Tea is a staple, with about 80% of households reporting having some kind in the pantry, but it is also a way to attract health-conscious consumers seeking better-for-you options, writes Donna Berry. This popularity has led to the emergence of new flavored and sparkling teas, she adds.

Keurig Dr Pepper intends to spend $10 million over the next five years on a polypropylene plastic recycling initiative as part of its partnership with The Recycling Partnership's Polypropylene Recycling Coalition. This is an ongoing effort for the company, as Keurig Dr Pepper also vowed to switch to recyclable polypropylene K-Cup coffee pods by 2020's end.

Evian is rolling out a label-free bottle to make the packaging 100% recyclable and support the company's efforts to switch to a circular business model by 2025. Eliminating the label was a process that took two years, reports global brand vice president Shweta Harit, and the newly designed bottles will roll out to hotels, restaurants and other venues where barcode labeling is not needed such as e-commerce purchases.

Augmented reality has come into its own during the pandemic, not only for its usefulness within an e-commerce context but also for its experiential marketing potential, Brock University's Joachim Scholz writes. He spotlights the use of AR in recent campaigns from Tim Hortons, Budweiser, Adidas and United Way and writes, "AR directly plays into consumer fantasies and excitement, and that's what marketing is all about."

Instagram is conducting a test among a group of global users that enables them to use a Shop tab to filter products and make purchases directly from leading brands. The social platform also is enabling all users to pin multiple comments to the top of a feed post to try to better control conversations.

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