Burst your bubble
Consumer Experience Design: a holistic airport experience designed for PepsiCo and SodaStream
00
challenge
PepsiCo and SodaStream needed to reach a specific consumer tribe — the Galvanizers — in a post-pandemic moment of social reactivation. The question was not how to sell a drink, but how to design an experience that resonated with their identity at precisely the right moment.
solution
A recharging station in the airport boarding area offering three simultaneous layers: culinary (a unique Pepsi Max flavour designed for each country's cultural identity), making (step-by-step customisation of the drink on the go) and buying (a take-home kit to replicate the experience). The concept expands to train stations, subway hubs and urban squares as future touchpoints.
Burst Your Bubble demonstrated how consumer insight — not product features — can drive experience architecture. Starting from a tribal mindset and a precise emotional moment in the consumer journey, the concept generated a spatial, sensory and commercial system that connects brand values to human behaviour. Transferable to any context where a brand needs to intercept consumers in transitional, high-potential moments.
The Galvanizers are fast thinkers, global citizens, agents of change — people tired of living in a bubble, ready to step outside their comfort zone. They listen to their gut, embrace experimentation and are not afraid of mistakes. Designing for them means designing for spontaneity, not planning. The airport emerged as the ideal context: cultural crossroads where barriers fall, adventures begin and travelers become world citizens.
Each airport station retains the same structure but expresses a different cultural identity through its flavour — espresso for Italy, caramel for France, blueberry for Sweden. Slogan translated in each country's language: Scoppia la tua bolla · Éclate ta bulle · Pop din bulla. The take-home kit becomes a travel memory and a brand entry point into the home.
01
User Research
Understanding the "Galvanizers" tribe
In-depth profiling of the target tribe — mindset, emotional drivers, pain points and aspirations. Key insight: Galvanizers are not passive consumers. They need a boost, a recharge. They embrace experimentation and are not afraid of mistakes. Designing for them means designing for spontaneity.
02
Opportunity framing
Where does the bubble burst?
Three strategic opportunities identified: helping Galvanizers step outside their comfort zone in a moment of social inertia, enabling on-the-go experiences in the back-to-travel scenario, giving them a stage to express untapped creativity. The airport: the first place where physical and metaphorical bubbles would burst after months of pandemic.
03
Emotional journey mapping
The right moment
Two personas mapped through the full airport experience. The pre-flight waiting at the gate identified as the highest-potential moment: procedures complete, attention available, mindset open. A galvanizer arriving last-minute with a backpack needs something that catches their attention, intrigues them and leaves a memory.
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Experience Architecture
Three layers, one moment
Recharging station as 360° experience hub after security. Circular flow optimises queue and movement. Five sequential steps guide users through the making experience. Two exit paths: on-the-go for the time-pressed traveller, relax area for those who want to linger. Buying station offers take-home kit with local flavour capsules, ice maker and foldable SodaStream bottle.
05
Cultural Localisation
The soul of each country
Same structure, different cultural identity in each airport — expressed through flavour, language and local references. The kit becomes a travel memory and a brand entry point into the home.
year
2020
Client
PepsiCo, SodaStream, Politecnico di Milano: Workshop
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