Sprite Makes Waves on Vietnam’s Beach for an Immersive Festival of Culture & Music

The world’s third largest non-alcoholic beverage brand is taking over the world with its placement in culture and local communities. The conglomerate has taken it’s brand DNA to sweltering countries like Vietnam, Brazil, and Philippines to promote musical artists and shake up a diverse segment of the market.

Photography courtesy of Sprite

As Gen Z prioritise wellbeing, travel and ‘digital detoxing’ in a post-COVID world, they can recognise how Sprite has taken on cultural activations to showcase why out of home advertising, off-screen, is so important. 

While Sprite has been a global brand for around 60 years, the new digital world has been craving a unique sensory experiences to differentiate their communities and brand identity from the many competitors. Perhaps the increase in health drinks such as Kombucha’s, matcha's and energy drinks have drawn attention in the opposite direction. But don’t get it confused, Sprite can be recognised as energy fuelling names such as, “jumper cables” or “lightening”. As they continue to grow and tap into local communities whilst ensuring they are incorporating trends, injecting youthful energy into each campaign or event is a top priority for the brand. 

Photography courtesy of Sprite

New Wave travelled to Da Nang, the commercial city of  Vietnam to experience ‘Sprite Fest’. This activation has taken place in the Philippines as its first stop followed by Vietnam where cuisine is particularly highlighted as a culture moment that emphasises Sprite’s appeal to Gen Z locals and tourists. When you visit Da Nang, Sprite branding already sits in the corner shops, night markets and beach stalls of the city’s bustling streets in its bold green and white marks. 

The city has a unique mix of palm tree lined streets that whistled in the wind from sand grains blown off the beach. This just metres away from the two lanes crammed with excessive moped passengers cornering the tourist buses and cars. A culture shock of singing birds underpinning the beeping horns from the city’s nearby town was met with welcoming souls who offered infamous Vietnamese coffee and five star hospitality at the M Hotel. 

Photography courtesy of Sprite

A short weekend of exploring the Ancient town, Hoi Ann on a local farm for an intimate cooking class incorporating rice grinding and slurry to make rice paper. We enjoyed a lunch buffet of papaya salads, locally seasoned meats and traditional pancakes ‘banh xeo’, all washed down with cans of Sprite that enhance the spices and flavour of Vietnamese cuisine. As the mother company likes to say, Sprite is “Your spicy wingman”. 

Visiting local communities, learning from homegrown traditions within cooking and hospitality, engaging with the workers and staff and guided by locals over three days, New Wave had the chance to be fully immersed into the culture of Vietnam’s Da Nang city. 

The Sprite Festival spread across the beach with activities for young and older crowds to get involved from water slides, to outdoor Sprite-branded showers and games on the sand. A heartthrobbing line up of Dương Domic, LowG, Rhyder, Jsol, and Hurrykng brought EDM and pop to the stage lit up by green lasers, fireworks and splattered with water pistols that soaked the audience. The acts brought attention from the beach to the streets miles long on the strip. The trip continuously reminded us of the “Ultimate Refreshment” Sprite offers in the hot humid summer months. The perfect pairing at lunch with pho or bhan mi, additionally in real time heated moments when the ice-cold lemon-lime flavour that energises is the only solution to give full enjoyment of summer heat. 

Sprite VP Oana Vlad explains the creative strategy behind the activations around the world have always intended to place emphasis on allowing full access to local communities to be part of the moment. Free entry to Sprite Fest, giving away free products and hosting summer activities to keep rhythm and energy at the heart of the campaign. 

Photography courtesy of Sprite

As brands and capital cities climb on top of each other for music acts to shock and increase digital engagement and speculation, Sprite has honed in on the physical, sensory and real cultural moments that attach moments of excitement and discovery to its name. Oana Vlad tells New Wave “Gen Z are the future that inspires us and our point of view on culture as well. So you will see us expand these types of experiences globally, and summer is a key time because  a lot of Gen Z are out of school or college and so it’s a natural time for discovery and new experiences”. 

From large billboards, sides of buses to the cans sat on the bamboo tables of family run restaurants, Sprite understands how to place and integrate their product where it matters. Sprite is engaging their local communities with music and entertainment that will create national buzz. The festival’s bring people together for events that feel personally tailored to local culture to ignite their interest in getting involved. With accessibility to win competitions using the QR code on the side of Sprite tins, there is no exclusivity strategy in place to deter Gen Z from becoming part of the new Sprite Fest experience.