportunity to win.
We considered SweetBEATS a huge success. With the contest duration only lasting 3 weeks, we were blown away by the results.
