• Ad Age, Monday, August 23, 2010 9:28 AM

Natalie Zmuda reports that Pepsi Max, which has been on and off the "diet" kick in its labeling since its launch in the U.S. in 2007, is re-starting a third time with a "crystal-clear" positioning that drops the word diet from its messaging altogether: "Zero calories, maximum taste."

"Not having diet on the can, the challenge is on us to communicate that it also has zero calories," says Lauren Hobart, CMO of sparkling brands at PepsiCo. The word "diet," she points out, "focuses on what's not in the product vs. what's in the product," which admittedly is not a lot to hang your benefits on. That may account for Max's paltry 0.4% share of the U.S. carbonated soft-drink market, according to Beverage Digest.

As part of the repositioning, Pepsi Max has updated a popular 1995 spot that shows a Pepsi driver and a Coke driver sampling the competition. In the new spot, Coke Zero and Pepsi Max are pitted against one another. Hobart says we should "expect to see the playful rivalry come to life in future executions." Coke Zero has a 1.7% share.

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