After analyzing the target demographics from PepsiCo, we discovered that our target audience wasn’t a market—it was a mindset. We called this mindset Generation Play: people from 18-34 and beyond, people anywhere on the gender spectrum, and people with diverse backgrounds who like to challenge what’s expected and seek out opportunities to get more out of life—and have a little fun along the way.

Generation Play inspired our brand promise: bubly brings a little play into the everyday. Play doesn’t need to be scheduled. Play doesn’t need a reason. Play doesn’t stop when you’re an “adult.” This promise became a platform for our creative.

Based on our brand promise, we launched into naming, visual, and verbal design. The name “bubly” comes from bubbles, of course, but it also references a bubbly personality—confident, charming, lighthearted, and a bit mischievous. We dropped a “b” because we’re not afraid to do our own thing.

That personality inspired every element of the visual and verbal design, starting with the can itself. From tabs that greet you (“oh hi” and “haayy”) to easter eggs that surprise you on the back (“these sips don’t lie”), the tone of voice in our verbal design always starts a conversation. And it plays nice with our visual design: vibrant colors, flavor-specific smiles, and a wordmark derived from bubbles. All stand out on a crowded shelf.

Across the can, bottle, and box, every design decision we made was intended to bring a little more play to your day and help you “Crack a Smile.”

Within 72 hours, bubly became the #1 sparkling water brand on Amazon. Within 5 days, we had over 1 billion earned media impressions. Within 4 weeks, we gained 35% of category sales growth*. Within 5 weeks, the bubly “crack a smile” campaign had 1.4 billion GIPHY views and counting.

Across social media, people engaged with the brand, posting photos of the bubly tabs and can: “Who wouldn’t love sparkling water cans with cute and quirky notes on them?” and “I think my #bubly is flirting with me.” Evidence that our brand truly was able to bring a little play into the everyday. For a lot of people.

*Citing IRI scanner date, SIG's Pablo Zuanic said bubly took an almost 5% share of US sparkling water in the four weeks to 8 April; and the brand accounted for 35% of the sparkling category's year-on-year sales growth in the four-week period.