Dive Brief:
- PepsiCo is debuting a new soda line, 1893, in original and ginger cola varieties. 1893 contains premium ingredients and aligns with consumers' demand for craft beverages.
- PepsiCo is also upping the classy factor with Mtn Dew Black Label, made with herbal bitters, and a new campaign that's meant to add an air of sophistication to the product, in the tradition of black label liquor brands.
- Coca-Cola is rolling out a new edition of its Share a Coke promotion, this time with song lyrics printed on the packaging. "Share a Coke and a Song" covers the four trademark Coke brands, supporting the one brand campaign announced earlier this year.
Dive Insight:
Soda makers are employing music, sophistication and premium ingredients to turn around soda's sales and consumption rates. Annual per capita consumption fell to a 30-year low last year, and sales declined for the 11th consecutive year.
Still, five of the top 10 beverages consumed in the U.S. last year were soda brands, including four of the top five, according to a recent beverage industry report. Consumers are moving away from soda in favor of other better-for-you beverage options, but they haven't abandoned the category altogether.
Sometimes consumers just want to consume less, and soda makers have had a response for that too — mini cans. Mini cans enable health-conscious consumers to drink smaller servings of soda, which keeps them buying. But also important to manufacturers is that mini cans are also more profitable by the ounce, so this packaging innovation has been a win-win on both sides of the soda purchase. Earlier this year, both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola reported sales declines for soda in larger packaging but increases for mini cans and mini bottles.