Q & A with Bob Welke - Creative Director on the Original SURGE Ad Campaign
We at SaveSURGE.org are very proud to present a Q & A with a very important member of SURGE's history. Bob Welke is currently the CEO of Blue Horse, Inc. in Milwaukee, WI. But back in the 90s, he was the Creative Director on the very first SURGE ad campaign while working with Leo Burnett in Chicago, IL. Bob was kind enough to answer some questions about the very beginnings of our favorite soda:

1. As creative director for the original SURGE ad campaign, what were your duties?
Think Perry White at the Daily Planet. That was me. Especially the wisdom and sparkling personality.

My job was first to work with the client as well as our agency account service and research people in developing a creative brief. This is a document that describes the selling strategy, target market, competition, timeline and other pertinent information. Then to supervise several art director/writer teams in developing ideas. A selection of ideas are presented to the client and my job is to make a recommendation. Once an idea is agreed upon, the CD supervises the team in selecting a film house and then shooting and editing the commercial. Then, when it’s all done, I get to share in the glory. Or the blame. For Surge, the team of Phil Gayter (writer) and Joe Gallo (art director) won the competition with their idea. Once we proceeded to production, line producer Stuart Kramer became a part of the team.

Executive producer Michael Rafayko (Stuart’s boss) reminded me of a remark Stuart made when when he first saw the storyboard. He said, “I just don’t get it, Michael. Maybe I’m too old.”

2. What kind of image or message was Coke looking to convey with the SURGE campaign?
Obviously, the target was teens, especially young men. Mountain Dew was making progress with their high energy sell. Coke wanted to compete with them.

3. How long did the process of coming up with that initial campaign take?
Can’t answer this one precisely. There are lots and lots and lots and lots of meetings. First to discuss the assignment. Then to wade through the research (what was happening in Norway, for example). Then to agree to the creative brief. Then to develop ideas and agree upon a recommendation. Then to get an ok from the client to produce. I’ll guess it was 3 – 6 months.

I do recall working with the client team for quite a while and then, just before proceeding, they had to go “upstairs” to get approval. That’s when I finally met a guy by the name of Sergio Zyman. Sergio was a guy who clearly wanted everyone in the room to know who the big dog was.

4. As many SURGE fans know, the drink was originally test marketed in Norway under the name "URGE" (where it is still being sold today). Did you use that test marketing as a basis for the campaign and, if so, what did you learn from the test marketing?
It was part of the learning. It’s important to note, though, that we (companies, ad agencies, consumers) didn’t think and behave as “internationally” back then as we do now. So there was concern about differences between their market and the U.S. But I can’t really recall anything specifically. Perhaps there is someone out there on the research team who will see this and jump in.

5. During the early days of SURGE, there seemed to be a lot of very creative contests and promotional items (t-shirts, hats, etc.). Would you say that SURGE had more of these types of promotions than your average product launch?
I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think so. This is another interesting marketing evolution. You see, part of the problem with launching and supporting a brand is the investment a company has had to make. They have to decide a) do we launch? And b) if we do launch, how many gazillions of dollars do we throw at mass media, store point of purchase, contests, merchandise, endorsements, coupons, rebates, public relations and on and on? You really can’t jump halfway into the pool. (I remember selling a campaign to Miller Beer and having the president say, “Well, ok, we’ll do it. But we’re not painting the damn trucks again!”)

What’s happening now, however, is that companies are getting smarter about using “buzz” tactics to let consumers find brands for themselves. Books have been written about how p.r. is much better at a product launch than paid advertising – I-Pod is a case in point.

When SURGE was launched, Coca-Cola had lots of different companies working on lots of different promotional ideas. One could possibly criticize them for not doing enough and not doing it long enough. Given enough money, it’s not that difficult to sell a lot of soda or beer in a new product launch. It’s staying power that’s the issue – to pay off the investment. I think Mountain Dew just defended well and Coca-Cola blinked. But that’s hindsight.

6. There seemed to be a lot of public awareness about SURGE, but the brand only lasted a few years. Some might say (or, at least, I say) that Coke should have given SURGE more time to cut in to Mountain Dew's market share. Looking back, is there anything that you think Coke could have done to make the brand more successful?
I agree. But again, that’s easy for guys like you and me (we don’t have to answer to the stockholders). I think what we didn’t know then was the power of letting the consumer discover and take ownership of the brand. But then we didn’t have YouTube to do it. Can you imagine the great videos people could have done themselves for this brand?

In my opinion, Surge was a brand that was a little ahead of its time – that’s why people like you are now supporting it, and looking for a successor. So another tactic might have been to position the brand as more of an energy drink and less of a soda. But here again, Red Bull wasn’t around back then and no one had any inkling about what was coming. So, you’re left with soda against soda. Pepsico spent bucks and advertised smart. Give credit to them.

7. When you found out about SaveSURGE.org, how did it make you feel to know that so many fans still love the brand (and its commercials)?
Awesome! Everyone here is talking about it. I have a blog on our agency website (www.bluehorseinc.com) and I’m going to post an article about this. I’ve also sent out some notes to some of the “old timers” who worked on the project. I wouldn’t be surprised if you hear from more of them.

I was also encourage to read in Citizen Marketers how you are now helping in promoting Vault. It’s too bad we didn’t have you guys and this technology around when we launched Surge. It might’ve turned out differently.

Thanks for taking time to speak with us, Bob!