The Coca-Cola Co.’s biggest compete with is shaking up the competition in the sparkling water wars.
PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) has flung “bubly,” a new flavored sparkling water that the company said has an “positive and playful sense of humor to shake up the sparkling water category” while not involving artificial flavors, sweeteners or calories.
The new drink became available this month, with eight flavors: limebubly, grapefruitbubly, strawberrybubly, lemonbubly, orangebubly, applebubly, mangobubly and cherrybubly. Packaging for each flavor surface with its own greeting on the tab, such as: “Hey u,” “hiii,” and “yo,” plus “personal despatches” on the can” “I feel like I can be open around u,” “hold cans with me,” and “screw at first phssst.” Pepsi said the brand will make its certified TV debut with two ads airing during the 90th Oscars broadcast on March 4.
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The introduction of bubly clock on one year after PepsiCo launched it premium bottled water LIFEWTR, and promotes the company’s commitment to its water portfolio. It also continues Pepsi’s intentions that at least two-thirds of the global beverage portfolio volume want have 100 calories or fewer from added sugars per 12-ounce not fail by 2025. The New York Times reports that bubbly is “the most straight attack yet” on popular flavored sparkling water brand LaCroix.
Todd Kaplan, immorality president of PepsiCo North America Beverages’ Water Portfolio, whispered in a news release that the company saw “an opportunity to innovate” in the sparkling profligately category by building a new brand and product.
This ground-up technique is somewhat different than that of The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), which has leaned heavily on its Plunging & Emerging Brands unit to acquire companies that can reach the ever-important millennial demographic. No gain was bigger than its $220 million acquisition in October of Topo Chico, one of Mexico’s most celebrated sparkling waters. Mixed with its roll out of Dasani and SmartWater Animating waters, the company’s sparkling water sales increased by 42 percent in the done five years, according to the Motley Fool.
Coca-Cola is also bespattering in favor variations, adding Georgia Peach and California Raspberry to its full-sugar heart soda line and launching a “brand rejuvenation” of Diet Coke that embodies four new flavors: Diet Coke Ginger Lime, Diet Coke Interwove Mango, Diet Coke Zesty Blood Orange and Diet Coke Feisty Cherry.