PLEZi Nutrition, a Public Benefit Company on a mission to create higher standards for how the US makes and markets food and beverages for kids, has tapped independent creative agency Terri & Sandy as its first-ever AOR.
Terri & Sandy’s initial work for the company is an integrated campaign supporting its first product, PLEZi, a drink for kids that has 75% less sugar than average leading 100% fruit juices, no added sugar, and contains fibre and nutrients like potassium, magnesium, and zinc. The campaign, which will run across connected TV and social media platforms, will target both kids aged 12 and up seeking drinks that taste good, and also their health-conscious parents who struggle to find beverages their kids will say 'yes' to that don’t contain loads of added sugar.
The centrepiece of 'Say YEZi to PLEZi,' also the brand’s new tagline, is five 30-second spots that will run across connected TV platforms. The humorous and sometimes surreal spots feature kids (plus a hamster and a classroom skeleton, of course) responding to the unexpected good taste of PLEZi by proclaiming 'YEZi!' Some of the spots will also appear in 15–second versions. The initial phase of the campaign will also feature a series of six-second videos that will run on social media. Like the longer-form spots, the videos strike a playful tone and inform consumers of PLEZi’s benefits like '75% less sugar' and 'shockingly great taste.'
The second phase of the campaign, slated to launch later this year, will use influencer marketing to raise awareness of the fact that children consume 53 pounds of added sugar per year on average.
“Plezi’s mission is a serious one: to reduce our kids’ sugar intake,” said Anup Shah, PLEZi Nutrition’s chief marketing officer. “But the brand is also extremely fun. The great taste of the products. The vibrant packaging. You would never know it is a juice drink with 75% less sugar. We wanted to be sure this fun, playful vibe came through loud and clear with our launch work. Terri & Sandy has been the perfect partner because they have a history of doing amazing purpose-driven work along with creating breakthrough communication in the CPG category.”
Founded in 2023, PLEZi Nutrition aims to give parents a helping hand by offering healthier, great-tasting products that they can feel good about giving their kids—and that picky eaters actually want. The former first lady Michelle Obama, who is a Co-Founder and Strategic Partner of the company, announced the launch of PLEZi Nutrition at the The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival in May, as the private-sector continuation of her White House Let's Move! initiative dedicated to supporting healthier kids and families.
PLEZi comes in four flavours and is available nationwide at Target, Walmart, Sprouts, select Kroger locations and online through select retailers, with plans to expand the drink’s presence into additional stores. The company also plans to expand into additional beverages and snacks in the years ahead. But beyond creating healthier products kids and families love, PLEZi Nutrition is an educational platform, using its marketing resources to engage with families on nutrition topics and what’s best for kids’ health, like drinking water and eating whole fruits and vegetables–things PLEZi isn’t intended to replace.
“The minute we heard the name PLEZi, we knew we had to have fun with it,” said Sandy Greenberg, co-founder and CEO of Terri & Sandy. “We began to look for ways to show kids saying “yes” to PLEZi’s amazing taste, and the tagline was born: “Say YEZi to PLEZi.”