Will driftwell rocket to success?

Pepsi has been the second-place soda company for years, decades even. The blue cans with their American pride branding has never quite cracked through the ceiling of the floor dominated by Cocacola. To help it break through, it’s betting on breaking out. It’s entering a new category of drinks designed for the mind. This one is all about relaxation. This alone makes it interesting. It’s a huge contrast to the brand and promise of caffeinated beverages – to wake you up and give you energy. But for some reason, Pepsi has decided to go in a very different direction.

But besides this break from tradition, the most fascinating thing about the drink is in its branding. Gone is it’s bright red, white, and blue logo that stands out from aisles away. Instead, it’s using a navy blue, light blue, and yellow circle with the new brand’s name “Driftwell” slanted and scrolled at the top.

There are so many things wrong with this branding. The first is that the yellow circle is completely ambiguous. What is it? What does it mean? From the name “Driftwell,” it could very well be the moon. But it’s almost too bright for that to make sense. It looks closer to the sun. But that goes against the promise of rest and relaxation. Is it something different altogether? 

But besides its meaning, the symbol doesn’t feel like a logo. It has no essence of a mark. It doesn’t feel like something that can stand alone without a can, the navy blue waves, and the hard to read brand name to support it. If it saw it without all that help, I would pass it by and think nothing of it.

But let’s talk about the name, “Driftwell.” It does seem to represent the goal of the drink, which is to drift well. It’s all about relaxation, and drifting certainly captures that. But drinking something with the word “drift” doesn’t sound particularly enticing. But I can appreciate that coming up with a name that’s both enticing to drink but also captures the qualities of what your selling is a tough task. To be honest, I probably couldn’t think of something better myself. 

A comparison that’s been made to this product is to the drink Recess, which similarly offers a feeling of calm and relaxation. It sound intriguing, and they’ve certainly achieved the pastel, modern style and feel. But the branding there still stands out. The brand name is clear to read and as an up and coming brand, the modern style feels authentic. Seeing an industry giant known best for their loud, bold packaging copying the current wave of branding aesthetic feels forced. 

But perhaps this is a smart strategic move. In entering the space on the latest wave of relaxation drinks and leveraging a brand aesthetic that many are already comfortable with, they be well positioned to take their mass marketing dollars and use that machine to tell health-conscious beverages to the mainstream market. Only time will tell.

 https://marker.medium.com/how-pepsi-became-suckered-into-every-hot-branding-trend-8fd8b5840000