Three concepts for a Pepsi flavor system, headlined by an applicator that doubles as a straw.
The Brief
Pepsi wanted to give Saudi Arabia a new way to drink it.
The market read was clear. Cola was still strong, carbonated drinks weren’t, and people wanted more flavor than a single can could give them. Flavored waters were eating share. Cocktails and fruit fusions were eating share. Pepsi needed something that played in that space without diluting what Pepsi already is.
The ask was a mixology kit: a portable, self-contained way to add flavor shots to a Pepsi Zero base, crafted with Saudi tastes in mind, designed for coffee shops and convenience stores where the audience actually spends its time. Three concepts at three budget tiers, three audiences, three reasons to pick one up.
So we built three.
The Thinking
Three tiers meant three different jobs.
The entry tier had to look like a deal worth grabbing on the way out of a Tamimi. The mid-tier had to feel like a thing you’d notice, want, maybe gift. The top tier had to do something the other two couldn’t, which is be its own piece of news. Premium kits don’t sell on price; they sell on the conversation they start.
So the top tier needed a mechanic, not just nicer packaging. That’s where most of the creative oxygen went.
The Lead Concept: Fuse Box X
A hardshell industrial case with foam-fitted interior, the kind of thing weapons or scientific instruments arrive in. Inside: a Pepsi Zero, a branded bottle, a handful of flavor “fuses,” and the mechanic the whole kit was built around.
The fuse is the idea. It’s an applicator. It’s a straw tip. It’s the moment of fusion you can watch happen. Attach it to the top of the bottle, push down to release the flavor, drink through it. One object doing three jobs.
The visual cue was the T-virus container from Resident Evil. The function was pure industrial design: a flavor delivery system that earns its premium tier by being mechanically interesting, not just nicely wrapped. The full logic of the X edition lives in that fuse. Strip it out and it’s just another box.
Distribution would happen through the Joy App and social competitions. The kit becomes its own marketing push because it’s exclusive enough to want, weird enough to film, and limited enough to bother chasing.
The Tier System
The Fuse Box X was the showpiece. The other three filled out the ladder.
The Fuse Box is the X edition’s more accessible sibling. Same brand world, vending-machine-inspired, conventional kit contents (Pepsi Zero, branded bottle, flavor shots, mixing spoon). The collectible factor without the limited-edition exclusivity.
Mix-It(s) sits at the mid-tier. A boxed format with Pepsi Zero, branded bottle, and flavor shots, designed to feel like a memento worth keeping. Less mechanic, more gift.
Mix-Up(s) is the entry point. A branded clear cup with everything inside: Pepsi Zero, flavor shots, mixing spoon. Inspired by all-in-one packaging trends already moving on social. Designed for the impulse grab.
Each tier earns its own audience. The X for influencers and the people who film unboxings. The Fuse Box for collectors and gift-givers. Mix-It(s) for the mid-spend impulse. Mix-Up(s) for the daily grab.
What I Did
Naming, concepts, the Fuse Box X mechanic, strategic framing for KSA, deck, and presenting to Pepsi. The Mindspace art and 3D team handled the design and product renders.
Why This Work Matters to Me
This is the kind of project that doesn’t usually get written up because it never went anywhere. Pitch-stage. No retainer that followed, no on-shelf execution. Whatever happened to it after the deck closed, I never heard.
But the Fuse Box X is the kind of idea I’d build again tomorrow. It’s not a campaign or a slogan. It’s a piece of industrial-design thinking made of three jobs in one object: a flavor delivery system that respects how people actually use the thing they’re being sold. That’s the bar I want to keep working at, where the creative isn’t sitting on top of the product but baked into how the product works.
Project: Pepsi Mixology Kit (Pitch)
Role: Concept, Naming, Mechanic, Strategy, Deck & Client Presentation
Agency: Mindspace
Year: 2024
Client: PepsiCo (KSA)