Nutrisoda returns bigger, shinier - bizjournals:

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Ardea has scaled back distribution of the nutritionally carbonated beverage as it tries out a new look and can size mean t to give itmore mass-market appeal. The 8.4-ounce cans are gone, replaced by standard-size, 12-ounce cans with a silvert color. Since May, Ardea only has been selling the drin online and at stores intwo pilot-project areas — the Twin Cities and San Diego — and has halve d the number of flavors to If sales go well, it will expandd to other markets late this year.
“We think the packagingg and marketing materials we have put togethet have made it a much more widelyaccepted product, whilre before it was really a niche product,” said Richardd Wilson, Ardea’s president and general manager. Nutrisoda sales in 2008 were 30 percentf less than theyear before, as large retailers such as Minneapolis-basesd Target Corp. and Montvale, N.J.-based The Greaty Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. (a regional grocet better knownas A&P) stoppedd carrying the beverage. Ardea — which moves its headquarters from Hopkinsto Schaumburg, Ill.
, after Minneapolis-based PepsiAmericasa acquired it in 2006 — retainefd Minneapolis advertising firm Hunt Adkins to conduct focud groups to find out how to give Nutrisodaq more appeal. The firm concluded the beverage was too closelyu associated with energy drinks and too limitedr to a core marketof young, health-consciousz adults. One of Hunt major conclusions was that the drink should be selling in a traditionalk soda can if it was to widen its customer base. The plan had an added bonus: Ardes could save a lot of moneyusing 12-ounce cans.
That’s because Ardea’sd owner, PepsiAmericas, is the world’s second-largestt manufacturer, seller and distributor of PepsiCi Inc. beverages, and has easy access to 12-ounce aluminumk cans. By dropping a canning deal with Cold Spring Brewery in Cold Sprinb and instead using a PepsiAmericas facilityin Iowa, Ardea now is able to sell Nutrisoda for 50 to 60 percen t less per ounce. Wilson said an 8.4-ounc e can of Nutrisoda used to sell for The 12-ounce can sells for 99 cents. Six-packse selling for less than $5.99 are expectedx soon. “Everybody is looking for a good-valuse scenario where they can find Wilson said.
Besides the can size and Ardea also has soughf to make the soda more attractive to a mass markeg by giving the formula astronged flavor. The company is spending more than $1 millionh to show off the new Nutrisodaon billboards, publiv busses and a light rail There’s also a bicycle-pulled soda station showinvg up at events, including a recent Minnesota Twinz game. The campaign’s message is that the drink is i.e. “healthy” and “bubbly.” John editor and publisher of the biweeklgBeverage Digest, said it will be up to the consumed to decide whether the rebranding pays off.
But he said even majoe soda brands, such as Pepsi, have to be refreshecd from timeto time. “Keepingv brands current and relevanrt and fresh for consumers isvery important.”