How Starry, PepsiCo’s new lemon-lime soda, is marketing itself

PepsiCo may have retired Sierra Mist, but it remains bullish on the lemon-lime soft drink space behind its new brand, Starry.

Though commonly referred to as a brand made for Gen Z, Starry’s target audience is more specific than that, according to Michael Smith, Starry’s head of marketing. Starry was made for “irreverent optimists,” or people who maintain a positive perspective amid society’s flood of negative news, and find relief in the off-beat and weird, Smith said.

Starry found a key partner in the NBA, which helped to drive trial and awareness while delivering Starry’s target customer. Starry is now the official soft drink of the NBA, the WNBA and NBA G League.

“The NBA possesses the scale necessary to drive the awareness of Starry that was necessary because … in year one, it’s an awareness and trial game. The NBA was really a huge galvanizing force in helping us build the initial awareness that we were trying to drive,” Smith said. “But what I really think unlocks the NBA as a partner is they were able to do that while still possessing a really strong equity with an exposure to that core irreverent optimist target. So you’re not selling out your target for mass awareness.”