The Say it with Pepsi emoji bottles and Revive in 390ml are now available at 7-Eleven convenience stores in Malaysia. The promotion period is one month from 5 July 2016 to 1 August 2016. Each bottle is selling for a price of RM 0.99 (USD 0.25). This marks the expansion of the RM 0.99, 390ml pack into the convenience store channel. As a recap, the RM 0.99 Pepsi and Revive first appeared in 99Speedmart mini market in May 2016.
Emoji bottle distribution channel and launch timeline
At the moment, the emoji bottles are available in 390ml, 500ml and 1,500ml PET bottles but not in cans.
In terms of the launch timeline, the emoji bottles in 390ml first appeared through 99Speedmart, followed by the 1,500ml emoji bottles in the supermarket channel before being made available at 7-Eleven in all three formats – 390ml, 500ml and 1,500ml.
Fizzy drink price war at 7-Eleven
PepsiCo has started a price war in 7-Eleven by selling the 390ml Pepsi and Revive with i-HYDR8 at an affordable price of RM 0.99 for a period of two months. In addition to the RM 0.99 bottle, the company is also making available the new 500ml Revive with i-HYDR8 at RM 1.50 (non i-HYDR8 normal price is RM 2.50), thus competing directly with 100 Plus (500ml).
The price for the 500ml Revive with i-HYDR8 will remain at RM 1.50 for five months from 5 July 2016 to 2 January 2017. Would 100 Plus follow suit by coming up with something to match the same price.
500ml Revive with i-HYDR8 still not available
At the time of writing on 12 July 2016, the 500ml Revive with i-HYDR8 has not arrived in 7-Eleven. As for the RM 0.99 Revive and Pepsi, only few 7-Eleven outlets have started selling them despite the promotion starting on 5 July 2016.
Display issues – Not celebrating the emojis
The way the emoji bottles are displayed on shelf defies the reason why these fancy bottles are rolled out in the first place. In one of the 7-Eleven stores, the poster on the rack shows images of Say it with Pepsi campaign featuring the cute emojis. However, the emojis are hidden from the products on display underneath. What consumers could see was the usual Pepsi logo.
The same applies to the products in the picture below in one of the 7-Eleven outlets. After the author adjusted the facing, the bottle becomes more visually arresting.
Pepsi emoji as collectibles
Would the emoji design spur the sales of Pepsi? The author has already collected 27 different emoji designs (390ml) and is eager to expand his collection. It makes it more worthwhile from a collector’s point of view to have the emojis in cans.
Key takeaways
PepsiCo has escalated the price war to the 7-Eleven convenience store, potentially impacting F&N’s 100 Plus and Coca-Cola. PepsiCo should celebrate its cute emojis by giving these emojis more prominent shelf facing. To improve the appeal with collectors, the Say it with Pepsi campaign should also include the can version.
An update as of 8 October 2016
PepsiCo has launched emoji cans few weeks after the post was published. Also, the bottle has now being rotated to show the emoji to attract consumers.
