Lipton and The Jungle Giants transform the Sydney commute with first-ever Manly Fast Ferry takeover via Akcelo
Brand experience and innovation company Akcelo transformed Sydney’s Manly Fast Ferry into a floating live music venue as part of an integrated experiential and PR launch for Lipton’s new Zero Sugar Sparkling Ice Tea range.
Dubbed ‘Sparkling Sessions’, the first-of-its-kind live music takeover was headlined by chart-topping Aussie favourites The Jungle Giants, who capped off their Australian tour with one final show aboard.
Across an afternoon service, the band gave passengers an unexpected performance, playing tracks from their fifth album, Experiencing Feelings of Joy. DJ Mistah Cee warmed the crowd up for the main event, while passengers sampled the new Lipton Sparkling range on board, all for the price of a ferry ticket.
The experience sought to bring Lipton’s ‘tea changes everything’ proposition to life, taking one of the most ordinary parts of the day and turning it into an unexpected and uplifting experience.
The takeover extended across the ferry, with Lipton Sparkling woven into every touchpoint, from branded seat covers, bar wraps and decals to sparkling-inspired bubble structures and onboard digital screens. Branded crew donned Lipton life vests to sample the new range, while ‘Captain Sparkle’ took the helm as MC and a custom Lipton trolley doubled as Mistah Cee’s DJ set-up.
The idea was informed by new Lipton research revealing more than half (59%) of Gen Z consider commuting one of the most boring parts of their day, with almost one in three (32%) wishing it was more entertaining. Nearly two-thirds (62%) have even used tactics to avoid the commute altogether, including chucking a sickie (23%), making up an excuse to work from home (21%) or turning down a job because of the journey (17%).
Music offered a natural way in, with more than three in four (77%) listening to music on their commute and one in six (17%) saying live entertainment would make the journey better.
The full event details of the event were deliberately kept under wraps, preserving the surprise for unsuspecting commuters. In the lead-up, Lipton dropped a trail of clues across its social channels, alongside announcements from The Jungle Giants, giving fans just enough to piece together when and where to catch the right ferry.
Says Gabby Manu, Brand Manager at Lipton ANZ: “Cafe raves, run clubs, communities, Gen Z is reimagining how they connect, and we saw an opportunity to lean into that and bring something unique to life. The result was a first-of-its-kind experience on the Manly Fast Ferry that took The Jungle Giants out of the traditional concert setting and into an everyday journey, flipping the ordinary into an unmistakably Lipton Sparkling cultural moment.”
Says Aden Hepburn, CEO and Co-Founder of Akcelo: “Lipton Sparkling is all about transforming the everyday, so we wanted to take that idea beyond traditional advertising and create something people could actually experience. The daily commute gave us the perfect platform. It’s a familiar, predictable part of life that we could completely reimagine, turning a ferry ride home into a live music experience people would never expect.”
Agency: Akcelo
Senior Account Director: Jemma Parkin
Client Partner: Oli Cassidy
Creative Director: Jay Morgan
Associate Creative Director: Ilya Aronovich
Copy Lead: Misha McDonald
Social Engagement Lead: Mitch McGuire
Experiential Production Director: Bethan Tolmaer
Producer (events & Activations): Celeste Conti
Senior Producer: Daniel Burns
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