Smartwater is a brand with a 25-plus year heritage, a key position in Coca-Cola's hydration portfolio and — with its latest brand extension — a chance to crack into a $1 billion alkaline space. 

With a 9.5 pH level and the addition of selenium, Smartwater Alkaline with Antioxidant seeks to boost hydration beyond regular water. Coca-Cola tapped agency VMLY&R to craft a marketing campaign that dual-tracks creative to offer two takes on how consumers can elevate their lives with the product. Launched in late February and running across paid and owned traditional and digital advertising, "Elevate How You Hydrate" features two 30-second ads. 

The eponymous spot is a rapid-fire relay race of urban action that follows a bottle of Smartwater as its bearers commute, BMX bike, run and prepare to hit the town before a daredevil takes the bottle for a trip up the facade of a building. The lower-key "Same Kid" stars brand ambassador Pete Davidson, who claims to be the "same old kid from Staten Island," just one who has elevated his experiences, all in the former "SNL" star's familiar comedic tone. 

By using two differently styled ads, the brand hoped to communicate that its enhanced Smartwater is for consumers going beyond their normal limits, not just peak-performance athletes.

"When I look at the landscape of hydration, there's plenty of options out there," said Luke Perkins, group director for creative Strategy at The Coca-Cola Company. "We really want to give our consumers a great option for their lifestyle," whatever that may be.

Two ads, two approaches

For VMLY&R, the theme and tagline of the campaign flowed naturally from insights about the product and its consumer base, one that has an active lifestyle and is always looking to improve their lives.

"This 'Elevate How You Hydrate' idea is very simple: all about going up, literally going up vertically, going up in the air, elevating in everything we do, and that's where the the concept for the TVC came out," said Kyle Gracey, group creative director at the agency.

The eponymous spot features Peloton instructor Alex Toussaint, track star Bianca Williams and BMX biker Nigel Sylvester, providing a range of activities instead of keying into one sport. Along with seamless edits and transitions, the fast-moving spot is driven by its soundtrack, the percussive "I Be Dancin'" by Jordyn "Dawdy" Dodd, which was selected after a deep dive by the agency's internal music house, the production team and Coca-Cola. All together, the spot speaks to the motion and malleability of its target audience. 

"With our consumers, once you get going — whether that's through work, sport or hanging out with your friends, you're always in motion, and that's the energy that [the VMLY&R team] really captured," Perkins said. 

For the "Same Kid" spot, Smartwater was able to utilize a brand partner who seems to be constantly moving in different spaces these days, Pete Davidson. While not an athlete at the top of his game, Davidson represents other ways that consumers can be active and perform at a high level.

"I don't think he's the obvious choice, and I think that's what is great about it," said Perkins. "He brings a different aspect to the brand, that idea that there are other ways to elevate your life."

"Same Kid" toys with how Davidson's daily routine — playing video games, eating dinner with his mom, going to the movies — have been elevated in recent years, transforming into VR gaming, truffle grilled cheese dinners and red carpet appearances.

"There was a spectrum of this target between the fitness and the lifestyle that we were going back and forth with," said Gracey. "With Pete, it gave us an opportunity to after the lifestyle side of the spectrum — it was pretty easy to pivot and it also gave us a dynamic way to use the 'elevate' [idea]."

Brand ambassadors, especially one in the paparazzi-public eye like Davidson, come with their own baggage. And ones like Davidson, who also has appeared in campaigns for Manscaped, Taco Bell and H&M, could be nearing a saturation point in advertising; there was even a joke about him being "everywhere" in a Super Bowl ad this year. But for Smartwater, which started working with the celeb in 2021, still feels the partnership makes sense.

"We're able to use him in a unique way in these campaigns that other brands maybe aren't," explained Perkins. "We make sure that this is a Smartwater ad that has Pete in it, using his humor, his lifestyle and how he's created his career in an unconventionally smart way, and making sure that it reflects the brand, as well."