Play the Dew

Mountain Dew’s Play The Dew campaign captures gamers with just one word—DEW!

In a bold and refreshing approach to dominate the gaming market, PepsiCo Philippines has found an unexpected power-up through the very sound of its name. With ‘Play The Dew’, Mountain Dew has made waves in the local gaming community by turning “DEW” into a dynamic in-game sound effect proving that you don’t need massive budgets to break through a crowded space.

Instead of traditional partnerships or in-game branding, the campaign took a different route, audio. Capitalizing on Mountain Dew’s global nickname “DEW”, the campaign created entire gaming soundscapes using nothing but human voices vocalizing the word. From action-packed warfare, racing, gunfire or combat sounds, the campaign reimagined gaming scenarios through an unmistakably ownable sound.

The campaign launched first across radio followed by online gameplay films using stock footage, before making it to TikTok with the country’s first branded audio-enabled racing game filter. Users could literally say “DEW” to drive and accelerate in-game, combining elements between voice, brand, and gameplay.

Ray Pine, Marketing Director for Beverages at PepsiCo Philippines said “Gaming is not a solitary experience—it’s a social activity done among friends. And when you talk about those two things—fun and friends—they’re exactly the spaces Mountain Dew has long carved in the minds of Filipino consumers.”

The results were game-changing. The campaign reached over 63 million views, made 20 million TikTok impressions in just two weeks, and drove a 9% increase in volume sales hitting the brand’s highest record sales to date.

David Guerrero, Creative Chairman at BBDO Guerrero said “This was a campaign built on a simple insight – that the word ‘DEW’ is already a part of the gaming soundscape. We turned it into something playful, distinctive, and scalable by strengthening brand association with the name and the common SFX found in games. We’re proud to have grown this idea from a local insight into an internationally awarded campaign.”