The Hindu Business Line : Been there, done that

Creating an expression that becomes part of the vernacular is every marketer’s dream, writes David Novak in The Education of an Accidental CEO ( www.landmarkonthenet.com), while r eminiscing about the ‘Mountain Dew’ campaign. The brand, owned by Pepsi, had a lot more going for it, but the way it had been marketed from the beginning always seemed to have limited its potential, recounts Novak. “It was perceived as unsophisticated, very country, and the well-established advertising guidelines perpetuated this notion by insisting that all Mountain Dew advertising include some sort of water imagery – mountain lakes, running streams, and the like.”

As the marketing chief, Novak wanted a new image for Mountain Dew, but Alan Pottasch, “the legendary head of Pepsi advertising and the father of ‘the Pepsi Generation,’” was reluctant to do things differently. “My gut told me we could do a whole lot better. So I went around the system and had another legend, Phil Dusenberry, the head of the BBDO agency, create an advertising campaign for Diet Mountain Dew instead, which was this little brand that no one was paying much attention to,” narrates Novak. “Phil and his team created an urban campaign that featured ‘the Dew Boys’ whose tagline was ‘Been there, done that.’ People picked up on that phrase right away and started using it all over the place… That campaign ignited sales, and Diet Mountain Dew became our fastest-growing beverage.” That evolved into the Mountain Dew ‘Do the Dew’ campaign, which was edgier and more energetic, writes the “accidental CEO.” This campaign centred on “extreme sports like mountain climbing and skateboarding, and it was also very successful. I was beginning to make things happen in the Pepsi system, and I was back on my game.” Which explains why Novak still smiles today every time he hears someone say, “Been there, done that.”

Tremendously educative.

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Behind the big bite

Been there, done that