CREATIVE SHOWCASE

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Client: Coca-Cola
Creative Agency: JUXT Interactive

Spring by Dannon is a recently re-branded water product owned by Coca-Cola. The client tasked JUXT Interactive with developing an online strategy that would serve to build brand awareness and convey the product benefits to moms. At the essence of the re-brand is an attempt to position the product as a healthy beverage alternative for kids. Parents have a heightened awareness today of the need for healthy beverage choices, while being greatly influenced by their children's preferences. Thus Spring by Dannon's new branding seeks to give parents a healthy beverage option with a fun, unique brand look that appeals to kids.

With a modest online budget, the primary drivers of traffic to the site would be in- store promotions and word of mouth. In order for a site to be successful without the benefit of online media, JUXT felt that the site experience would have to deliver a strong payoff for moms and kids. Parents would have to come away from the site knowing that this is a beverage option for kids that they can trust, and the message would need to be reinforced through a variety of fun activities for kids. And both target audiences would need to be versed on the health benefits of drinking Spring by Dannon.

The conceptual vehicle chosen to help achieve the brand strategy was a character JUXT created called Springer. What better way to convey rather abstract themes like fluoridated water than with a memorable, 3D character whose boundless energy and broad sparkling smile exemplify the primary benefits of drinking Spring by Dannon. A combination of hand-drawn design, 3D modeling, and Flash animation bring Springer to life, and once alive, he serves as the MC of sorts, introducing each of the elements that make up the site experience, as well as brand spokesman in the video spots. 

Rather than limit the fun to your standard "Kids Section," JUXT chose to weave kid-focused entertainment into the entire site. From the initial loading game, to content areas, to interstitial games that engage users between sections, the site is entertaining from start to finish. Kids love repetition and repetitious games, and the site features activities that they can repeat numerous times and still enjoy. The Cloud Bounce loader game and the Water Face interactive are two examples. During pre-launch user testing, JUXT watched kids spend hours on the site performing and perfecting their bounce technique, and laughing as they created freakish images with the Water Face application. Tapping into kids' love of far-fetched, cartoonish comedy, JUXT developed two video spots for the site. These spots involve live-action kids seemingly playing with their parents' video camera on the playground. After a sip of Spring by Dannon, one of the kids springs 500 feet in the air. The spots were originally planned just for the site, but are now being used for broadcast.

It's important to stress that the goal of the site is not to sell product to kids, but to provide a fun experience for younger visitors, while conveying the product benefits to parents. Upon entry to the site, parents are greeted with a strong call to action taking them to an efficient presentation of the product. The kid-focused content simply serves to generate awareness of and excitement about the brand of water that Mom is putting in their lunch boxes.
-- Todd Purgason, creative director, JUXT Interactive

Creative Showcase is meant to be a teaching tool and an inspiration for our readers. We comment only on creative that we really love. Our panelists discuss what makes it great, but if they feel there were missed opportunities that would have made it better, we invite them to mention those. And finally, we seek out a wide range of opinions that reflect the marketplace for the panel, in order to provide constructive, useable feedback for agencies, clients and others involved in these creative pieces.

I discovered the spring game on the load screen by accident and immediately got competitive by keeping as many as six bottles in the air at one time. This simple game allowed me to interact with the "Spring by Dannon" brand while the full site loaded in the background. It's pure genius. Once into the site, it is obvious that JUXT hit the mark on the branding effort with the right mix of vibrant colors, fun illustration, interactive navigation and even the up beat background music. The appeal for kids is clearly there, and the distinct calls to action for moms allow them to learn more about the health aspects of water. 

The videos are very strong and almost feel like consumer-generated content-- as if kids themselves submitted them to the site. The mock disclaimer at the end is just the right satirical touch likely to make moms chuckle. And the ability to download the videos for an iPod is a detail that extends the brand beyond the website.

All the interactive components, from the Water Face game to the stickers and stencils are very user friendly and smartly targeted to kids. 

I have to admit I was slightly creeped-out by some of the distorted faces I could make with the Water Face game. But that's probably a personal issue-- right? Other than that, the only thing that would have been nice is if the "Gear Up Your Ride Kit" promotion could have been entirely online, instead of requiring the printable PDF and mail-in. There were probably logistical and fulfillment barriers that drove that decision, but immediate gratification would have been better.

The site will certainly act as a springboard for this Dannon brand. JUXT Interactive gets high marks for articulating the product benefits to the purchaser (moms) while fostering brand awareness with the end consumer (kids). This site is a prime example of how consumer packaged goods should be harnessing the interactive nature of the web.
-- David Heidenreich, EVP, strategy & marketing, Ripple Effects Interactive

I went to the Spring by Dannon site wondering how they were going to sell water. I'm a big fan of the JUXT guys, and they don't disappoint when it comes to creativity and execution on an idea. I really liked the layout of the site and their use of games, which you could play while the fairly length Flash movies loaded to get to each section.

My first stop was going to be the parent in me, so I clicked on the "Mom" and checked out the benefits of water. As I thought, selling water is tough. I know it's good for my kids, and I think there is fluoride in everyone's tap water, so I guess now that a lot of folks frown on tap water and want to drink bottled, it's good to have fluoride in it as well. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything overwhelming here that would arm me to fight the good fight with my 10 year old, and convince him that he should have water instead of soda, other than "I'm your parent, do what I say."

From the purely creative/entertainment side, I have no doubts that the test kids that they put on the site had a blast. I enjoyed playing the games, and stretching out the faces and watching them morph in the blender. (Although I did have a flashback of a viral from five years ago of the frog in a blender-- and was wondering what was going to happen to my creation for a moment.)  I also enjoyed the work they put into the video spots, and certainly understand why Dannon is going to move forward and put those into broadcast as well. Excellent work.

Overall it was an entertaining site, and I'm sure that anyone who sees the site will have a good time playing with it for 10 or 15 minutes, but I don't see my 10 year old searching it out, or telling his friends about it after I show it to him. He certainly won't be filling in the "email this to a friend form." Like I said, water is a tough sell on the internet, and I think they did everything possible to provide some product recognition for their client, as well use the information given to reinforce the benefits of water to parents struggling to keep soda out of their children's hands as much as possible.
-- Keith Pape, vice president, FrontGate Creative