SoBe Lizards to Star on Billboards
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07 March 2008
This year's Super Bowl viewers saw a group of lizards dancing with supermodel (and cell phone enthusiast) Naomi Campbell to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in a spot for Pepsi's SoBe Life Water.
Directed by Peter Arnell, CEO of independent The Arnell Group here,
the spot was the shop's first work for {tag SoBe}. Arnell was handed the
estimated $20 million business late last year without a review, per
sources. Publicis Groupe-backed Bartle Bogle Hegarty had handled
the account. (BBH held the business for about a year but never
produced any work for the client.)
The Super Bowl spot was just the beginning of a marketing push for
the brand. Arnell's second effort, which is set to launch on March
19 in New York's Times Square and then move across the country,
will focus on billboards that highlight the lizard, the Web site
Thrillicious.com and show off the five SoBe flavors: blackberry
grape, pomegranate cherry, orange tangerine, strawberry kiwi and
passion fruit citrus.
"This billboard blitz will enable consumers to experience on a
street level the uniqueness of SoBe, the SoBe lizards and the
overall "Thrillicious" movement from New York to Los Angeles -- no
matter where they work or live," said Massimo d'Amore, CEO of
PepsiCo Americas Beverages, in a statement,
The dancing lizards are meant to represent the silhouette of a
lizard that is seen on all bottles of SoBe.
"We created a series of characters that best represent the spirit
of the product," said Arnell. "There's a great love for this type
of character who is outrageous, underground and friendly but with
an edge."
Arnell, who designed Jackson's Invincible cover art and
marketing campaign, has big plans for the lizards. "They're the
Nike swoosh of SoBe. There will be merchandise and we'll follow
them around," he said. "We're not going to be the brand that works
for them; they're going to work for us."
While Arnell is cagey about future plans, he does offer this hint:
"All you need to do is think Disney."
Source: ADWEEK
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