In September 2011, ‘Bring Your Own Cup’ Day was born. We gave Australians the freedom to bring anything they liked into a 7-Eleven store and fill it up with Slurpee (the original self-serve frozen drink). It was a Slurper’s dream come true. For the price of a medium cup, they filled gumboots, vases, trophies, buckets, viking helmets – anything (within reason) was fair game. The story of BYO Cup Day demonstrates the transformational effect of creativity. How we ignored the obvious solution: price discounting, and used brand activation instead, to build the brand’s relationship with its core drinkers. It demonstrates how creativity made the difference between a good start to the summer season for Slurpee and an exceptional one. Our goal: To deliver a brand activation that wasn’t just a tactical one-off promotion, but a property that would become a sustainable, annual brand event to kick-start the summer drinking season. Our objectives: Get our highly cynical and promiscuous target of 15-18 year olds excited and engaged – and into the 7-Eleven store.A short term sales up-lift would not be enough, we needed to set the brand up for a whole season of success.Our results: A 24 hour drinking frenzy ensued that created brand participation on a scale never seen before. By every measure, it was a huge success. Slurpee machines across the country were slurped dry, generating record revenue as well as brand love. It was the biggest and most successful promotional event in the history of the brand, with earned media amplifying the initial media investment by a factor of 1:27 and a return on marketing investment of over 1:13.