MARKETING Magazine Asia

STOP PRESS: Sting hijacks Deadpool & Wolverine

As I was driving along the highway in the current heatwave, I was intrigued by some timely creative. Using multiple Digital Out of Home (DOOH) screen locations, it easily reached a daily audience exceeding 10 million people by our estimates.

With clever placements, alongside posters of the movie Deadpool and Wolverine, energy drink Sting seems to have upended the action by leveraging on the movie’s hot appeal to advantange.

A clear guerrilla marketing strategy, not unusual for Etika brands, the campaign reminded me a bold “hijack” campaign by Wonda a few years ago.

In a stroke of marketing agility, Etika ran mirror-like advertisements for Sting, featuring two flavour variants that cheekily aligned with the colours of Deadpool and Wolverine.

We have also discovered that this campaign was created, planned and executed in less than three days, true to the magical speed of DOOH.

It showcased Etika’s trailblazing dare for buzzworthy marketing that captured the essence of the high-octane action and humour of the film.

The ads featured the Sting Gold Rush, which has a unique taste and is mildly carbonated as well as the tasty Sting Berry Blast, a funky alternative flavour with a hint of sweet strawberry goodness.

With a strategy that simulated a “sting-like” phenomenon, the Sting ads created a juxtaposition that highlights the bold, adventurous spirit of both brands. The vibrant yellow and red cans of Sting actually complemented the dynamic backdrop of Deadpool and Wolverine’s adventures.

This campaign clearly appears to continue Etika’s efforts of jiving with pop culture, also exemplified in recent collaborations with Astro Shaw’s The Experts which were leveraged for drinks like Calpis and Mirinda.

We managed to get the source video for readers from Visual Retale who orchestrated the campaign.