All Sport Will Launch New Zero-Calorie Sports Drink In April

All Sport To Launch Drink Sweetened With Rebiana

Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG) and All Sport in April "will launch the first zero-calorie sports drink sweetened with rebiana," according to Karlene Lukovitz of MEDIAPOST. The launch is "one of a growing number of rebiana-sweetened products hitting the market" since the FDA approved the sweetener in December. Big Red Senior VP/Marketing Jack Pok, whose company owns All Sport, said that the new brand will be called All Sport Naturally Zero and "will be marketed with the tagline, 'All the hydration benefits without the calories, naturally.'" The new sports drink will be sold in 20-ounce bottles in three flavors: dragonfruit, strawberry star fruit and mandarin orange. Lukovitz reported marketing for Naturally Zero "will be closely tied in with the multi-media marketing program for existing All Sport drinks, which includes ongoing campaigns in traditional and online media and numerous sports sponsorships and endorsement partnerships." All Sport currently sponsors the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series No. 41 Toyota car, driven by Jeremy Mayfield, and golfer Bubba Watson, while Suns C Shaquille O'Neal currently is featured in an All Sport TV ad. Rebiana is "more expensive than commonly used artificial sweeteners," but Pok and Big Red Chair & CEO Gary Smith said that Naturally Zero's price "should be no more than 10 to 20 cents higher per bottle than other All Sport drinks" (MEDIAPOST.com, 3/10). DPSG has "not announced the use of rebiana in any of its own brands," including Dr Pepper, 7UP and Hawaiian Punch. But Dr Pepper CEO Larry Young said that the company "has been working on it for 'quite some time' and could sell rebiana-sweetened versions of some drinks down the road" (REUTERS, 3/10).