‘Pepsi SweeTest’ campaign by Sips & Bites, won Gold in Advertising Creative Innovation at The Drum Awards, leveraging AI-driven sweetness tests to innovatively position Pepsi’s new flavours as indulgent sweet treats, resonating deeply with Gen Z and driving significant sales growth.
Not long ago, there were just a handful of players in the ‘fizzy drinks’ category, and Pepsi was a strong contender for the crown. But in recent years, thanks to a tidal wave of new drink launches, Pepsi was at risk of being forgotten (or outright rejected) by younger audiences - especially those looking for fun & flavor, not necessarily a cola.
Gen Z are too important a cohort to ignore. We needed to re-engage and excite them.
Gen Z are increasingly buying into drinks brands for their exciting flavor offerings, and looking for different ways to enjoy an indulgent ‘sweet treat’.
Pepsi Strawberries ‘N’ Cream and Cream Soda flavors were designed to be the perfect sweet-tasting (but zero sugar) way for Pepsi to tap into this demand, and bring people into the brand.
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From a product perspective, we decided to be single-minded about sweetness, to clearly signal ‘we can satisfy your sweet treat cravings’.
Culturally, the codes of ‘sweetness’ were evolving. No longer a symbol of (often vulnerable) femininity and aesthetically twee, sweetness in 2025 was inclusive, playful, and brought to life through a modern aesthetic. You just needed to look at the boom of Jellycats amongst young adults to see the new reality of this powerful shift.
This gave us a big opportunity to big-up our sweet treat in a fresh way.
Strategy: To land new Pepsi flavors as the ultimate indulgent sweet treats, in an innovative and unexpected way.
The Pepsi SweeTest - the world’s first “sweet” test-algorithm powered by AI and machine learning to scientifically measure the sweetness (literally and figuratively) of the two new Pepsi flavors. This allowed us to compare the new flavors to incongruous and abstract things that surround us in culture, through a ‘sweet’-meets-‘tech’ modern aesthetic.
Using a unique combination of AI technology, the AI system can identify and rate how ‘sweet’ an object is. It uses AI models, image recognition, and data analysis to define something’s sweetness, alongside the more traditional definition based on physical factors like color, visual softness, common perception, and literal sweetness, in the case of food. It also understands that figurative sweetness, and the pleasant emotion something can provoke, is just as important as literal sweetness.
Combining 5 AI models and 2 quantitative vision algorithms to scientifically evaluate any object. A bespoke system tuned on a Cute Studies white paper (an emerging discipline designed to examine perceptions of cuteness, and how it affects us psychologically & culturally) to accurately calculate what humans perceive as “sweet”.
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We put our new Pepsi flavors to the test against wildly incongruous objects - playful examples of what ‘sweet’ could mean today (a pickle tattoo, a heart-shaped potato, a text from Grandma. All things you’d least expect to be compared to a flavored soda. These abstract tests became the fuel for our campaign targeting Gen-Z across all channels. From OOH to film to social and digital, we plastered the UK with the Pepsi SweeTest.
Positioning Pepsi flavors as indulgent sweet treats, innovatively and unexpectedly, within Gen Z’s world.
We even launched an immersive experience where you could see the technology in action: The Pepsi Sweet Room. Inspired by the two flavors, the Pepsi ‘Sweet Room’ pop-up was a vibrant experience, where indulgence met discovery. We invited soda lovers to put their sweetness to the test (getting their own sweet score!) and embrace their sweet side through the chance to win unique sweet prizes in the ‘Sweet Arcade’ or sample the zero sugar Strawberries 'N' Cream and Cream Soda flavors at the guilt-free drink dessert bar.
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The UK Pepsi launch shattered expectations, reaching #1 household penetration in five years (5.7%, Kantar) and delivering a +1.6-point share boost. It resonated strongly with younger consumers, reaching 98% of 18-34s and achieving a staggering 141x appeal index among Gen Z.
The campaign drove £14M in incremental sales, with one in three shoppers new to the brand, far surpassing benchmarks. Brand consideration and loyalty surged, with 72% incremental lift, well above the 57% average. Online, buzz was 40% higher than Coke, as per YouGov. The immersive Sweet Room experience drew 4.5K fans in just four days, with a 90% satisfaction rate.
These results exemplify how innovative and culturally relevant ideas can deliver explosive growth and deep consumer engagement.
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Sips & Bites
Pepsico In-House Agency