PepsiCo Launching Line of Canned Sparkling Water Beverages

On Thursday, PepsiCo announced the launch of their new line of sparkling water beverages, Bubly. The beverage giant’s new product range is packaged in brightly colored 12-ounce cans with tabs that have different greetings on them.

The sparkling water products were launched this month and are available in participating stores across the US in eight different flavors – limebubly, grapefruitbubly, strawberrybubly, lemonbubly, orangebubly, applebubly, mangobubly and cherrybubly. These beverage cans come in eight different colors with unique smile designs on them. The containers also feature personal messages on them such as “I feel I can be open around u.” The products also come in 20-ounce bottles.

“When we looked at the sparkling water category, we saw an opportunity to innovate from within by building a new brand and product from the ground up to meet consumer needs. We created bubly to provide consumers with a great-tasting, flavorful, unsweetened sparkling water in a fun, playful, and relevant manner that is unlike anything we’ve seen in the sparkling water category today,” said Todd Kaplan, Vice President, Water Portfolio – PepsiCo North America Beverages.

This product launch comes as more consumers turn away from sugary carbonated beverages. In 2016, the total sales of soda beverages in America hit a 31-year-low, leading large-scale pop companies to invest in low-calorie carbonated beverages. Pepsi’s competitor Coke recently invested in a stevia-sweetened zero-calorie cola beverage in hopes of appealing to the selective consumer market. PepsiCo entering the sparkling water category is indicative of the company’s challenges in selling their pop products.

According to Beverage Marketing Corp, bottled water consumption in America surpassed soda consumption trends in 2016. The market research firm found bottled water consumption in the US to be 39.3 gallons per capita in that year whereas soda consumption fell to 38.5 gallons per capita.

However, PepsiCo’s entrance into the sparkling water industry is likely to stand out as the company targets the dominating millennial market through packaging and advertising. Bubly’s colourful and interactive packaging is designed for social media promotion, which is a growing advertising platform. In addition, the company plans on launching the on-air advertisement for Bubly during the Academy Awards on March 4^th, which will surely reach a large audience.

“This is an exciting addition to our PepsiCo portfolio, which is why we’re committed to make bubly one of our biggest product launches to date and are introducing the new brand to the world during the Academy Awards,” continued Kaplan.