Honest Tea's New Soda

When Honest Tea, makers of low-sugar teas and juices that are organic, decided to get into the carbonated beverage business, it faced a communication dilemma.


Company executives and consultants debated how to convince consumers that Honest Fizz, the new line of soda, isn't just another high-calorie, carbonated drink. "A lot of natural-food consumers don't even think there is a soda out there for them," says Seth Goldman, chief executive and cofounder of Honest Tea, which is owned by Coca-Cola Co. KO -0.03%
 
At least one of the company's advisory board members worried that making any kind of soda conflicted with the company's mission of making natural drinks, says Mr. Goldman. "There is nothing offensive about bubbles," he says he and most executives argued. Carbonated drinks are by far the biggest category of drinks sold in the U.S.

Package designers set out to highlight Honest Fizz's natural ingredients and zero calories.
The cans' white background is intended to convey its simple, natural ingredients and echo the labels on its other Honest Tea products, says Michael Kravit, creative director for the company. The soda comes in four flavors: Orange Pop, Lemon Limey, organic Root Beer and Professor Fizz (a caffeinated, Dr Pepper-style flavor).

Designers considered making the central image on each can a graphical zero made of bubbles. They abandoned the idea in favor of realistic-looking fruit and a brown barrel for the root beer, says Sarah Williams, creative director and partner at Beardwood & Co, a New York-based branding and design firm that worked on the packaging. "Ultimately people drink products because they taste good," says Julia Beardwood, founding partner of the firm.

The 12-ounce cans are slimmer and taller than traditional soda cans to suggest that "ingredients are more premium than what you would normally get," says Mr. Kravit. The drinks are sweetened with two "natural" sweeteners—erythritol or sugar alcohol and stevia leaf extract. Fruit isn't a listed ingredient. The company says it uses plant-based flavors.

The phrase "Zero Calorie" is prominent at the top and bottom of cans. Because some of the company's other drinks have up to 100 calories per container, they wanted to clearly state the difference, he says.
Designers spent time crafting the perfect bubbles on each can, says Mr. Kravit. They worked to make them look realistic to clearly show the drink is carbonated, but also whimsical to convey a sense of fun, he says. "We were calling it 'romancing the bubbles.' "