Jarritos launched a new campaign to honor its Mexican roots and loyal fans, it says

More than 22,300 attendees visited the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show in Chicago from Oct. 1-4. This year’s event featured a record number of international attendees from 58 countries, the association said. The NACS Show featured a 387,000-plus net square foot exposition floor with 1,333 exhibiting companies, including 324 companies new to the show. The following is a highlight of beverage-related features during the show.

Previously available in designer glass bottles, Cascal fermented soda now is available in cans. The can transition also has heralded the introduction of three new blends: Bright Citrus, Berry Cassis and Fresh Tropical. The brand’s existing Crisp White and Ripe Rouge varieties also are available in cans.

The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, at its North America Market Tour event in Houston in late September highlighted the company’s North American roadmap for growth goals, which are to build strong brands, translate brand value into customer value, and build the capability to sustain and repeat success in the region. Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America, and Steve Cahillane, president and chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Refreshments, noted the benefits of bringing together portions of The Coca-Cola Co., Coca-Cola Enterprises and the bottling investments group as Coca-Cola Refreshments.

Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc. made its second $500,000 donation from its Dream Machine recycling initiative to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) with Disabilities, a national program offering career training, education and job creation for post-9/11 U.S. veterans with disabilities. PepsiCo presented the check during a ceremony following the first quarter of the Veterans Day football game at Syracuse University, which is home to the Whitman School of Management and Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) that operates the EBV program.

Coca-Cola India announced a USD $2 billion investment in the country’s system beginning in 2010 for the next five years. The investment is designed to further capture the opportunity in the non-alcohol ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverage market in the country.

Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo brand Mountain Dew announced a sweepstakes to reward fans with an ultimate mega-gaming experience: the chance to play “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” with three friends on a mega-sized stadium screen. Also, as part of the video game promotion, Mountain Dew is expanding its Mtn Dew Game Fuel line with a new Tropical flavor to join the variety.

Pepsi teamed up with Waltham, Mass.-based SavingStar, a national paperless grocery savings service, to offer shoppers savings on Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max. The savings is activated through the brands’ respective Facebook pages. During November, when shoppers spend $15 in total on any Diet Pepsi or Pepsi Max product at participating retailers over the course of any number of shopping trips, they will receive $5 back.

The Coca-Cola Co.’s Diet Coke brand launched a limited-edition can design. The latest evolution of Diet Coke’s “Stay Extraordinary” campaign features a modern aluminum can design for fall.

Once a product makes it to the store shelf, brand appeal and package design can’t always carry it to success. That’s when companies turn to marketing. But when the market is filled with millions of individuals of various ages with different backgrounds, marketing can turn into a puzzle. Marketers are tasked with not only determining their message, but also the product’s audience and the best ways to reach them. If all of these pieces don’t fit, the brand’s target audience might not be enticed to purchase the product.