The rising temperature has ignited consumers’ enthusiasm for beverage consumption, and the bubble water market has also ushered in a fierce battle. The well-known “three zero” bubble water brand of PepsiCo, bubble smile fun bubble (hereinafter referred to as “smile fun bubble”), after its first landing in the Chinese market last year with three products of white peach flavor, passion fruit flavor and honey pomelo flavor, continued to launch two new flavors of strawberry flavor and apple flavor this summer to jointly meet the peak consumption season of beverages.
Bubble water is a hot track in the food and beverage industry in recent years, which is deeply loved by young consumers. With the end of giants, there are many upstarts, and the bubble water market gradually gets rid of the halo of emerging tracks and becomes more and more “crowded”. Enterprise survey data show that there are 2040 domestic bubble water related enterprises, and in recent years, the annual new registration volume has remained at hundreds.
Facing the “mature” market stage, how can the bubble water brand continue to attract consumption enthusiasm, maintain endurance and continue to “run” in the “sprint” consumption track? Smile fun bubble has been the first to hand over the answer sheet. It should face the challenges and find opportunities with the combination of “taste + packaging + brand proposition”.
Next, let’s have a look.
Take the lead in packaging
BiliBili insight and Nielsen IQ jointly released the “new flavor group – 2021z generation food and beverage consumption insight report”, which showed that the proportion of Z generation consuming bubble water and other emerging beverage sub categories was significantly higher than that of non-z generation groups. At the same time, generation Z is a generation that recognizes the importance of beauty and is willing to pay for it. 70% of generation Z will be greatly affected by their appearance when purchasing products. In the past year, the proportion of their increased consumption of food and beverage products with high appearance value and strong sense of design is significantly higher than that of non-z generation respondents.
It can be seen that generation Z has become the mainstream consumer group of bubble water, and the importance of packaging has also increased.
In packaging, the methodology of smile and fun bubble is based on the overall visual design of absorbing sunshine, superimposed with symbolic expression and dialogue construction. The purpose is not only to attract consumers to “pay for it”, but also to occupy a unique mind.
First of all, the bright and highly saturated fresh fruit flavor color system is widely used in smile fun bubble products, which can not only directly prompt the taste of the product, but also break the boredom, improve consumption desire, and bring consumers a more positive and positive product perception. The “same frame” of the five products can also form a bright rainbow, and the unique rainbow color packaging also makes it unique in the bubble water category.
Just good-looking is not enough, good taste is the key. According to the “2021 China bubble water report” published by immente, when choosing bubble drinks, taste is the most important consideration, especially for consumers aged 18-29. Consumers pay special attention to taste. On the one hand, it proves the longitudinal attribute of bubble drinks, on the other hand, it highlights the important role of taste innovation in promoting consumption.
At present, the sour and sweet taste represented by fruit flavored bubble water is still the mainstream taste in the beverage market, and its position cannot be shaken. Cbndata’s insight into 2021 beverage consumption trends points out that even though many online popular flavors enter the beverage market, sour and sweet flavors still become the most popular flavors with high consumption.
Smile fun bubble starts with the light, sour and sweet fruit taste, and the product layout is mainly based on the tastes favored by mass consumers, supplemented by trendy tastes. Last year, white peach flavor, honey pomelo flavor and passion fruit flavor became its first batch of listed flavors, while apple flavor and strawberry flavor were launched as the second batch this year.
Specifically, white peach flavor is the most popular flavor choice at present, while apple flavor and strawberry flavor are fruits that consumers are very familiar with and consume frequently. These three flavors have become the key to brand driving and maintaining the repurchase rate; Tropical and seasonal fruit flavors such as passion fruit and honey pomelo bring a lot of “freshness”, which not only creates a delicate sense of hierarchy for the brand’s flavor system, but also contributes to the innovation, especially to attract the young generation of consumers who seek to be different.
In terms of the “carving” of taste, xiaoxiaoqupao has insisted on making new products with the idea of making fine products since its launch, meeting the taste buds’ pursuit of the majority of consumers, and constantly creating surprises for consumers relying on the strong localization R & D strength of Pepsi.
The product research and development of smile fun bubble actually follows a rigorous process from laboratory to shelf, which is also a distinctive footnote to the localization of Pepsi in China. It is reported that the taste of the local series of products of smile fun bubble is selected and produced by PepsiCo Asia R & D center in Shanghai, which is the largest and most integrated R & D center established by PepsiCo in Asia.
In the specific research and development process, data-driven is the key to success. It is reported that PepsiCo will combine big data and small data to develop innovative products for the Chinese market. On the one hand, use big data to segment consumers’ needs and explore consumption trends and directions; On the other hand, supplemented by small data, we will continue to improve product creativity through qualitative analysis of consumer interviews.
Smile fun bubble is based on data-oriented, screening out product tastes that meet the preferences of the local market, and further making taste improvement and localization adjustments according to the consumer evaluation results of new products in many places, so as to achieve high satisfaction.
With precise and systematic taste construction, smile fun bubble has become a representative brand of fruity bubble water. Cbndata’s insight into 2021 beverage consumption trends shows that fruit flavored bubble water represented by smile fun bubble is the segment with the largest consumption scale in 2021 tmall beverage market.
In order to maintain endurance and accelerate continuously in this long-distance race, bubble water brand is to become a continuous daily consumption and respond to people’s expectations for a healthy lifestyle. The core of brand management is to focus on long-term ism, return to the construction of popular taste and systematic research and development, which is also the foundation of any brand’s long-term growth.
Go further with value
Under the interaction of the epidemic and complex economic forms, the expectations of stressed young consumers for brands are changing. Ipsos’ 2021 insight into new trends in food and beverage shows that 64% of consumers are very concerned about whether food and beverage can meet their emotional needs during publicity. Therefore, what a brand should do is not only to provide good products, but also to continuously output positive emotional value.
The target audience of smile fun bubble is focused on generation Z. Starting from the living habits and brand tone of the target audience, smile fun bubble firmly binds the connection with “smile”, and encourages consumers to face difficulties and challenges in life with an optimistic attitude.
On the one hand, smile and fun go deep into the real life scene, incarnate the content creator, create a sympathetic contact with consumers with short and refined story chapters, and actively output the positive values of the brand.
this year, smile fun bubble and brand spokesperson Xiao Zhan launched a series of stories called “smile fun transmission” to show young people’s emo moments and smile healing moments in their daily social fields. The trivial troubles in life may occupy the emotional highland instantly, but just a smile incentive to drive the corners of the mouth up, you can regain vitality and return to self-confidence. Young consumers with different backgrounds and experiences can find resonance in the story. Smile knowingly and continue to actively face life, which is the brand proposition of smile fun bubble – let everyone “have fun and laugh”.
On the other hand, smile fun bubble focuses on using social media to achieve all-weather interaction with consumers, making the story of a smile thousands of people, more personalized, and gradually expanding the power of a smile. During the release of the series of stories, smile fun bubble launched a smile transmission activity, and the public across different generations, regions and occupations recorded and shared the unique smile they saw and read in the form of “hand-painted cans” and “sun out smile cans”, so that the positive energy of positive warmth can be transmitted layer by layer. On the Weibo platform, smile and pass topic has been read 150million times, discussed 400000 times, and created nearly 10000 people.
Values are the DNA of a brand. Adhering to a core value, innovation is expressed in concrete stories, so that the brand has a firm belief in running forward and can continue to move towards longer-term goals.
According to the Research Report of CICC, the sales of bubble water is expected to reach 33.8 billion yuan in 2025, corresponding to a compound growth rate of 26% from 2021 to 2025. It can be seen that the bubble water market still has high growth potential. Brands with comprehensive strength will take a big lead in this “race”.
As a cutting-edge bubble water brand under Pepsi, the “long-distance running” methodology of smile fun bubble also provides a reference. It needs interesting packaging to attract eyeballs, classic taste to capture taste buds, and moving stories to move people. The three moves are combined into a set of combined fists, and the bubble water can continue to “bubble” happily.
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