We began the relaunch by trolling our #BringBackCrystalPepsi trolls right back, in the form of Instagram posts misusing their hashtag - a hint that the product was returning. We then drove from social to a short digital film, “The 92nd Floor,” in which we imagined a world where our fans’ fervor was matched by a group of Crystal Pepsi employees just as passionate as they were, who never shut down - even when the product was pulled from shelves back in ’92. Now, twenty-three years later, they were ready to share Crystal Pepsi with the world. Again. The film, a 90s period piece, celebrated our fans' nostalgia and simultaneously announced the product's return in the form of a sweeps fans could only enter through Pepsi Pass, the brand's loyalty app.

Our strategy was to first engage Crystal Pepsi superfans where they were demanding its return on social, then a wider audience through Pepsi Pass and paid media. In response to the #BringBackCrystalPepsi movement, we launched a teaser series responding to the #BringBackCrystalPepsi hashtag on Instagram and Twitter. Our fans knew we’d heard them loud and (crystal) clear, and responded with triumphant excitement on social. Two days before the relaunch, we announced the comeback and sweepstakes with the release of “The 92nd Floor” film across Pepsi's social channels. As this was where the demand originated, we wanted to give fans enough time to register for Pepsi Pass and spark social buzz. To ensure we extended the reach to a broader audience, we used paid social to drive new Pass downloads. On the day of the re-release, we celebrated across Pepsi's social channels with one-to-one interactions as entries skyrocketed.

The Crystal Pepsi sweepstakes garnered 165,267 total entries, 65,000 of which came in within the first hour - a new benchmark for Pepsi. As part of the campaign, the Pepsi Pass mobile app was downloaded 47,423 times and the loyalty program membership gained 53,063 new members. "The 92nd Floor" launch video hit over 6 million views and 161 million impressions throughout the duration of the campaign. The video was picked up and celebrated by ad trades (AdWeek, AdAge, Creativity, FastCo, AdForum) and pop culture sites (E! Online, Thrillist, Uproxxx, Hypebeast) alike, and spread across fan communities like Reddit - praised for its 90s period accuracy and humor. Supported only by social media, with one simple sweeps, we were able to ensure a crystal clear future for Crystal Pepsi. Not only did we successfully relaunch a failed 90s product to its fans - we turned those fans into Pepsi loyalists.

Through social listening and consumer insights, we found that Crystal Pepsi fans tended to be 25-35 year old males, active on Twitter and Instagram, who associated Crystal Pepsi with 90s nostalgia - a growing cultural trend. Realizing this opportunity to bring back Crystal Pepsi, we needed to feel for how fans would react if we engaged with their #BringBackCrystalPepsi pleas on social. An early teaser post on Instagram resulted in overwhelmingly positive reaction and huge spikes in conversation, reinforcing the strength of the Crystal Pepsi community. Our strategy was socially driven: we tapped into superfans by reaching out to them directly on Instagram and Twitter, responding to the #BringBackCrystalPepsi movement in a non-intrusive way. We set the stage for speculation among our most influential fans and let rumors spread within the community, expanding to the larger millennial Pepsi audience in a natural fashion.

The sole reason Crystal Pepsi was re-released after its initial discontinuation in 1992 was due to fan demand on social media. Use of the hashtag #BringBackCrystalPepsi flooded Pepsi’s social feeds in 2015, at the peak of 90s nostalgia among millennials. The resulting campaign was a direct conversation with our community. They begged for the clear cola’s return, and we gave it to them. Everything we released on social was a nod to our fans - including a sweepstakes to win the returned product itself. It was a fan-driven, fan-celebrating party on social from start to finish.