Ultra Violet sold out far too quickly here, and did so without any promotions. Yet, when the product goes away, there is no chatter about replacing it, or better yet, restocking it. Diet Mountain Dew sells extremely well in my area. I know the market is here. So just why the hell aren't there any extensions outside of code red?

It's a good question. Diet Dew is a growing brand and I don't think they have figured out the best way to capitalize on flavor expansion. I do know that there will be another Diet Dew LTO in 2010. It would be cool if they did a "dewmocracy" type promotion and kept the winner as a permanant item.

I think while diet dew is growing in popularity at a good pace there is still time to develop that segment more before really exploring into it..Ultra Violet sold OK..in my area(and I have a pepsi route in a pretty strong dew/ddew and diet anything area) and in others there happened to be a problem with being stuck with out of dates..still got a case of 20oz of them to send back at one store :P. Anyways I think more time is needed to evaluate but I think the consumer will get what they want..soon enough.

Diet Dew would seem to be one of the only positive areas for Pepsi these days in that it's still growing that segment out. I get e-mails every day asking "where can I find Ultra Violet"... not that I can help them, but I haven't seen that kind of reaction to a flavor this year since Throwback hit.

Originally Posted by lordmadone

I think while diet dew is growing in popularity at a good pace there is still time to develop that segment more before really exploring into it..Ultra Violet sold OK..in my area(and I have a pepsi route in a pretty strong dew/ddew and diet anything area) and in others there happened to be a problem with being stuck with out of dates..still got a case of 20oz of them to send back at one store :P. Anyways I think more time is needed to evaluate but I think the consumer will get what they want..soon enough.

in your area...in mine...I couldn't find it in stock anywhere. I was able to find supernova(yuimmy) months after the promo end(and subsequent re-bottle). Nobody had any ultra violet within a week of the end of the promo. Crazy.

Originally Posted by Tannerman

Diet Dew would seem to be one of the only positive areas for Pepsi these days in that it's still growing that segment out. I get e-mails every day asking "where can I find Ultra Violet"... not that I can help them, but I haven't seen that kind of reaction to a flavor this year since Throwback hit.

I asked anyone who would listen at Pepsi bottling. They said it sold out everywhere.

In my experience, diet drinkers tend to be a little more hardcore and brand loyal - they stick to what they already drink, whereas more regular soda drinkers are "try-ers" - they'll try new stuff, especially teens and young adults.

Also, Pepsi may have been conservative in their sales estimates, and only produced a certain amount of concentrate and packaging. I know there have been instances where we've ran out of concentrate or packaging on a brand, or where too much is produced, and you have to firesale it just to sell it before it expires. And then you've got some stuff, like Enviga, where you couldn't give the stuff away. Although I was at a Target here in DE the other day, and saw tropical and berry Envigas. I had no idea the stuff was even still being produced, let alone sold. Maybe they get it from their own warehouse or something.

Fusion has it right. Bottlers commit to buying so much concentrate, labels, cans, etc.. and when it's done, it's done. Many are timid about ordering too much and getting burned. The folks at Pepsi then use the LTO as a barometer to gauge what the next step is...perm item, new formula, another LTO and so on.

You've gotta remember that these LTO's are like cocaine for the brand teams...a shot in the arm to pump up sales with a pure incremental sell (or so they think).

Originally Posted by mofizz

Fusion has it right. Bottlers commit to buying so much concentrate, labels, cans, etc.. and when it's done, it's done. Many are timid about ordering too much and getting burned. The folks at Pepsi then use the LTO as a barometer to gauge what the next step is...perm item, new formula, another LTO and so on.

You've gotta remember that these LTO's are like cocaine for the brand teams...a shot in the arm to pump up sales with a pure incremental sell (or so they think).

LTO's should really use 2 liter bottles more often, the loss leader prices help increase sales.

The LTOs can't even get shelf space in many stores, so only few places have them in some areas.

Originally Posted by Themaster73

The LTOs can't even get shelf space in many stores, so only few places have them in some areas.

That could be for a variety of reasons. First, some stores are very strict about their planograms. You just can't bring in new items and put them on the shelf. Target, Wawa, and Giant food stores in Maryland/DC/VA come to mind in this area.

Some salespeople may be reluctant to put a new item in their stores, especially in slower moving stores, or in an area where that brand doesn't sell very well. The last thing you want is to be picking up outdated soda. But on the flipside, the company wants items available at as many places as possible, and reports are even generated on voids (outlets where the item has not been delivered to). They may expect availability to be at X% within Y days of the item being released.

That particular chain may have not been interested in carrying the product. Those decisions are usually made at corporate level, where a representative from the company meets with a corporate employee of the store, and they pitch the new item. Based on a number of factors, the corporate buyer may give the item a green light, or decline to carry it. Or, the item may have not been presented to the buyer at all, or it is scheduled to be presented in the near future. Or, it may have been approved, but just not put in the system yet.

In cases where the store is owned by an independent operator, they may also decline to carry the item. It is up to the salesperson to sell the item in, and sales tools are generally provided by the company to help with that. Ultimately, you can't force someone to sell something they don't want to. Sometimes it takes offering them samples, reduced cost, or a free case when you buy X cases to influence their decision. Some people are excited about carrying new items, and others just want to carry the same stuff they've always carried. And in many stores, you only have so much space. You're going to have to sacrifice an item to carry a new item, or reduce facings on an existing item, and risk running out of it.

The shelf space may be too small to carry another item. If you only have 8 feet of space, you're going to fill it with your main brands, so you don't run out of them. Slower moving brands and new brands probably won't make it onto the shelf, since there's no room to cut something in without sacrificing space on another item. It would be great if every company had 40 feet in a store, they could carry everything. But that's not the case.

Some times, certain items or flavors are sold exclusively at one chain, and not available for sale anywhere else. This may also include special package sizes, items with extra free product, or special themed items. Or, that chain may have the right to exclusively carry the item for X amount of days from the inital launch period, after which time it can be sold to other accounts.

I think that about covers everything. Sometimes that's the fun of it, the hunt for new items. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The best way to find an item sometimes is if you see a representative from that company in the store - ask them. Or call your local warehouse. Don't bother asking at the store's service desk, most times your question will get lost in the shuffle, unless the store has a specific system in place to answer customer questions and requests (comment cards, item request forms, etc).