Awareness · Ad Testing
Spark Soda
Summer 2026 campaign — creative concept testing
Pre-market test
n = 800 · Ages 18–34
3 concepts tested
Executive summary
Three creative concepts were tested for Spark Soda's Summer 2026 campaign among 800 consumers aged 18–34 who purchase carbonated soft drinks at least twice monthly. Each respondent viewed one concept and participated in a 10-minute AI-moderated depth interview exploring recall, comprehension, emotional response, and purchase intent.
Concept C ("Spark Moments") emerged as the strongest overall performer, leading on ad recall (81%), emotional resonance (85%), and purchase intent (74%). Its slice-of-life approach connected deeply with the target audience's desire for authentic, relatable brand storytelling.
Concept B ("Real Ingredients") scored highest on message clarity (82%) and brand fit (88%), suggesting its product-focused approach should be integrated as a secondary messaging pillar. Concept A ("Feel the Fizz") underperformed on uniqueness (45%), with respondents noting similarities to existing energy drink advertising.
Concepts tested
Concept A: "Feel the Fizz"
Summer anthem spot — high energy, Gen Z music, outdoor festival setting
Concept B: "Real Ingredients"
Product-focused — close-up pours, ingredient transparency, clean aesthetic
Concept C: "Spark Moments"
Slice-of-life vignettes — friends, family BBQ, spontaneous road trip
Comparative scorecard
Head-to-head performance across six key dimensions. Scores represent percentage of respondents rating 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale.
Feel the Fizz
Needs differentiation
Real Ingredients
Strong secondary
Spark Moments
Recommended lead
Deep dive: "Spark Moments"
Detailed performance breakdown of the recommended lead concept.
Emotional response profile
"This feels like my actual summer. Not some influencer's version of it. Just real people having a good time."
— Female, 24, weekly soda buyer
"I love that it's not trying too hard. The road trip scene — I literally did that last weekend. Makes me want to grab one."
— Male, 21, bi-weekly soda buyer
"The BBQ scene with the family felt so warm. It made Spark feel like a brand that gets my life, not just my age bracket."
— Female, 29, monthly soda buyer
"Only thing — I've seen similar vibes from other brands. Needs one standout moment that's unmistakably Spark."
— Male, 27, weekly soda buyer
Audience segment performance
"Spark Moments" performance by demographic segment. Purchase intent shown.
Segment insight
"Spark Moments" resonates most strongly with females 18–24, achieving 91% emotional resonance and 82% purchase intent — the highest of any concept-segment combination in this study. The BBQ and road trip vignettes drove disproportionate engagement with this segment. Males 25–34 showed the softest response, suggesting the creative may benefit from a vignette that speaks more directly to this cohort's social occasions.
Recommendations
Lead with "Spark Moments" as the primary campaign concept
Its combination of strong recall, emotional depth, and purchase intent make it the clear lead. Develop 3–4 additional vignettes to expand the campaign's range while maintaining the authentic, slice-of-life tone.
Integrate "Real Ingredients" messaging as a secondary pillar
Concept B's strength in message clarity and brand fit suggests the transparency angle should be woven into supporting touchpoints — social content, in-store POS, and product packaging — rather than leading the broadcast campaign.
Retire "Feel the Fizz" or significantly rework
The concept's similarity to existing energy drink advertising undermines Spark's differentiation. If the high-energy direction is strategically important, it requires a more distinctive visual and narrative identity.
Add a standout moment to "Spark Moments"
Multiple respondents noted the concept needs one iconic, ownable moment that is unmistakably Spark. Consider developing a signature visual or audio cue that creates instant brand recognition.
Methodology
Sample
800 consumers aged 18–34 who purchase carbonated soft drinks at least twice monthly. Balanced across gender and age bands. Monadic design: each respondent evaluated one concept only.
Approach
Respondents viewed a 30-second animatic for their assigned concept, then participated in a 10-minute AI-moderated depth interview. The AI interviewer combines quantitative scoring (recall, comprehension, emotional resonance, brand fit, uniqueness, purchase intent — all on calibrated 5-point scales) with qualitative exploration (open-ended probes on emotional reactions, personal associations, brand perceptions, and improvement suggestions). Each interview produces structured data and verbatim transcripts.
Scoring
All metrics scored on a 5-point scale. Results represent "Top 2 Box" scores (4 or 5). Emotional response was measured through both unprompted verbatim coding and prompted emotion selection from a standardized list of 12 emotions.
Statistical note
Margin of error: ±3.5% at the 95% confidence level per concept (n≈267 per cell). Differences of 8+ percentage points between concepts are statistically significant.
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