Mountain Dew Notes

Mountain Dew

Do the Dew -> catapulted Mountain Dew to the position number three. Entering in its 8th year.

• Many other brands were now sponsoring the same alternative sports
• Teens were gravitating to new activities and new music that competitors are exploiting in their brands
• Make-or-break decision to select the new spot.
• 1992: Diet MD, did good because the flavor hided the artificial sweetener -> Do Diet Dew
• First Campaign: Done That: Grunge music and free-fall toward canyon’s river bottom -> Dew Dudes
• 1994 / 1995: pool-outs of the ad.
• 1998: Ads becoming too predictable -> oversaturation

Carbonated Soft Drink Category (CSD)

• Long time dominated by the colas
• Boomed as a substitute for caffeine
• Promotion intensive category
• Impulse purchase -> higher margins, even than 24-pack
• 1999 category slow down sales -> non-carbonated drinks and bottled waters (Gatorade, Arizona, Redbull)

Advertising and Branding

• Coke had become the America’s drink. Served as a social elixir.
• Mountain dew rose from its regional status to become a major “flavor” brand
• Mountain Dew dominated rural areas, particularly Midwest and Southeast.
• Sprite dominated urban-ethnic areas

Mountain Dew Brand History

• Invented in late 1940s in Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Powerful citrus flavor, more sugar and caffeine than other drinks, and less carbonation.
• 1973 assigned the brand to BBDO -> ad represented by mountains, reflecting the sun. Often casual athletics.
• 1980 targeted suburban teenagers -> Country Cool -> Marry athletics endeavors of suburban kids (cool) to Mountain Dew’s active rural lifestyle (country). Man performing in BMX, mountain bikes, etc.
• 1991 jettisoned the country component -> Entire campaign around athletics stunts.
• Now they put the viewer in the middle of the action -> suggesting excitement and energy.

Cultural Trends

• Music

• Rap
• Grunge
• Techno – Popular in the metropolitan areas -> RedBull

• Sports

• Alternative sports took off in the early 1990s (mountain bike, skateboard, bmx, snowboarding)
• Risky and creative began to attract spectators
• Mountain Dew one of the leaders (and first) sponsors of X Games (ESPN)

• GenX Ethos

• Working hard to get ahead
• Not interested in listening “sales messages”. Prefer non-trendy products.

MD Market Research

• Lower penetration but most loyal in category.
• Highest gatekeeping -> mothers tried to keep out of children.
• Tracked KPIs -> concerned with brand health amongst teens.

2000 Planning

• 1999 became third, but because the CSD loses field (alternative non-carbonated soft drinks)
• How to keep Do the Dew campaign working hard to build the brand, given the overexposed situation
• How to respond the growing threat of non-CSD (Gatorade, Red Bull)
• New Creative: Symbolize that drinking MD in an exhilarating experience
• Objective: Expand appeal of MD to new users while reinforcing it among current users
• Positioning: 18 years old epicenter, who embraces adventure and fun. Energizing, thirst-quenching, citrus flavor
• Target: Male Teens (18Yo). Ensure appeal (20 – 39 YO, current users), Drive universal appeal (white, afroam, Hispanic)
• Product Benefits: Energizing, Great Taste and Quenching
• Emotional Benefits: Exhilaration, Excitement
• Personality: Irreverent, Daring, Fun

Less niche brand -> Ads was in the superbowl.

The New Creative

• Labor of Love: doctor catch with a baseball mitt the baby as it shoots out of its mother like a cannon
• Cheetah: Dew Dudes try to recover a MD can from a Cheetah. Tackles the cat and pulls put the can from the cheetah’s stomach
• Dew or Die: Villains threatening the planet, daredevils maneuvers down the mountain, girls but save anyways the world.
• Mock Opera: Bohemian Rhapsody sung by the Dew Dudes. Alternative lyrics
• Showstopper: Extravagantly choreographed production. Dancers BMX riders and Dew Dudes as Directors.