Slice Soda is back and giving fans – new and old – all the feels that newstalgia marketing can with a variety of activations akin to a summer time machine. Kicking it off, the launch of 106.3 The Fizz FM is a first-of-its-kind branded music experience with retro-inspired DJ sets developed with AI tools to transport us back to the ’80s and ’90s. The Fizz FM is a real analog radio station and a streaming experience that combines human creativity with modern AI ingenuity to bridge the best nostalgic feelings of then with the modern tech of now.
Originally launched in 1984 as a mainstream soda brand, Slice has been reimagined by Suja Life, a leader in healthy beverages, for today’s consumer. Slice has the best parts of soda – real fizz and real classic flavors – but none of the bad stuff – with only five grams of sugar or less, 40 calories or less, no high fructose corn syrup, and a gut-loving mix of prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics in every can.
“Today’s Slice is a healthified version of the original, while tasting like pure nostalgia. Parallel to that, blending the best of then and now, our summer activities, including The Fizz FM, are activations only this brand can do – celebrating the era in which the brand was born but with a retro-refreshed Slice edge,” said Nicole Portwood, Chief Marketing Officer at Suja Life, parent company of Slice Soda.
With growing distribution, consumers across the country are rediscovering Slice and its classic soda pop flavors, including Orange, Grape, Lemon Lime, Classic Cola, Ginger Ale, Grapefruit Spritz and Strawberry at retailers like Costco, Target, Kroger, Albertsons, and rolling out to additional retailers over the months ahead. New for summer, Cherry Cola is delighting Sprouts shoppers and will have broader distribution in July.
The Fizz FM: Radio with a Twist
The Fizz FM features almost three looping hours of music inspired by the most popular genres of the ’80s and ’90s that feature lyrics all about – what else – soda! Just like classic radio shows, The Fizz FM’s host, “DJ Bev,” takes listeners through a Pop 40 Countdown.
From pop punk homage band Lipstick Trigger’s “Lipstick Stain on my Slice” to faux boy band Prime Mode’s “My Favorite Slice of When” to Yacht Rock-inspired Silken Wave performing “Mixtapes & Memories,” it’s the fizzy and fun soundtrack every summer needs. Cheeky album covers, imagined band backstories and interviews were also created to make the immersive throwback experience complete.
Offering “Slice Advice,” Dr. Poplov’s smooth voice is where matters of the heart meet matters of the can, as he delivers some real talk to navigate tricky situations like when a hotline “listener’s” boyfriend keeps stealing her Slice Soda! Google Chirp speech-to-text model brought both radio hosts to life.
“The Fizz FM is pure vibes, that carefree feeling of driving with the car windows down, wind in your hair while singing along to songs of the summer. We say they are yesterday’s hits that didn’t exist until now,” continued Portwood. “Of course, the wink here is that it’s one long ad. The songs are overt love songs to our product, which is the nod we want everyone to get. I’ve been amazed at what can happen when you pair cutting edge technology with real creative firepower.”
Starting June 20, the first day of summer, The Fizz FM has more fun up its virtual sleeve as it launches a daily contest for fans to call in for the chance to win Slice prizes, just like a classic radio station. Listeners will dial into 1-877-WIN-FIZZ and leave a message about why they’re the ultimate Slice superfan. Daily winners will get fun swag and be automatically entered to win a year’s worth of Slice Soda.
Creative Innovation
Slice’s creative agency of record, BarkleyOKRP, brought the idea of a pop-up FM radio station to life by using AI tools as an amplifier to the big idea. The agency leveraged Google’s suite of AI tools as well as Suno and guided the project by taking musical inspiration from the era to create something familiar but new. The team, featuring artists and musicians, including one writer who moonlights as a DJ, also enlisted musicologists to be certain the compositions were truly unique. Making sure listeners are in on the humor of the stunt, DJ Bev makes cheeky references to their own AI roots.
360 Campaign
While social media didn’t exist in the original era of Slice, it will be leveraged in full for the summer long campaign and embrace a retro feel as well. Influencers received vintage, working fax machines (and instructions on how to use them) and thrifted retro apparel sourced by the brand to bring the campaign full circle.
Later this summer, the brand plans to pop up in key markets with retro vending machines that feature throwback USD.50 pricing and only take quarters – no digital pay allowed! Slice Soda is also the exclusive soda sponsor of the Vans Warped Tour, hitting Washington D.C., Long Beach, CA, and Orlando, FL throughout 2025.
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