Slurpee is a beloved cultural icon known for being a nostalgic reward. After 57 years, though, Slurpee was at risk of becoming just another frozen drink.
In 2022, 7-Eleven’s #2 share in the frozen category was being threatened by a cultural preference for the drive-thru and deep QSR advertising pockets where 7-Eleven was routinely outspent at a rate greater than 10 to 1. With summers getting hotter, cooling off at the drive-thru wasn’t a behavior expected to change anytime soon.
We knew the Slurpee brand held untapped power as one of our most distinct and celebrated assets. America’s OG frozen beverage had to increase its relevance among a new generation of drinkers if it wanted to sustain growth into the next 50 years. Not an easy task, considering most younger customers hadn’t grown up with the nostalgia of a Slurpee – and anyone who lived outside a 7-Eleven market hadn’t.
The objective was clear: create a culturally relevant new vibe and point of view for Slurpee that would usher in a new generation of fans. This included:
Elevating perceptions of Slurpee – and by extension 7-Eleven – as a cool, desirable brand among Gen Z and young Millennials.
Persuade new audiences to buy Slurpee drinks
Grow the Slurpee footprint by 50% nationally by making it available at Speedway and Stripes stores and increase year-over-year Slurpee Day (7/11) redemptions.
It’s more than a drink. It’s a Slurpee. It’s a ritual that fuels your creativity. We set out to re-introduce this cultural icon with the first-ever dedicated marketing campaign for the product. This included an omnichannel campaign showcasing a refreshed look and feel with new TV spots, social and paid media campaigns, consumer activations, as well as new designs in-store for Slurpee drink cups. The campaign marked the next era of Slurpee in a world where anything flows.
The idea was to keep the nostalgic drink dominating feeds all summer long – deemed “The Summer of Slurpee” – to celebrate its loyal customers and usher in a new generation of fans. We crafted a strategic storytelling and media relations approach to be phased throughout the summer to create a steady drumbeat of news to catch the attention of our target audiences by tapping into the key fandoms that overlap with the Slurpee fan community and aspirational target – music and fashion.
The campaign included three phases with Phase I serving as the launch of the rebrand and Phase III as the culmination of the campaign on Slurpee Day – 7/11. In between, Phase II brought Anything Flows to life. More than a tagline, it gave Slurpee a POV that inspired all creative touchpoints. From the flavor-first storytelling across all integrated touchpoints that boldly reintroduced the brand to our tentpole music activation: Slurpee Remix.
We teamed up with burgeoning rapper Flo Milli to release the ultimate song of the summer – “Anything Flows” – on streaming platforms as part of her discography. The song featured Slurpee-inspired verses and cameos from emerging stars Kari Faux, 2Rare and Maiya the Don. It included a call to action for fans and up-and-coming artists to showcase their own talent by submitting lyrics to the track’s open verse. The top entry inspired by Slurpee would land a spot on the song’s remix that would drop at the end of the summer. Those who weren’t ready to step up to the mic could still win experiences inspired by the fusion of streetwear and hip hop, like custom pieces of Slurpee-inspired jewelry from King Ice or the chance to be an extra in a Lyrical Lemonade music video.
Leaning into Hip Hop to create a “Slurpee Remix” was core to the magic of our planning. In a world where so many brands were trying to co-opt the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop, Slurpee created an authentic brand activation that invited aspiring artists to co-create a song of the summer, helping us build up a brand fandom. It celebrated our Self-Made music fans – helping the next generation of Hip Hop (and Slurpee) fans co-create a new song of the summer.
Anything Flows reignited the Slurpee brand with younger customers and unleashed it as one of our most distinctive brand assets. The phased approach increased consideration and elevated 7-Eleven’s brand power like never before, truly making 2023 the Summer of Slurpee.
By far, one of the most notable successes was making our iconic drink of the summer a legitimate song of the summer. Anything Flows made it on the coveted rap caviar playlist reaching over 2M streams – a feat no amount of media spend could guarantee and a true testament to the power of Slurpee’s authentic flow.
Anything Flows garnered top-tier attention in music culture with 2.5M Streams and 15M Saves.
In the world of Spotify, nothing holds as much clout as the Rap Caviar playlist – with more than 15.6M followers on Spotify and 1.3M followers on Instagram.
Overall Campaign Metrics
5B Slurpee Day impressions
16.3M hashtag views
713K social engagements
2K pieces of merchandise sold on 7Collection
Earned over 1.65 billion earned media impressions
Anything Flows theme song logged 2.29M organic streams and counting!
Total 7-Eleven brand consideration up to 80% (vs. 72% STYA)
Slurpee product consideration up to 63% average (vs. 58% STYA) among younger customers
