AdMiration feature: Dr Pepper’s “Skatelife crisis” - It's a Pepper thing campaign

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we researched Dr Pepper’s “Skatelife crisis” ad. Dr Pepper is the oldest soda brand in the US and has communicated consistently and effectively for many years. The brand positioning has always been about its mysterious unique blend of flavors that offers an experience like no other soft drink. 

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how the ad was received based on our data. 

The ad begins with a young, edgy skater spotting a middle-aged man coming out of a store holding a can of Dr Pepper, just like him. He asks him whether he likes Dr Pepper to which the older man replies “and its unique blend of 23 flavors.” 

In that moment, they immediately establish a bond and the audience is shown a montage of their unlikely friendship to the beat of Rick Astley’s “Together Forever.” The pair are pictured showing off tricks with their skateboard and e-scooter, pulling pranks, hanging out in the older man’s office and even getting tattoos. 

The montage ends with the message: “one-of-a-kind taste, one-of-a-kind connection” and closes with a shot of various Dr Pepper products and the tagline “it’s a Pepper thing.”

This new “it’s a Pepper thing” campaign has extended across social channels (TikTok, Instagram, X) and alludes to their most successful campaign ever, “Be a Pepper” that was launched in the 70s. With this newer campaign, they’re building on that idea of a Pepper community. 

3 facts

• The ad scores in the top 10% of all US ads in potential to drive immediate sales and build brand equity in the long-term.

• It's highly enjoyable, having a feel-good tone throughout, with a strong laughter reaction (particularly among the younger audience) and a musical appeal score significantly above the US norm.

• While entertaining, the ad is also highly effective in driving purchase intent by clearly communicating that the product can be enjoyed by different types of people and conveying a benefit around great taste that’s essential for success within the category. 

2 learnings

• Clearly communicating a product benefit or unique selling proposition (USP), like the unique blend of 23 flavors, can help a campaign’s potential to drive immediate and long term purchase behavior.

• A USP doesn’t always have to be functional. Sometimes an emotional benefit like the sense of togetherness and belonging to a “crew” in this case elicits positive brand association and helps drive consideration for non-buyers and loyalty or advocacy for current consumers.

1 reflection

How well defined is your brand identity? Understanding exactly what your brand stands for, what it means to consumers, and how it differs versus others in the category gives you the space to explore creatively — bringing to life different ideas that are still on brand. You could call this fresh consistency: resulting in new executions that continue to deliver for the brand as they are grounded in the brand’s identity. 

This ad was a great example of how a clear USP and brand identity, as well as the power of bringing diverse groups of people together, can influence a campaign’s potential.

The ad scored in the top 10% of all US ads in both Sales Impact (93) and Brand Impact (91). And when compared to the category norm, the ad landed in the top 5% of all beverages ads tested in the US, making it a clear success.

It was also a real standout among consumers, with the ad being seen as highly distinctive and the brand easily recognizable (see above). The uniqueness of brand impressions were also significantly higher than the norm (4.2 vs 3.9) with half of respondents saying the ad could only be for Dr Pepper! 

The product itself was also present in most of the ad (visually or voiced over), with the end credit making it extremely clear what brand the ad was for. 

Consumers found the ad very funny, which can be seen in the ad’s laughter reaction scoring significantly above the norm (see above). We also found that the younger the viewer was, the funnier they found the ad — making it an even greater hit with Gen Z.

It’s also worth noting that the ad’s depiction of diverse groups of people, from different age ranges, races and backgrounds, coming together to enjoy Dr Pepper was commended and appreciated. 

Over 85% of viewers thought it was clear the ad was trying to communicate that Dr Pepper brings people together. One respondent described it perfectly: “It’s a very wholesome ad in a cheesy way”.

Others shared:

• "It was warm and inspiring and funny at the same time. I loved the classic tune for music, too. Good watching old(er) and young and different cultures laugh and enjoy Dr Pepper (one of my top three sodas)."

• "I liked when the guy opened the Dr Pepper, it fizzled all over him and he laughed about it with the others watching. I also liked the message that it is a one of a kind drink that makes a one of a kind connection.”

• "I liked the nostalgic montage with Rick Astley singing in the background. It was a bit wacky, but reminded me of commercials from the early 2000's."

• "I like that it had different age groups hanging out together and skateboarding as a unit. Shows Dr. Pepper is for all age groups. It is fun to watch the unity of the group."

While the ad was certainly entertaining and wholesome, it was also very successful in driving people to purchase the brand after watching. 

Additionally, it effectively communicated the product benefits, with over half of the audience agreeing the ad depicted the brand as “great tasting” and over 80% saying it clearly communicated the fact the product “has a unique blend of 23 flavors” — nailing its positioning with consumers. 

Overall, the audience really enjoyed the entertaining nature of the ad. It was upbeat, humorous and generally conveyed a sense of positivity and energy that really resonated with viewers. It also built beautifully on Dr Pepper’s previous campaigns with a fresh tagline and vision. 

What did you think? Let us know by interacting with our coverage of the ad on LinkedIn.

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