ABOUT

To say K-Pop is huge in Chile would be an understatement. The Korean Pop global phenomenon has taken root in the hearts and minds all over Chile. So, we launched the first-ever K-Pop band formed outside Korea through a campaign that included an original song, music video and social/digital amplification. These 360° activations all orbited around our distinctive limited-edition K-Pepsi bottle at retail.

Before this campaign started sugar-free Pepsi was a perceived as challenger brand. Notice the past tense there? The challenge we faced was building popularity in youth-culture and building relevance. Getting them to switch to our brand over others. To celebrate and amplify the cultural phenomenon of K-Pop in Chile we wanted the youth of Chile to have a sense of ownership of the K-Pepsi brand experience. We invited them to dare to be different and embrace the K-pop experience. While everyone pretty much follows the same path to success, why not dare to dream big?

From these audacious roots, K-Pepsi grew. The first K-Pop band formed outside Korea with an all-Chilean cast. We put five kids in the spotlight — giving them a shot to do something nobody had ever done before. Or since. They put out an original single with lyrics that mix Spanish, English and Korean. It raced across the digital and broadcast airwaves on Spotify and radio stations launching with a music video that makes a clear nod to K-Pop in production value, costumes and choreography. The core of the campaign as a LTO packaging for Pepsi Zero. We turned the bottles into a K-Pop concert with a substrate innovation that reflects light, shape and colors. It’s a glitzy, glittering, extravagant experience that’s like holding a disco-ball encrusted microphone in your hand.

In October this campaign helped us reach historical peaks in share of market. In the sugar-free category we jumped up from around 4% to nearly 20% in the sugar free category. Our video was viewed eight point five million times. It also was seen over a million times on social channels like TikTok and Instagram. And even though we were focused on Chile, the campaign itself became a global phenomenon getting coverage in ten other countries. Initially intended as a 3-month program, the success and incredible influencer support for K-Pepsi created a phenomenon and the K-Pop initiative is now a year-long activation, with more plans underway to expand the brand experience to 2022 and beyond.