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Reimagining Nostalgia for a Modern Soda Brand
Stiller’s Soda, founded by actor Ben Stiller, set out to launch a digital experience that bottled up its absurd, playful personality while tapping into 1900's-era nostalgia. Barrel partnered with the Stiller’s Soda team to bring this new brand online, designing a Shopify site that brought the products to life through storytelling and supported the company's multi-channel growth.
Our Partners
Apps & integrations on this project.
The Challenge
As an unexpected entrant in the beverage category with strong cultural momentum, Stiller’s Soda needed a digital experience that matched its playful identity while clearly communicating flavor, personality, and availability. The brand required a scalable Shopify presence that could support retail and Amazon, reinforce storytelling, and serve as a hub for ongoing engagement beyond the initial launch buzz.
As a new brand entering the market, Stiller’s Soda asked Barrel to design a launch-ready digital experience that brought its nostalgic identity to life. The site needed to showcase playful flavors, drive traffic to Amazon and retail locations, and integrate Ben Stiller’s presence authentically.
We blended strategy and design to ground Stiller’s Soda humor in a digital experience, working closely with the team and their creative partners to bring a multi-era brand world online. Anchored in 1950s–60s nostalgia with playful 80s–90s cues, the site uses bold typography, gradients, and textures to create a tactile, irreverent feel that captures the brand’s personality while staying polished for launch.
Flavor modules moved beyond standard product cards, pairing bold photography with playful product highlight badges. Each flavor took on its own identity while tying seamlessly into campaign visuals, turning product discovery into a branded experience.
The store locator supports Stiller’s Soda retail growth, with sticky navigation and bold CTAs that guide shoppers seamlessly between finding products locally and buying online. Flavor-specific 'Buy on Amazon' links integrate Amazon into the brand experience.
The launch of Stiller’s Soda generated strong buzz across major outlets, with coverage in publications like Food & Wine and People highlighting the line’s debut and creative positioning.
Why It Matters
The new digital presence gave Stiller’s Soda a memorable digital flagship that supports both discovery and conversion across channels. By marrying elevated storytelling with thoughtful UX, the experience helped sustain momentum beyond launch, strengthen retail and DTC paths, and position the brand for continued growth in a competitive beverage landscape.
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