STARRY FIZZ FEST™
HBCU Campus Tour
STARRY FIZZ FEST™
When STARRY FIZZ FEST comes to HBCU campuses, we ignite a spark that lingers long after the fizz settles.
Client
PEPSICO®
Starry
Year
2024
Campaign Elements
Program Creation
Experiential Development
Activation Design
Social Content
Superpowers
Creative Direction
Experiential
Set Design
Content Capture
Starry proves, once again, that you can't stop the Culture. From lively festivals to dynamic campus celebrations, we’ve seamlessly integrated STARRY FIZZ FEST with the pulse of each HBCU destination.
The Problem: Starry is a new brand. It has some buzz, but people don’t really know about it like that.
The Insight: Black Gen Z is inherently competitive, expressing pride and joy for their culture at their HBCU, while eagerly anticipating the memorable brag-worthy experiences that define their college years.
The Advantage: Starry is fresh and new with a thirst for hoops culture
The Challenge: Create a multi-year engagement platform designed to drive trial and awareness, create memorable moments with culturally-infused experiences, and celebrate each HBCU’s pride, culture and competitive nature via hoops culture among 18-26 year old Gen Z.
The Solution: To truly connect with Gen Z, authenticity is key; they can spot insincerity from a mile away. It’s crucial to authentically engage with them, respect their spaces, and meet their needs. That’s why we crafted STARRY FIZZ FEST™, an evergreen Gen Z-focused platform fostering lasting bonds between the Starry brand and HBCU communities.
This self-contained festival celebrates hoops culture, academia, and HBCU pride, seamlessly integrating into existing events with the power to also stand alone. From Norfolk State University’s Spartan Week to our groundbreaking Campus Tour, where we distributed $333,000 in cash and prizes + scholarships, we’re forging meaningful connections. The journey culminates in Atlanta at Revolt World (September 2024), coinciding with NBA Tip-Off, where finalists vie for the inaugural non-athletic Starry NILish deal, amplifying the celebration of HBCU Pride.
SWIPE to see more... STARRY FIZZ FEST RECAP
We upped the ante with SFF '24 merch Gen Z couldn't wait to get their hands on.
We didn’t just hand out cash to HBCU students; we also rewarded them with dope merch they cared about. They eagerly participated in our booth games and crowd engagement hype sessions, vying for premium prizes and even bigger bragging rights. From Starry sports towels to Mini-hoops, enamel pins, and long-sleeve tees, our giveaways were a hit.
We created a capsule collection featuring:
- A freemium long-sleeve heavy-weight tee
- Collectible mini-hoop games featuring Lem or Lime
- a double-sided Rally towel
- a Sticker pack of fun, collectible stickers
- Freemium metal enamel pin collections
- Collectible leather keychains
We spread the word using a 3-pronged approach across social media.
From All-Star Weekend to SWAC and throughout the STARRY FIZZ FEST™ campus tour, we captured the palpable excitement and pure joy of every moment, turning it into engaging content. Our posts served three main goals:
- spreading the word (Awareness)
- getting people interested (Consideration)
- building connections after the fact (Affinity)
We tailored each post for the regions and then the campuses we visited, mixing up 30-second, 15-second, and 6-second clips for social media. Assets created awareness and drove to our STARRY FIZZ FEST™ scholarship fund with rapper, Lil Durk, and Scholarship America.
SFF Social Awareness
SFF NSU Consideration
SFF HU Consideration
SFF JSU Consideration
SFF MSU Consideration
SFF on Social
We partnered with Scholarship America and Lil' Durk to give away $333k in cash, scholarships, and prizes.
With over $30k in cash + prizes awarded at each tour stop, the campaign drew impressive turnouts despite weather disruptions and limited pre-engagement efforts. Standout moments, including surprise and planned appearances by celebrity guests such as Tyrese Halliburton, Myles Turner, Jalen Brunson, Lil’ Durk, and Stat Baby, ignited organic excitement and reinforced STARRY’s authentic connection with HBCU culture and multicultural Gen Z. Festival-style activations seamlessly integrated into existing events as well as stand alone executions amplified STARRY’s presence and relevance Greek, Cheerleading, Band, and dance team performances showcased the uniqueness of each HBCUs culture. As the campaign continues through the Winter, these early successes underscore STARRY FIZZ FEST® as a triumph, setting the stage for continued impact and engagement for years to come.
BY THE #s:
- $333k Cash + Prizes + Scholarships
- 4 HBCU Campuses
- $30k Cash prizes per campus
- ~10k Attendees
- 10,000 Samples Shared
- Lil’ Durk + Celebrity Guests
- 4 NIL Finalists
- Grand Finale coming soon…
Superheroes & Supersheroes
Creative Director: Wisdom Sewell
Creative Director: Andrew Kondo-Wiegl
VP Production: Susan Zid
ACD Design Director: Samyuktha Baliga
ACD Copywriter: Kenneth Dalrymple
Social Director: Kevin Booth
Influencer Relations Manager: Sophia Howling
Account Director: Sharise Crumley
Account Executive: Melvin Davis III
Sr. Project Manager: Erika Jones
Fizz Fest ’24
When Starry asked us to create an evergreen platform that allowed them to build authentic relationships with and invest into the lives of HBCU and HSI college students, I led the creation of the STARRY FIZZ FEST™, an annual Hoops Campus Tour celebrating hoops culture, higher education, and the college experience exclusively for Gen Z.
