Challenge

With a wave of RTD (ready-to-drink) products of all shapes and sizes flooding the market just shouting ‘ZERO SUGAR! LOW ALCO! LOW CARBS!’ won’t really cut through anymore. Our challenge was to create an iconic Aussie alco-seltzer brand from the ground up that sang (not shouted) to people looking for a sessionable seltzer with local soul.

Approach

Born on Sydney’s northern beaches, we naturally gravitated to an Aussie nostalgic positioning with an effortlessly cool energy and vibrancy. This set us apart from the trendy-transient players and mainstream stayers in the category.

Creating the name (and brand) was like dreaming up our ideal character. He had to be clever but not too complicated; cool but not austere; unique but not too ‘try hard’. And of course with great banter. Enter Sunny Eddy. He’s an easy-going swirl of water with a gin twist that seamlessly rolls off the tongue in a way that says, “hey there, take me home. I’m here for a good time AND a long time.” He even doubles down on the chills with Happy Days, a tagline that encompasses Sunny Eddy’s easy-going, sessionable nature and establishes him as a lifestyle rather than a product.

In a sea of ‘spiked seltzer’, ‘hard seltzer’ and ‘better for you’ ciders, cocktails…the list goes on—we needed Sunny Eddy to buoyantly float to the top by feeling premium yet approachable. So we started with a white can to help speak to the idea of fresh and clean drinking. Added rays of silver and a tight Gin Seltzer lock up to tie into the spirit of gin. We took a measured approach to colour. Go too light, and we risk the product being washed out on the shelves; go too bold, and we start telling the consumer Sunny Eddy is too sugary. So we kept things real by using mature hues that spoke to the mouth-watering natural flavours of each product. 

Finally, we finished it all off with a smiling golden sun acting as the brand mark, badge of quality and a reminder that even in this wild world a Sunny Eddy is good as gold.

Our approach for content was to bring the personality and positioning to life off pack in a uniquely aspirational way – carefree and Happy Days under golden rays. By focussing on a feeling and the Sunny Eddy lifestyle rather than the product, we aimed to give the feeling of an authentic, sociable Aussie brand that has been around for years and will be for years to come – the always reliable, chilled-as esky mainstay.