How Sprite Is Helping Hot and Bothered Commuters Keep their Cool with a 'Heat' Activated Vending Machine
Cancelled trains. Travellers propping their feet on the seats. Irritating TikTok videos played at max volume. It’s enough to make commuters’ blood boil at the best of times, but in summer, with stiflingly hot and humid weather to contend with, soaring temperatures mean soaring tempers.
For this reason, Sprite is on a mission to help gen z cool down and chill out with its ‘Heat Happens’ platform. This latest activation is aimed squarely at beleaguered commuters contending with all the annoyances of slogging back and forth to the office in high summer. Together with WPP OpenX, the brand has created a Sprite vending machine that will drop ice-cold Sprite when things get heated.
Research with gen z commuters has allowed the team to identify the sort of irritations that impact them the most, and live data will allow the machine to respond to a wide range of ‘heated moments’.
The pilot has launched at London’s King’s Cross Station, and will roll out across Europe over the summer and beyond. Kiran Ranmal, European creative marketing manager at The Coca-Cola Company breaks down this playful attempt to help us style out those hot, sweaty, annoying commutes.
LBB> What are the roots of Sprite's Heat Happens narrative?
Kiran> ‘Heat Happens’ is built on the insight that we are living in a world that’s more heated than ever before, where even small moments can escalate quickly. By leveraging occasions throughout the day that might trigger moments of ‘heat’, and demonstrating that cool minds ultimately prevail, Sprite invites consumers to cool down with a refreshing, ice-cold Sprite, and helps them stay cool.
LBB> What was the strategic brand need that underpinned the decision to do some sort of big playful activation?
Kiran> We have seen great success for the Sprite brand off the back of the ‘Heat Happens’ global brand platform, and the continued focus on a gen z audience. Our approach - to listen closely to the consumer landscape - has driven different engagement opportunities across the globe, each tapping into light-hearted and relatable examples of heat. This is our latest tactical activation to leverage Sprite’s irresistible taste and help everyone keep cool on their commute. We recognise that heated moments are part of the fabric of our daily lives. Heat is everywhere, it’s inevitable, and it can be easy to lose your cool. So, with our new Sprite vending machine, we can offer consumers one simple solution: to refresh and keep cool with an ice-cold Sprite on-the-go.
LBB> What role does this entertainment-driven content and experience play in Sprite's marketing strategy?
Kiran> Real-time digital and social experiences, music experiences and content, and new consumer, shopper and out-of-home communication that tap into locally relevant topical moments and passion points are truly at the heart of everything we do.
LBB> At a time when employers and gen z workers are seeing a bit of a tug of war over remote work versus the return to the office, the commute is a particularly spicy battleground! To what extent did that play into the decision to do something around the commute and train travel?
Kiran> Of course in some markets, Sprite creative executions are linked to physical heat, such as spicy food, or standing in an endless queue at a music festival in the summer sun, but we are always looking to expand the footprint of ‘Heat Happens’ to provide more engagement opportunities with consumers. We recognised that in the UK, commuting is one of the main bugbears for gen z, with one in 10 Brits saying that commuting is the area in life that bothers them the most, so we’ve created this vending machine to dispense Sprite to help cool down commuters when they need it most.
LBB> And tell me about the research study looking at 'gen z's moments of heat'. As a marketer, what have been the most useful insights to come from that?
Kiran> The research was a key part of the activation, to help us understand the things that get people heated. We surveyed 2,017 people in the UK, aged 18 and over, to shed light on the unusual (and often really specific) things that get gen z hot and bothered, and how many of those are linked to the commute. We now know that the nation gets annoyed an average of 12 times a day, but gen z finds themselves frustrated the most at 18 times per day!
LBB> How did you and the WPP OpenX team get from the 'Heat Happens' idea and 'moments of heat' research to the idea of bringing the vending machine in and playing with the experience of the vending machine?
Kiran> The vending machine was a fun way to dramatise the antidote to heat, making it more engaging for our target audience. Consumers can always find vending machines at train stations, but this brings the surprise factor when they are looking for a hit of refreshment on-the-go.
LBB> What has been the most interesting creative aspect of bringing this project to life?
Kiran> Finding ways to interpret data sets and API in a fun and engaging way that is relatable to our gen z audience has undoubtedly been the most interesting part of this process!
LBB> There's a wry sense of humour to the activation as it pokes fun at the smart tech explosion - why is that humour so important to the Sprite brand?
Kiran> With a brand platform that’s based on finding things that are annoying to our target audience, humour is the only way to authentically engage with them on an emotional level! If we can help gen z see the funny side of the heat, we are more likely to build a longer-lasting connection with the brand.
LBB> I see in the press release that this is a pilot, so where do you see this going next?
Kiran> We plan to roll this out in a number of markets across Europe, but can’t reveal exactly where just yet… We’ll reveal all on our Sprite Instagram channel @spriteeurope, so watch this space!
