Dive Brief:

• Dr Pepper today teams with social video app Triller to bring 20 influencers on a zero-gravity flight, per a press release. The effort is in support of Dr Pepper's Zero Sugar soda, which launched in April.
• Influencers including stars of "The Bachelor" franchise Matt James and Tyler Cameron, as well as Brandon Armstrong, Brandon Jordan, Twan Kuyper, Laura Lee, Adam Waheed, and Aisha and Azra Mian, will share their flight experiences across their social channels as part of the product launch promotion.
• By teaming with Triller, Dr Pepper can tap into a nascent platform that is seeking opportunities to distinguish itself from TikTok, as well as expand its product launch across a variety of social channels.

Dive Insight:

Dr Pepper's zero-gravity flight in support of its recently launched Zero Sugar soda utilizes influencers and social video app Triller to get the message out. For the flagship soda of parent company Keurig Dr Pepper, the outsized stunt could generate buzz beyond typical brand marketing.

"What better way to amplify our one-of-a-kind 23 flavors in a zero sugar soda, than with a one-of-a-kind experience in zero gravity," Derek Dabrowski, vice president of Dr Pepper brand marketing, said in the press release.

By taking 20 influencers into the atmosphere on a specially modified Boeing 727, which pilots will fly in an aerobatic maneuver to create zero-gravity weightlessness, the brand can generate unique social media content for a variety of channels. Miller Genuine Draft and Ben & Jerry's have tapped into interest around flight and space, as did Red Bull's iconic 2012 space jump.

For Triller, the partnership is a demonstration of how the social video app is different from TikTok, a comparison the company alludes to in the press release. Triller encourages users to post content created on the app across other social media platforms and websites, as the influencers on the zero-gravity flight will be doing, while the platform itself uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to deliver content to affiliated and non-affiliated sites.

TrillerNet, Triller's parent company, has beefed up the platform this year with a handful of acquisitions, including the music-focused livestreaming platform Verzuz, which surged in popularity during the pandemic, as well as sports streaming service FITE TV and AI platform Amplify.ai. The deals seek to integrate Triller with a variety of content topics and forms as time spent on digital channels accelerated during the pandemic.