company launches every energy drink cliche in can

Influx Insights — 2007-06-22T10:49:29Z

Coca-Cola recently purchased Vitamin Water for $4.1 billion, it was a high price to pay, but the brand has been truly imaginative and innovative; in both it's product formulation and marketing.

Contrast Vitamin Water, with a press release I saw this morning.

Leading Brands launches "STOKED".

The name itself is just a giant cliche of everything that's been ripped from extreme sports culture in a trend that began ten years ago, but it gets worse.

"STOKED Energy Drink evolves from its dramatic Dragon icon. Dragons are wise and complex creatures that have a strong presence in almost every culture of the World. From the most revered sign of the Chinese Zodiac to Draco, one of the largest constellations in the Northern sky, to the tale behind the classic red cross English banner so popular at soccer events( YOU MEAN THE ENGLISH FLAG?), to the main characters in numerous popular U.S. movies, Dragons have played -- and continue to play -- an important role in history and folklore. A visceral connection to the human psyche such as this is critical to establishing any new brand."

There's a reason great agencies, great designers and great brands make the big bucks, it's because they do something different and carve out a new perspective for their clients or the marketplace.

Stoked's press relase already looks like it came from The Onion, but not content with ripping off every cliche known to man, it goes for a superior claim with an ingredient benefit.

"In keeping with Leading Brands' commitment to bring healthier products to market, STOKED is formulated with natural sugars, not genetically modified HFCS as used by other energy drinks."

The world doesn't need another energy drink and certainly one that's crippled by such an appalling a lack of originality.

My only hope is that the release is a hoax.

Posted by Ed Cotton

coke to buy vitamin water

Influx Insights — 2007-05-23T10:42:45Z

With demand for CSDs tumbling worldwide, Coke appears to be back in acquisition mode. Rumors are circulating that the Atlanta giant is about to purchase Glaceau, the makers of the very succesful Vitamin Water brand. This is a great move for Coke because Vitamin Water seems to be delivering the right experience for today's generation of soft drink consumers; it's water based, but not as boring as water and has a "natural" profile (the product has quite a high sugar content, but it's perceived as being more natural than a CSD).

Vitamin Water is first and foremost a success story built around a smart product formulation, great packaging and smart distribution.The product was launched in 2000, but only started advertising and using celebrity endorsers in the last three years.

Recently, Outlaw Consulting conducted a survey to discover the most trusted brands amongst Generation Y "trendsetters", Vitamin Water ranked 14th, just behind Converse and ahead of Red Stripe.

The Energy Brands company built it's business on Glaceau Water, packaged in a 20oz bottle designed by Phillipe Starck. Looking to expand the distribution base from health food stores and independent delis and grocery stores, Energy created Vitamin Water.

According to the WSJ, Glaceau's founder J. Darius Bikoff created Vitamin Water in a "Eureka like" moment.

"...standing in his kitchen sipping bottled water. Feeling run down, he slipped a vitamin C wafer into his mouth, and the citrus flavor combined with the clean water registered on his taste buds, and in his entrepreneurial mind."

His next step was to bring together a food scientist, a dietician, a flavor expert and a microbiologist to help create the formula. Armed with the formula, the company set about distributing the product to independent stores and those with more of a health focus. The company couldn't afford to pay the slotting fees charged by the large grocery chains, so it built momentum from the ground up. One of its smartest decisions was sell it together with the other bottled waters, in this environment Vitamin Water's packaging stood out and was the perfect place to convert water drinkers to a new experience.

It will be interesting to see how Coke can help Vitamin Water, obviously there will be some immediate advantages generated by economies of scale and perhaps with marketing. The brand has recently stepped up its efforts to compete against the giants, even being bold enough to sign on atheltes (Iverson, Allen, Ortiz..) as "investors". One interesting element of Vitamin Water's advertising is that it has been pretty light hearted, especially with its on-pack copy.

On the Raspberry Fruit Water, the copy opens with

"Chinese food, diet drinks. Usually and hour after finishing both you want more again.Hmm..we smell conspiracy."

Coke shouldn’t mess with this, but its biggest challenge will be to grow Vitamin Water, while trying to protect its own water and sports drink franchises. While it will feel it needs to develop a clear positioning for the brand, which is important, it will also be essential to understand how this positioning fits with the other brands in it’s massive portfolio.

Influx Insights Tag Feed: vitaminwater

company launches every energy drink cliche in can

coke to buy vitamin water