Launching a Non-Alcoholic Drink in a Highly Competitive Market.
Problem
You only get one chance to make a first impression. Packaging gets attention. Taste makes people fall in love. A new product entering the soft drinks market faces fierce competition on the shelf. For the new brand Pop Shot, the challenge was clear: it had to stand out to its core audience – teenagers. Late Gen Z and early Gen Alpha want a rebel brand: bold, bright, trendy, meme-worthy, and always a little bit on the edge. But it also had to appeal to other age groups.
Solution
For Pop Shot’s rebellious packaging, we turned to Pixel Art – mixing everything that excites teenagers with something instantly recognisable and appealing to other generations. Pixel Art is a style with a long history. It began in the 1980s with arcade games, peaked in the 1990s – hello, Mario! – and returned to the spotlight in the 2010s – welcome to Minecraft! Today, it is riding a new wave of popularity. Both our audience and everyone beyond it understand and embrace Pixel Art. It feels familiar, modern and cool. For every flavour in the Pop Shot range, we created a unique label background inspired by the world of platform games. We also designed a collection of recognisable meme-inspired pixel visuals that express the personality of each drink and hint at its flavour. All these pixelated mini-scenes are connected by a single idea: each flavour has its own world and character. Together, they create the dynamics of a video game where the consumer is the main character – and every new flavour is a new level to unlock. Each Pop Shot drink has its own distinct, multi-layered personality – just like a teenager. Cute can coexist with bold. Trends can collide with jokes.
Results
The result is an exciting product with broad consumer appeal. Pop Shot stands out through creativity, playfulness and attention to detail.
