How Sprite Got Youth To Its Corner Store

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Sprite recently captivated urban youth at the Corner of Bowery and Spring Streets in New York with the creation of The Sprite Corner pop-up shop for the making of the movie “Straight Outta Compton”. With the brand’s synonymy with hip hop culture, the shop struck the perfect balance between an urban bodega and a concert hall, serving up a whole lot more than Sprite. The soft drink brand kept the youth flocking for a taste of the Sprite Corner experience and we’ll tell you why!

Quenching Millennials’ Desire

Decked wall to wall with make-believe Sprite inspired products, the venue showed the youth that there’s more to Sprite than the soft drink. The store came complete with a stage design, backdrop, space layout, milk crate stage, ceiling cove, and lighting to set up for day and night-specific events. From hosting performances, to workshops and cooking classes, the corner store’s existence was short lived but a resounding success with young Sprite fans who were looking for a refreshing brand experience. Only popping up for a month, the Sprite Corner closed off with a bang when they hosted a finale concert featuring Nas, Isaiah Rashad, and young up-and-comer Jordan Bratton. When the time came to close, Sprite left the youth with a deeper thirst, supporting their mantra – Sprite cuts through the thirst of those who are relentlessly thirsting for more. For Afrillennials™(African Millennials) who didn’t get to have the Sprite Corner experience, the brand hosted Sprite Uncontainable for die hard hip hop fans in South Africa, simultaneously, to celebrate uncontainable South African talent. Live acts included KO, Revivolution, Reason and Hydro, to name a few. Hosting similar occasions around the world although not related to the corner store, showed a clear strategy that helped Sprite to reinforce its messaging with the youth.

Creating A Lasting Impression

The Sprite Corner pop up store was successful because it allowed the brand to deviate from its product and showcase its brand personality with a sense of novelty, surprise and originality. It was unexpected, bought the youth together and generated a new story for the youth to associate with the brand in time to come. The Sprite Corner also allowed Sprite as a brand to get out of their comfort zone to try something different. Knowing their market, Sprite is hitting all the sweet spots by playing on hip hop’s influence in their lives and creating cool hangouts that young people can’t wait to get to and couldn’t possibly disassociate with the brand.

Leaving A Deeper Thirst

This project gave Sprite a new, dynamic platform to interact with the youth, tapping into the youth’s passion points.  Sprite’s Corner store initiative goes to show that when a brand changes up how it is experienced by young consumers, it changes how it’s viewed as well with far reaching effects. The amplified Sprite experience affected the youth’s interaction, engagement and relationship with the brand positively. Not only did Sprite give them a fresh perspective on the brand’s personality, but it also ignited millennials’ FOMO (fear of missing out) as the new experience was available for a limited time and to very few people. The store gave them a refreshing point of view on what the Sprite lifestyle looks like and Sprite has kept this messaging consistent around the globe.