PepsiCo’s Stubborn Soda: Will beer gestures bubble trouble?

And with as many buzzwords as bubbles in its beverage (craft, natural, real sugar, consumer experience, innovative, contemporary…) what does this launch tell us about trends?

There aren’t many details from PepsiCo yet - we don’t yet know when or where Stubborn Soda will be released, for example, or how much it will cost, etc. Stubborn Soda’s website exists: but ‘concocting takes time’, ​it says. Nevertheless, here are some points worth considering.

Beer connotations?​

Stubborn Soda will be launched in food service on fountain, from new equipment that offers consumers a ‘tap-like pouring ritual’. ​That immediately brings a certain other beverage to mind...

‘New soda will pour like beer!’​ exclaims CNNMoney as it covers the launch. And look at Stubborn Soda’s logo – it would look quite at home as a pump clip.

Linking alcohol and other drinks is sensitive territory. When a baby 'beer' beer bottle was launched earlier this year, alcohol concern organisations warned the bottle could send the wrong message to children. It didn't contain beer, but the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism said that older children in the family might make the association between the bottle and beer​. 

Just to be completely clear: Pepsi is not making or marketing this as a beer, it’s a craft SODA. And the beverage does not appear to be aimed at children. But critics may argue it will be in an environment where children are present and may consume it. 

Pepsi's invention just sounds like a bit of fun - personally I don't see a problem. Ginger 'beer' has managed perfectly well for years, thank you very much. The point is, soft drinks companies will have to navigate these beer connotations carefully in the future. 

Because as Canadean observed recently: “…there is going to be some overlap as brewers start to look at non-alcoholic alternatives, and soft drinks – as they already have – make moves towards things that maybe have some beer credentials​”.​

Pineapple cream and the craft soda dream​

Lemon berry acai, orange hibiscus, classic root beer, pineapple cream… it’s a whole new world of sophisticated flavors for Pepsi. These flavors don’t say ‘big beverage corporation’; they say ‘small craft soda’. And in the same way craft beer has attracted big brewers, craft soda is attracting giant beverage companies.

These craft launches have been fired out – three in around a year for Pepsi (Stubborn follows Caleb’s Kola in October and Mountain Dew Dewshine in March). Evidently it’s still early days but we haven’t heard much about how these craft concoctions are actually doing. It will be interesting to see if the money matches the enthusiasm.

The sticky question of sugar​

It’s the Achilles’ heel for the soft drink industry, so it’s always interesting to see what how new launches are tackling this. ‘Real sugar’ keeps coming up: the aforementioned Caleb’s Kola and Mountain Dew Dewshine, for example, are using this messaging and Stubborn Soda is pointing out the drink is free from high fructose corn syrup.

On one hand it’s a parallel with craft that sees an interest in authenticity and natural ingredients. But more importantly, it’s a way of offering consumers choice. A cynic might suggest industry is hedging its bets - but there's a valid argument that says consumers have myriad needs, desires and diets​. Elsewhere, Coca-Cola Enterprises this week earmarked choice, information, and a varied portfolio​ as part of its strategy.

The variety of options may seem bewildering (original, low/zero calorie, low/zero sugar, artificial sweeteners, natural sweeteners… the list goes on) but choice seems to be in vogue right now.

Beyond sugar, the concept of ‘natural’ seems to attract a lot of cynicism from the industry – what does it really mean? Does it actually mean anything? But the backlash against ‘artificial’ is pretty entrenched: Stubborn Soda sells the fact it uses ‘real sugar’ and ‘real cola’ which surely sits far more comfortably with the average consumer than artificial sweeteners and artificial flavors.

It’s not what you drink, it’s how you drink it​

Pepsi says it is keen to “enrich the consumer experience” ​for Stubborn Soda (it will be launched on fountain, no word on yet as to if and when we will see it in bottles or cans). And – as mentioned above – that pouring ritual is important. Look at the launches and trends behind personalisation and consumer experience: take Coca-Cola Freestyle and Pepsi Spire home dispensing machines, or PepsiCo’s Drinkfinity ‘personal beverage hydration system.’​

It’s not just about what you drink; it’s about the experience that goes with drinking it.

And what will the experience be like for PepsiCo? We will have to wait and see how the launches fair. With three new offerings, PepsiCo evidently is quite keen on craft. It’s either being smart, shrewd or – indeed – Stubborn.

Rachel Arthur works for BeverageDaily.com and has been a journalist for William Reed Business Media since January 2014.​