“Mtn Dew” is receiving a makeover, with the term “mountain” returning to cans and bottles after nearly two decades.
The PepsiCo-owned beverage will introduce a new logo and package design on Wednesday, replacing its sharply angular font and truncated title with artwork that symbolizes its rustic roots, as well as restoring its original title to cans and bottles. The new appearance will be introduced to consumers in May of next year.
The revisions come amid falling demand in North America for PepsiCo’s beverages, particularly a 7% drop in volume for Mountain Dew in the first half of 2024, according to information provided to CNN by Beverage Digest, a trade newspaper.
Mountain Dew Is Putting The Mountain Back In Its Logo
“Mountain Dew appears ready to shake off the adrenaline rush that has defined the brand’s marketing for almost two decades, when a key strategy was to market Dew like an energy drink to an energy drink crowd,” Duane Stanford, editor, and publisher of Beverage Digest, told CNN.
Dew’s New Look
The new logo, which taps into nostalgia, brings back “mountain,” which was discarded in 2009 as part of a bigger rebranding of PepsiCo’s soda portfolio, which also included a new look for the now-defunct Sierra Mist brand.
Spelling out the word mountain is a “direct link to the origins of the brand, which is the mountains and the outdoors,” according to Mauro Porcini, senior vice president and chief design officer at PepsiCo, who oversaw the revamp. The logo also includes a reference to its foundation date of 1948, when it was established as a mixer in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains.
Hardcore Dew fans may recognize the new logo as being similar to the logo used in the 1990s, but Porcini told CNN that it has been “modernized and projected to feel the three-dimensionality” of the words, giving it a more current look with softened angles.
Other details include a leaf to represent the “i” and a mountainous background with citrus-inspired golden hues, which Porcini says corresponds to the beverage’s fruity flavor.
Mountain Dew has always been marketed as an energy drink due to its sugar and caffeine content, but the new packaging is intended to evoke a “different kind of energy that’s coming from the outdoors,” according to Porcini.
The soda brand recently reintroduced its popular “Do the Dew” motto and launched the Mountain Dude, a new figure that encourages Generation Z to take their eyes off screens and explore the outdoors.
Mountain Dew’s marketing strategy must undergo significant changes. PepsiCo has “little choice” but to increase sales because the beverage is one of its most valuable brands, according to Stanford. PepsiCo now owns Rockstar Energy and has made a $500 million investment in Celsius, a popular energy drink brand, so “the need for Dew to compete as an energy brand isn’t as critical.”
Soda slump.
Rolling out a new design comes at a difficult time for soda manufacturers. Drinkers’ choices are migrating away from sugary sodas and toward sparkling waters, hydration beverages, and “better-for-you” options.
Mountain Dew Is Putting The Mountain Back In Its Logo
PepsiCo lowered its full-year revenue projection on Tuesday, citing decreased volume in its North American beverage sector. “The cumulative impacts of inflationary pressures and higher borrowing costs over the last few years have continued to impact consumer budgets and spending patterns,” PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement.
Furthermore, smaller rivals such as Poppi and Olipop are gaining popularity and distribution, with the latter recently producing a Mountain Dew-like taste dubbed “Ridge Rush” that features mountains on its cans.
Mountain Dew’s new style is more about the “evolution and nurturing that we wanted to give to this beloved franchise,” according to JP Bittencourt, vice president of marketing at the brand. “This design has been in the works for some time, so this is not a response to anybody.”
A rebranding could also attract drinkers who may have forgotten about Mountain Dew. Bittencourt told CNN that the company had “huge lifts with our most ardent fans and, equally important, with those who have not tried us in some time.”
SOURCE | CNN
