You can lead a kid to water, but how do you get them to drink?

Whether you grew up drinking soda, fruit juice, or some C-list-celeb-approved energy slushy, most of the kids’ drinks on the market are loaded with sugar, caffeine, dyes, and unnecessary additives.

Parents want their kids to drink more water, but understand that kids unanimously agree: water is boring.

Inspired to fill this critical gap in the market, FDA lawyer and parent Shelly Garg approached us with a healthier, out-of-the-bottle alternative to encourage kids to drink more water.

Now, Mudge just had to come up with a way to create a not-so-boring, or dare we say, even fun, water brand for kids that’ll make them actually want to drink it.

Scope

• Brand Strategy and Positioning
• Brand and Packaging Design
• Website Design
• Sales & Trade Marketing Assets

Shelly’s experience as a parent resonated with the parents on our team, whose struggles keeping their kids hydrated uncovered a universal truth: kids think water bottles are boring and juice boxes are for babies. This insight, later validated through our research, steered our strategy by reminding us that kids just want to be heard; they want what the big kids (and grown-ups) are drinking.

Kids want cool drinks in cans – not plastic bottles or juice boxes. Wave opts for a more eco-friendly, kids-sized (8-ish ounces) classic pop-top aluminum can that delivers a healthy dose of whimsy while providing the distinctly grown-up thrill of cracking open a can on their own.

Knowing that most kids’ brands are designed to appeal to parents, we asked ourselves what a brand actually made for kids would look and sound like IRL.

Convincing a kid anything – let alone water – is cool, means earning their trust first.

We positioned Wave as more than just another kids’ brand by tapping into a powerful insight: when you speak to kids in their own language, you don’t need sugar or celebrity endorsements.

Leaning into this “for kids, by kids” ethos, we asked the kids in our lives to submit original art, jokes, and color-changing cans to build an energetic, inclusive world that feels like a secret club only they’re in on.

We designed packaging that breaks away from the standard juice box, drawing inspiration from the classic back-of-pack puzzles, games, and word searches on cereal boxes to help keep kids engaged and excited.

To boost excitement and support healthy hydration habits, Wave cans are printed with thermochromic and photochromic inks that change color in cold temperatures and bright sunlight. It’s a smart, sustainable package too—fully recyclable and completely straw-free. Our ultimate vision is to have Wave fans submit their own original art for future can design.

Supported by the holy trifecta of clean ingredients (a.k.a. literally water), color-changing cans, and original illustrations by actual kids, Mudge collaborated with Shelly to build Wave from the ground up, transforming a spark of an idea into a kid-approved, parent-backed brand that is making waves in the beverage aisle.