Most brands in the alcoholic RTD category play it safe: media plan first, assets second, retail third. But Billson’s, already well-established in the market, chose a non-traditional approach for its latest campaign.
Rather than rolling out its latest work with a standard advertising campaign, The Coca-Cola Company-owned brand brought its new platform to life by staging a surprise live performance from Y2K icon Anastacia during a karaoke battle.
Two fans innocently belting I’m Outta Love suddenly found themselves singing alongside the woman who made it famous, and the room went completely mad. Screaming started, phones shot into the air, and TikToks were uploaded before anyone from the brand even needed to hit publish.
The moment marks the launch of Billson’s new brand platform, Flavour That Won’t Be Quiet, a positioning built to celebrate bold flavour, louder self-expression and the unapologetic energy that’s helped Billson’s build a cult following.
Instead of serving the category’s usual polished RTD aesthetic, the brand is leaning into live culture, nostalgia and environments.
The work was developed by B&T Award-winning agency, Emotive, who led creative, production, talent, PR, social, live experience and influencer integration supported by EssenceMediacom and VML, who worked collaboratively from day one.
Iconic Flavour
The platform driving the launch, Flavour That Won’t Be Quiet, started with understanding the product and the people who drink it.
Speaking exclusively with B&T, Emotive’s head of earned creative Jessica Cluff said the spark came from the icon that is the brand’s identity.
“It really comes down to its flavour, that’s always been the most iconic part of it.”
But she said flavour alone wasn’t enough.
“The brand itself is about so much more than just that as well. It’s the facilitator of good times… It’s all about having fun, getting loud and being unapologetically yourself.”
That thinking made one thing clear: Billson’s wasn’t built for passive consumption, physically or creatively. It is a brand that, as Cluff put it, should be “experienced” and therefore the brand platform launch has to be anything but passive.
“We could have just done a traditional brand campaign, but we always knew we wanted to be in that space,” she said of earned-first thinking. “We wanted something authentically grounded in culture.”
Emotive founder and CEO Simon Joyce agreed, saying that the agency knew it needed to “punch above its weight”.
“It’s one thing to have the ambition… another to execute well and make sure across all those touch points, it’s a really unified approach.”
Bingo Loco = The Perfect Amplifier
At the centre of that strategy is a partnership with Bingo Loco at events across the country.
If the brand platform is loud and full of flavour, Bingo Loco is the physical embodiment of it: bingo-meets-rave-meets-party-night-out, where costumes, glitter, screaming along to throwback hits and zero shame are baseline behaviour. It’s fertile ground for the type of behaviour Billson’s wants to unlock, music, participation, filming and sharing.
Bingo Loco, Cluff said, was the perfect amplifier for the brand platform launch. “It’s insane, but in the best way.”
“You’re just having the best time. You’re not caring what other people think,” she said. “That was really the perfect partner.”
The Y2K Resurgence
The use of Y2K nostalgia wasn’t accidental, either. Early-2000s pop has been surging back into cultural relevance across TikTok, Instagram and live entertainment, and tapping Anastacia gives the campaign both emotional resonance and algorithmic traction.
The moment feels both deeply nostalgic and right now, a sweet spot that lets the brand connect with older millennials who lived the era and Gen Z audiences experiencing it for the first time through remixes, memes and revival tours.
“Music is an incredible signifier… It’s amazing what the brain does and how it stores music,” said Joyce.
The brand platform launch extends far beyond one stunt. The wider campaign includes influencer activity, ongoing social momentum, earned media amplification and a travelling brand experience designed to keep generating film-worthy moments.
One of those is Billson’s Fridge Karaoke, a custom sound-activated fridge reward mechanic that is rolling out across venues, reinforcing the brand’s position as an instigator of fun, not just another option in the fridge.
As Brendan Moynihan, Emerging Brands Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Australia & New Zealand put it: “Consumers are seeking more than just delicious drinks. They’re looking for interesting brands that reflect their personalities and give them something they can connect with.”
“By combining unexpected nostalgic flavours with culturally charged, live experiences, we’ve shown Billson’s can be that unique brand in the alcoholic RTD space.”
In a landscape where ads are scrolled past in less than half a second, Billson’s is betting that the future of awareness is filmed, shared, replayed and yelled about in the moment and in the days and weeks that follow.
