Big news! Dr. Pepper has overtaken Pepsi to claim the #2 spot in U.S. carbonated soft drink sales. This achievement aligns with findings that Dr Pepper now ranks 41 in brand perception, outperforming Pepsi at 43.

“Consumers view Dr Pepper as having a more promising future, doing a better job at keeping up to date, and being more distinctive and different than Pepsi.” - Lynne Field, Head of Strategy at FutureBrand NA

What Drove Dr Pepper’s Rise: Consumer Connection
Most U.S. packaged goods are scoring high on consistency – but that isn’t what drives consumer connection. Dr. Pepper significantly outperformed Pepsi on key metrics including:

-> Inspiration: People perceive Dr. Pepper as a brand that consistently keeps up to date.

-> Individuality: Dr. Pepper stands out as distinctive and different, capturing people’s attention.

-> Mission: Dr. Pepper has a promising future, according to consumers

-> Price Premium: People believe Dr. Pepper is worth paying more for vs. Competitors (perhaps they mean Pepsi!)

No surprise there! Dr. Pepper’s unusual flavor innovations and timely trend adoption (like leaning into the TikTok craze of Dr. Pepper with pickles) played a significant role.

Room to Grow:
A brand doesn’t need to stand out in every measure to breakthrough. That said, Dr. Pepper still has opportunity for improvement. We were interested in their underperformance in two areas:

->Innovation: This brand likes to create new and exciting things.

->Thought Leadership: This brand always leads the way

So, despite a big personality and forward momentum, Dr. Pepper may need to maintain its dominance for people to really see the brand as a leader.