2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

A new entrant with a less-than-warm welcome — and an urgent need for trial

A 32-year partnership was ending — Nestea, the iced tea love child of Nestle and The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), was breaking up. Nestea would keep the powerful brand name while TCCC retained the original recipe, now launching as Fuze.

With Nestea's 46% household penetration in Canada, consumers were devastated by news of its discontinuation and deeply skeptical that anything could replace their beloved beverage.

The central challenge was clear: the agency needed to drive widespread and immediate trial to prove that Fuze delivered the exact same taste experience Canadians had grown to love. Online chatter revealed mounting consumer anxiety, making trial not just important but critical to the brand’s success.

They faced three urgent imperatives: achieve #1 market position before Nestea could return with a new formula, match previous Nestea sales volumes, and build a first-party data foundation for future growth. None of this would be possible without first solving their trial imperative and convincing skeptical Canadians to take that crucial first sip.

The one-line key insight: The taste memory is stronger than the brand name.

Their research revealed that Canadians' emotional connection to Nestea was primarily tied to its distinctive flavour profile rather than its name. If they could deliver that exact taste experience under the Fuze brand, muscle memory would overcome initial resistance.

One sip and you'll know “It’s the flavour”.

The agency built its entire connections strategy around this simple promise, using consistent messaging and confident visuals with a trial call-to-action in every execution.

This singular focus transformed "one sip" from a campaign tagline into an experience worth wanting to spill the tea about — motivating Canadians to try Fuze, form their own verdict, and share their discovery
with others.

With the goal of liquid on lips, the agency created a sampling program as big as Canada’s
geographical footprint.

Their connections strategy orchestrated multiple touchpoints with a singular focus: delivering that crucial first sip of Fuze to Canadians everywhere.

Awareness to Trial Pipeline: Video content featuring the brand’s Canadian-tuxedo-donning adventurer built mass awareness while driving directly to their sampling platform — connecting reach to immediate
trial opportunity.

Digital-Physical Bridge: Static ads across digital and OOH featured QR codes that transformed passive viewers into active participants, capturing first-party data while dispensing Fuze coupons — creating a frictionless path from ad exposure to in-store trial.

Social Proof Network: Influencers captured authentic first-sip reaction videos, encouraging followers to "spill the tea" with their own trial experiences, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of social validation.

Targeted Sampling: Using data intelligence, they identified "iced tea deserts"—areas with high previous Nestea consumption but limited Fuze availability — for personalized 1:1 sampling experiences where they mattered most.

Each connection point was strategically designed not just to communicate but to facilitate trial, ensuring that no matter where Canadians encountered Fuze, they had a clear path to discovering that the flavour they loved hadn't disappeared after all.

The agency’s strategy team architected a comprehensive connections ecosystem where every touchpoint served their central trial imperative.

Rather than siloed planning, they created an integrated framework that sequenced touchpoints for maximum trial impact, allocating media dollars based on sampling conversion potential rather than just reach.

Their DCX team bridged organizational silos, coordinating with global tech teams and national retailers to ensure every brand touchpoint could link directly to a tangible trial opportunity.

This approach transformed what could have been a fragmented campaign into a cohesive connections strategy that moved Canadians from awareness to trial to advocacy — securing Fuze's position as Canada's new iced tea leader.

The connections strategy delivered exceptional results by focusing relentlessly on trial.

In just two months, Fuze captured the #1 position in Canadian iced tea sales — proving that getting the product into consumers' hands was the fastest path to market dominance.

Their digital sampling strategy generated over 100K coupon downloads, creating the largest first-party data capture in TCCC's Canadian history and the largest Gen Z data collection in North America — building a foundation for ongoing consumer relationships.

The integrated connections approach drove aided awareness to 30% in just 8 weeks, significantly outpacing category benchmarks for new product introductions.

While converting Nestea drinkers was the agency’s primary goal, their trial-focused strategy attracted newcomers as well, with 9% of Fuze consumers being new entrants to the iced tea category.

Online conversation shifted dramatically from mourning Nestea to celebrating Fuze, with trial experiences driving authentic advocacy across social platforms.

By connecting every brand touchpoint to trial opportunities, they didn't just launch a new product — they secured its future as Canada's favourite iced tea.

Credits

WPP’s Open X - VML Canada
Graham Lang, Chief Creative Officer, Canada
Rosie Bardales, Chief Creative Officer
Jake Hope, Group Creative Director
Andy Linardatos, Senior Copywriter
Mike Butler, Design Director
Lizzie Dabous, VP Strategy
Christine Maw, Chief Strategy Officer
Steve Emmens, Head of Production
Tim Pelz, Head of Production
Maxime Boivin, Integrated Studio Director
Emma Toth, Chief Client Officer
Kyle Berns, Category Lead & Group Account Director
Louthiern Bonsart,?Managing Director
Sarah Brochet, Account Director
Camille Joly, Account Director
Amelia Horton, Integration Senior Program Manager
The Coca-Cola Company
Luke Perkins, Group Director, Creative Strategy
Claire Dean, Creative Strategy and Integrated Campaigns
Jacques Blanchet, Director, Integrated Marketing
Rebecca Smith, Director, Creative Producer
Matt Ross, Director, Marketing
Stacy Jackson, Vice- President, Water & Tea, North America
Natalia Suarez, Senior Director, Marketing & Brand Management
Jordan Youngblood, Director, Digital Consumer Experience
Jaclyn Osterloh, Senior Director, Social & Digital
Aly Hite, Director of Brands, Sports & Strategic Partnership
Mew-Lin The, Director, Connections Planning and Media
Influencer Agency, Ogilvy
Experiential Agency, Salt XC
Media, EssenceMediaCom
Production, Scouts Honour
Public Relations, Weber Shandwick Canada