Sunny Delight Beverages Co. has embarked on a nationwide road trip to promote its drinks.
The 60,000-mile Summer 4 Ever tour kicked off in Cincinnati last month and ends there 10 months later on Nov. 12. Two tricked out Sunny D “Sunmobiles” are staffed with two brand ambassadors that will launch the campaign from the 20-foot step vans with attached trailers.
The promotion is built around the theme of delivering the spirit of summer. The Sunmobiles are wrapped in bright yellow, blue and orange colors. Images of hula dances with surfboards dress up the vehicles.
“Summer is a great time of year and whether its going to be cool or blazing hot we’ll be out there to bring that sense of summer refreshment and summer spirit everywhere we go,” Jennifer Cottle, brand manager for Sunny Delight, Cincinnati, OH, said yesterday.
At each stop games and music are used to attract visitors, who receive product samples of SunnyD and the company’s newest products SunnyD Baja, Orange Peach and Orange Strawberry. Coupons and themed prizes will be distributed.
The tour will travel about 1,500 miles per week and visit more than 50 major U.S. markets in 37 states, Sunny Delight said. Stops include Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Atlanta, as well as smaller cities like Boise, ID, and Memphis, TN. The vans will appear at parades, local sporting events and neighborhood parties.
The trip is aimed at four core targets, general-market moms, tweens, African Americans and Hispanics, said Megan Donahue, VP-client services, for MatchPoint Marketing, Pittsburgh, PA, which handles the program.
“We’ll be out there one-on-one talking to consumers and customers [retailers],” she said. “Prior to that, all of that communication had been through TV and this was a way to take it to the streets establishing that one-on-one communication with the consumer.”
A Web site, Summer4ever.com, includes a road trip map, photos from the road trip and an opportunity for people to request that the tour make a stop in their town or at an event. Sunny Delight plans to make a few surprise stops requested via the Web at family events such as birthday parties or family reunions.
A sweeps dangles one of three family vacation packages or one of 27 $100 gas cards. Print, P-O-P materials and freestanding inserts support.
P-O-P materials, including pallet headers and neck ringers, support the program and drive consumers to the Web site.
Cottle said the major road trip is a way for the brand to expand beyond traditional media venues such as TV and print.
“We wanted to find some ways to allow us to interact and meet face to face with our consumers,” Cottle said.
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