Brand Relaunch Lessons From Mr. Pibb, 2026’s Fastest-Growing Brand — 20%+ Volume Growth and Always-On Sampling

One year after Coca-Cola's brand relaunch of Mr. Pibb — sold as Pibb Xtra for more than two decades — the caffeinated, spicy-cherry soda has been named 2026’s fastest-growing brand by Morning Consult.

The relaunch by the numbers

• Soft launch in a handful of markets last fall; national rollout in February
• Volume up more than 20% in Q2 2026, per Coca-Cola’s earnings call
• 4 million additional households since the start of the year, overindexing with millennial and Gen Z households
• Purchase consideration up more than 11 percentage points, doubling after an awareness lift (Morning Consult)

Interestingly, Morning Consult found the largest gains among Gen X and millennials and the smallest among Gen Z, even as the brand reports strong traction with “zillennials.”

Building the brand around a flavor trend

“We saw there was a massive opportunity within spicy cherry, which was growing very fast within the [sparkling soft drink] category,” said Farhan Ali, senior director of sparkling flavors for Coca-Cola North America. Packaging and messaging were all built around that edge.

The three-pronged relaunch strategy

1. Build distribution

Make the brand easy to find on shelf first.

2. Communicate across touchpoints

A March campaign rooted in basketball culture featured NBA legend Scottie Pippen.

3. Sample relentlessly

“In the lead launch markets where we see our biggest opportunities, we have sampled all year — it’s an always-on approach for us,” Ali said. The goal is to disrupt in-store discovery and get people to try it.

What’s next

Mr. Pibb Black-Current, an intentionally misspelled blackberry and black currant flavor, arrives in spring 2027. Later this year the brand will partner with a third-party delivery company to tie Mr. Pibb to late-night food and snacking occasions. For a look at how late-night snacking is shifting in Korea, see Beer Loses Ground in Korea's Late-Night Convenience Stores.

Takeaways for marketers

1. Anchor a relaunch in category data, not nostalgia alone.
2. Treat sampling as always-on, not a launch burst.
3. Expect results beyond your target cohort. For more on reaching young consumers, read Gen Z Marketing Lessons From Smirnoff and Hinge.