Tricky social marketing campaign for teens

Syke seems to be a new hip energy drink. Campaign has taken over US TV, print, Internet and music events targeted to teenagers.

Campaign is divided into three phases:
1. Introduce Syke through extreme ads to the target group and make them interact with the brand. Syke is presented as the ultimate drink making life awesome.
2. Introduce 9 new “super awesome” ingredients that are also actually the most dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes.
3. Total public collapse of Syke energy drink and shame. It is being introduced as dangerous as cigarettes and fake chief executive of the fake company disgraced and the fake product pulled from fake shelves.

The marketers believe that the target group first acknowledges the brand and takes it seriously. The bad things happening to the energy drink and the final revelation are believed to be refreshing and they believe that teenagers take the message coming from Syke more seriously as from some unknown advertiser.

The Warren Commission Report report says the highest rates of smoking are in the subcultures whose identities are tied up in a look and an attitude. Syke firsthand creates an attitude and look level teenagers want to look up to and after speak to them from that platform created.

As average teenager is not anymore as “Mainstream Floater” but far more complex, then campaign created is supposed to reach everybody who is not a “Mainstream Floater”. They built their strategy around the tastes of a composite subculture. Pretty funny content on the web site. Go check it out. Although I’m not sure about the outcome of this campaign. Scary pictures of tainted lungs work well for me. But I’m not a teenager either.