Sour Patch Kids
To wrap up my college career, I was one of three chosen to be a Strategist in MU’s renowned student-staffed advertising agency, MOJO AD. Throughout the semester, my team was tasked with creating an integrated marketing campaign for our client, Sour Patch Kids, and presenting our final pitch to executives at Mondelēz International.
The ask:
Leverage an influencer, brand or culture collaboration to position Sour Patch Kids as Gen Z’s top candy choice and a culture icon.
The research:
Through quantitative and qualitative research, we found Gen Z is tired of the uber-polished persona that both people and brands put on. They’ve grown up around social media and know the stories people tell on their feed rarely match their real lives. While this demographic enjoys influencer content, they’re skeptical of their actions and believe they’re motivated by money. They see the inauthenticity of social media as a barrier to the deep connections they value.
The Strategy:
Our campaign strategy seamlessly integrates itself into Gen Z’s culture by highlighting the tension between society’s acceptance of fakeness on social media vs. Gen Z’s increasing cynicism toward it, positioning SPK as the brand that helps people form genuine connections.
Meet our target audience: The Comedic Connector. Gen Z consumers who try to live life to the fullest, but, in reality, that lifestyle can be chaotic. As digital natives, they’re tired of only seeing everyone’s highlight reels. They care about true connection and believe the strongest bonds are made by sharing the parts of life that are messy.
The SPK Kares Foundation:
SPK Kares is a mock foundation aimed at spreading awareness, or self-awareness, about the rapid spread of a virus currently plaguing the Gen Z market: influencer influenza. With everyone thinking they’re an influencer these days, Gen Z consumers are inundated with a barrage of cringe-worthy, chronically online behavior. SPK Kares is aware that when an individual’s follower count starts to rise, so does their lack of authenticity. Whether their symptoms include daily “fit checks”, over-whitening their teeth on Facetune or cultivating a new persona when attending music festivals, the foundation wants to aid the infected in their recovery and, hopefully, stop the spread of the virus.
This campaign gives Comedic Connectors the freedom to live authentically and to embrace their imperfect lives rather than being ashamed of it. It will solidify SPK’s brand authenticity in the eyes of the Comedic Connector by capitalizing on the human truth that no one’s life is as perfect as their highlight reels portray it to be – and that’s okay.
“I felt [this campaign] put the most thought into campaign architecture and how you create a seamless experience. The UX/UI of consumer experience was best in class and competes with professional agency work product. Overall presentation design quality was excellent.”
- Jon Halvorson Global SVP, Consumer Experience at Mondelēz International