Retail Watchers

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/business ... index.html

After multiple attempts to try to move a stagnant product, Pepsi is discontinuing its Sprite clone Sierra Mist and replacing it with a retooled lemon-lime soda named Starry and trying to aim it at a younger audience.

At this point, Sierra Mist's share of the soda market is hovering around 0.1% and has spent the last 5 years declining even as Sprite's share has increased to around 8%. I suspect the vast majority of what little share it had came from sales in Taco Bell and KFC restaurants. They tried to rebrand to "Mist Twist" for a couple of years between 2016 and 2018, but all that did was confuse customers. Something tells me that Starry isn't exactly headed for roaring success any time soon, but will probably linger on since they need to have at least some sort of Sprite clone.

Brian Lutz wrote: ↑January 20th, 2023, 4:16 pm https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/business ... index.html

After multiple attempts to try to move a stagnant product, Pepsi is discontinuing its Sprite clone Sierra Mist and replacing it with a retooled lemon-lime soda named Starry and trying to aim it at a younger audience.

At this point, Sierra Mist's share of the soda market is hovering around 0.1% and has spent the last 5 years declining even as Sprite's share has increased to around 8%. I suspect the vast majority of what little share it had came from sales in Taco Bell and KFC restaurants. They tried to rebrand to "Mist Twist" for a couple of years between 2016 and 2018, but all that did was confuse customers. Something tells me that Starry isn't exactly headed for roaring success any time soon, but will probably linger on since they need to have at least some sort of Sprite clone.

Enh...for a time, Sprite had lost its way too, with that "Sublymonal" campaign and all that. I think with Sprite returning to basics while PepsiCo continuously fiddled with Sierra Mist ultimately caused the tables to turn and for Sierra Mist to vanish into obscurity.

Of the 3 major brands in this category Sprite has been the most consistent. 7UP seems to change formulas every couple of years, Pepsi used to have Slice and then Sierra Mist and now Starry (with different formulas as well). Pepsi would probably be best served with purchasing Dr. Pepper / Snapple and eliminating any of the Pepsi brands that overlap (basically Pepsi eliminating all of its own brands other than Pepsi and Mountain Dew) than trying this 3 way race with Dr. Pepper / Snapple and Coca-Cola for the shrinking soda market.

This is an interesting time to change a brand of pop. Pop prices are increasing, and even WinCo has some brands over $6 for a 12 pack now. Pepsi has a history of shifting brand names around if they don't discontinue them altogether. There was "Pepsi Free" (which eventually became Caffeine Free Pepsi, a name that makes more sense), "Cherry Cola Slice" which was their answer to Cherry Coke (And should have been called Wild Cherry Pepsi from the start), numerous different flavors of Mountain Dew, and let's not forget Crystal Pepsi. Some varieties of Slice never got rebranded, there was an orange flavor soda (which some Pepsi distributors these days tend to not offer a consistent brand of) as well as an apple flavor which didn't last very long.

arizonaguy wrote: ↑January 20th, 2023, 5:16 pm Of the 3 major brands in this category Sprite has been the most consistent. 7UP seems to change formulas every couple of years, Pepsi used to have Slice and then Sierra Mist and now Starry (with different formulas as well). Pepsi would probably be best served with purchasing Dr. Pepper / Snapple and eliminating any of the Pepsi brands that overlap (basically Pepsi eliminating all of its own brands other than Pepsi and Mountain Dew) than trying this 3 way race with Dr. Pepper / Snapple and Coca-Cola for the shrinking soda market.

The funny part here is that Dr. Pepper is sometimes grouped in with Pepsi products during sales, as it sometimes comes from the same distributors. This varies by location though.

Pepsi should have kept Slice. Sierra Mist was practically undrinkable.

What was funny is I kind of liked Slice Lemon Lime. It seemed to be a "mid point" between sweeter Sprite and a bit more tangy 7-Up. Sierra Mist I found to be far too sweet, I don't know what it was trying to be, almost like it wanted to be a Sprite that was as sweet as Mountain Dew.

Maybe Pepsi doesn't even need a lemon lime soda in its portfolio, they can just have Mountain Dew as the closest thing.

I expect Starry to completely fail.

I am really surprised how low Sierra Mist's marketshare was. But my guess is in these places where Pepsi has an exclusive contract (Taco Bell and also some gas station fountains are almost all Pepsi products), in many cases this product is displayed beside Mountain Dew and customers just go for the Mountain Dew.

One problem with Pepsi buying 7-Up/Dr. Pepper and doing brand consolidation would be the very complex layer of distribution and bottling agreements out there.

I saw some reviews of Starry and people seem to like it better than Sprite or 7-Up. Sierra Mist was made with real sugar. Starry is made with high fructose corn syrup. This gives Starry a sharper flavor. People say Starry has a more natural lemon lime flavor. 7-Up has an artificial cleaning fluid lemon flavor.

Starry is trying to appeal to Gen-Z with its colorful can and graffiti inspired graphics.

The new formula seems to be the best tasting lemon lime soda.

Ever notice how Icees and Slurpees are Coke flavors? You never see a Pepsi flavored Icee or Slurpee. In fact, I have never seen a clear Slurpee or a Sprite Slurpee.

storewanderer wrote: ↑January 20th, 2023, 10:01 pm What was funny is I kind of liked Slice Lemon Lime. It seemed to be a "mid point" between sweeter Sprite and a bit more tangy 7-Up. Sierra Mist I found to be far too sweet, I don't know what it was trying to be, almost like it wanted to be a Sprite that was as sweet as Mountain Dew.

Maybe Pepsi doesn't even need a lemon lime soda in its portfolio, they can just have Mountain Dew as the closest thing.

I expect Starry to completely fail.

I am really surprised how low Sierra Mist's marketshare was. But my guess is in these places where Pepsi has an exclusive contract (Taco Bell and also some gas station fountains are almost all Pepsi products), in many cases this product is displayed beside Mountain Dew and customers just go for the Mountain Dew.

One problem with Pepsi buying 7-Up/Dr. Pepper and doing brand consolidation would be the very complex layer of distribution and bottling agreements out there.

Dr Pepper/7up is a part of Keurig/Dr Pepper which includes brands like A&W and Canada Dry, plus the Keurig coffee business-too many anti-trust problems for Pepsi, especially with Pepsi’s ties to Starbucks and Lipton.

Remember, Pepsi had tried to buy 7-Up, It was prevented from doing so by the FTC. So in 1986, the international operations of 7-Up were acquired by Pepsi but the US operations were not! Ever since, Pepsi has tried to market a lemon-lime drink to compete with 7-Up US. Since that time, even the logos between 7-Up Pepsico and 7-Up US have changed!

Even with some minor changes in 7-UP I always preferred its more lemony formula over Sprite's sugary formula.

Pepsi's best version of 7-UP was Slice.

When I was still drinking soda, 7-UP was my first choice!