![Bubly flavors. - [Image via Beneath The Brand on Twitter]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/2/10/660x290/b_502x220x82/image-via-beneath-the-brand-on-twitter_1825813.jpg "Bubly flavors. - [Image via Beneath The Brand on Twitter]")
In recent years, PepsiCo has had some trouble in maintaining its record of sizable yearly profits. According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, the profits for the North American branch of the company dropped 10 percent between last quarter and the previous quarter before that. As a result, PepsiCo is expanding their range of beverages with a new brand of flavored Sparkling Water, dubbed, Bubly, to fight the soda market profit droop that has affected other drink giants such as its rival, Coca-Cola Co.
Bubly's debut is approaching quickly
Bubly is expected to be released this month, according to the New York Times. Ads for the sparkling beverage will roll out during the broadcasting of the Oscar Awards on March 4, an optimal time slot. The fizzy water will be offered in eight diverse flavors (such as applebubly and mangobubly), and is said to lack what one wants to avoid in fizzy drinks, making it possible to push the Bubly as a healthful choice of beverage. The New York Times reports that the new brand of water will have "no artificial flavors, sweeteners, or calories," and will be more in line with current consumer spending trends when it comes to drinks. Bottled water saw a massive boost in sales in 2016, enough that those sales were more than those of soda for the very first time.
Inspired by millennial culture
While Bubly's debut is looking like a solid endeavor given the jump-start that it will receive in sales and premiere ads, it does have a formidable foe in a fellow sparkling water brand, LaCroix. LaCroix has established itself as a millennial cultural phenomenon, being featured heavily by devotees on sites such as Instagram.
PepsiCo, being cognizant of this, promotes Bubly as something that millennials will be interested in. Cans of Bubly are brightly colored, and the tabs of the cans sport wacky text such as: "hiii," reminiscent of a message that one would send or receive on their phone or in a messenger app. PepsiCo is confident in their new product, and according to People Magazine, the Vice President of PepsiCo's North America Beverage Water Portfolio has stated: "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." PepsiCo may be well on their way to claiming an oft-neglected section of the beverage market, but only time will tell whether Bubly will survive the trials and tribulations that come with being new to the fizzy water market, or if LaCroix instead will reign supreme.
