Mountain Dew has teamed up with Origin PC and Twitch influencers to build a $50,000 custom gaming PC on Rig Up—a live eight-week show that kicks off on May 31. Each weekly livestream will be hosted by a different Twitch influencer, allowing viewers to vote on how the rig is built. At the end of the program’s run, one viewer will win the Mountain Dew-branded gaming PC, while many others will win PC gaming parts.
Stephanie Danzi, brand manager at Mountain Dew, told AListDaily that the soft drink brand is always looking to push the culture of gaming. “For many gamers, creating and customizing their own gaming rig is a rite of passage, so we wanted to give Dew Nation the opportunity to create the most epic rig yet, without price as a limitation,” Danzi explained. “We looked to Origin as the premiere partner to help bring Rig Up to life.”
Danzi added that Mountain Dew has a legacy in gaming and the brand is focusing on how it can enhance its passionate fans’ gaming experience. “We’ve seen amazing responses from our fans through our first entry into PC gaming—our amateur CS:GO league—the Mountain Dew League,” Danzi said. “We wanted to continue connecting to PC gamers, and since gaming rigs are an extremely important part of their gaming experience, this seemed like a natural next step. We’re excited to take the PC gaming experience to the next level by letting them choose the very best components and parts to amplify how they game.”
The program will run on Mountain Dew’s Twitch channel, which Danzi said has given the brand direct access to the gaming and eSports community. “We have attracted an extensive and truly engaged audience through our Twitch channel,” Danzi said. “Those who are on our streams and in the chat have been really active and vocal, but also supportive of others in the stream. Because of Twitch’s reach, the chat typically has viewers from all over the world who tune in each week to be part of the stream.”
Prior to Twitch, Mountain Dew would reach out to gamers through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, as well as traditional media. “While we still use these [traditional] platforms, we’ve seen that Twitch has been able to unlock an even more authentic engagement with this core gaming audience,” Danzi said. “For many gamers, Twitch is their primary form of entertainment. If they are not playing games, they are watching others play them.”
One of the guest hosts for this program is professional gamer Optic Diesel. Mountain Dew has worked with Optic Gaming in the past through Call of Duty promotions. “Our plans in the coming months is to expand on this idea of engagement and put the power in our gamers’ hands, with more appearances and content being produced by known influencers and esports players such as Optic Diesel,” Danzi said. “We will continue to have our lifestyle shows, but we will add in new shows that have a focus on esports and the athletes themselves.”
Mountain Dew is working with Origin in guiding the program to make sure the final rig being built is one that can stand out as one killer gaming rig. Danzi said Dew Nation will get to decide what the rig will ultimately look like, adding that the design options are all true to Dew, “one-of-a-kind and bold.”
“Our goal is really to do something that is both unique for Dew and true to these gamers that pushes the culture of gaming,” Danzi said. “They love building custom rigs, and this program amplifies that concept in a democratized way. The gaming community and Dew Nation ultimately determine the final rig. And, they have the chance to win a ton of cool gaming parts and components in the process.”
Mountain Dew has created multiple gaming activations over the years, focusing earlier on Xbox promotions around Halo and Activision Call of Duty campaigns. The Mountain Dew League for CS:GO marked the brand’s expansion into PC gaming.
“We also drew upon the ‘Dewmocracy’ program, where consumers were able to pick and name a new flavor of Dew,” Danzi said. “Ultimately, we want to empower and encourage the consumer to be bold and creative in their life, and this extends into their gaming lifestyle.”
Mountain Dew recently partnered with Arby’s to bring its Mountain Dew Game Fuel Citrus Cherry fountain drink to more than 3,000 restaurants nationwide.
