Perrier's 'Energize': achieving higher Ad Recall with Virtual Photography

The innovative energy drink with natural credentials

Perrier Energize launched in 2021 as the first natural and organic energy drink that brings the energy equivalent to one cup of coffee. The product quickly made a splash, with Nielsen nominating it as the best innovation in the non-alcoholic beverage category that year.

The initial campaign focused on illustrating the energy boost that Perrier Energize provides to both body and mind.

The challenge: keeping momentum beyond year one

After a successful launch year, the Perrier team was bubbling with ambition for year two:

• Reinforce awareness to build on launch momentum

• Explain product benefits clearly

• Create mobile-first content

• Strengthen the Energize brand name (not just Perrier)

• Engage new consumers with fresh formats

Virtual Photo Studio: creating visuals without traditional production

"We needed to revamp our existing assets into mobile-first assets," explains the Perrier team. But how do you create fresh content without the time and expense of new photoshoots?

The answer came through Omi, a Virtual Photo Studio that lets brands create professional product photography — and video — in a browser, without physical shoots.

Working with their creative partners, they established some ground rules that kept their content focused:

1. Branding and product first

2. A clear and impactful call to action

3. One message per asset

4. Short videos of 6 to 8 seconds maximum

Their social media agency Fred & Farid added more engagement tools to the mix — filters and Reels that became part of their retargeting approach.

A selection of Perrier’s product and accessories 3D modeled by Omi

Measuring the impact: a 9-point lift

To make sure their new approach was working, the Perrier team set up a real-world test.

"It was important to measure the performance of the reworked assets, compare them to the previous ones, and measure the incremental effect of the two new formats," they explained.

Their "3-cell brand lift survey" compared three content approaches:

• Cell 1: 2021 assets

• Cell 2: Reworked assets

• Cell 3: Reworked assets plus the new formats

Below is a selection of the creative assets used in each cell for the experiment:

The results were crystal clear. The creative assets that included Omi renders significantly outperformed the control. And, complementing this with new formats boosted performance even further:

• Cell 1 (2021 assets): control variant

• Cell 2 (reworked assets): +2.7 point lift

• Cell 3 (reworked assets plus new formats): +5.5 point lift overall and +9 point lift for the key 35-44 year demographic

Building on success

The team didn't stop there. Building on what they learned, they made additional refinements:

"We worked with our media partners again, adding a two-second screen at the beginning of all our assets featuring an Energize pattern and the Perrier Energize logo. We also developed a poll ad with the 3D Omi asset to maximize consumer engagement."

Ready for what's next

The Perrier team discovered what many brands are learning the hard way — yesterday's content strategies don't work in today's social landscape:

"Audiences expect new, entertaining formats such as poll ads, filters, and Reels, while algorithms are becoming more selective. We can no longer simply repurpose TV assets."

With Omi's Virtual Photo Studio, Perrier found a way to meet these demands without the constant production cycle of traditional shoots. They could create and iterate quickly, producing high-performing social content that connected with their audience — all while saving time, budget, and resources.

Do you want to hear about it from the Perrier team directly?