Big problems need big ideas

Water.

Just plain water.

Sounds simple. But an estimated 1.1 billion people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water. The earth is 70% water, 3% of that is freshwater and only 1% of the world's freshwater is readily accessible for direct human use. In poorer countries, water-born disease runs rampant, affecting children the worst, a child dies every 8 seconds. Powerful numbers, but this is the one that I find the most shocking, 80% of all the diseases would be wiped out if you just gave people clean water.

Dean Kamen has a vision: Living a better life through better technology. The inventor of the Segway created a revolutionary vapor-compression water distiller, which can make pure medicinal-grade drinking water out of anything that's wet, including urine or toxic waste. The Slingshot in a single day it can produce 50 water cooler-sized bottles. It does not require any filters, membranes, chemicals, etc, so there aren't continual costs of replacing needed materials. Where do you plug it in? You don’t ... It runs on dung. More specifically the methane gas that is produced as the dung decomposes.

So here is my big idea to the bottled water industry. On March 22 (World Water Day) Dasani, Aqua Fina, Evian, Perrier, Fiji, etc., pledge industry wide to affect the world’s water epidemic. Kamen believes he can get the Slingshot production costs down to $1,000 to $2,000 per unit, how many villages could be helped? What could a $43 billion dollar industry do? With half of one percent they could give clean, drinkable water to over 100,000 villages.

I know it won’t solve the problem. But the might of everyone pulling in the same direction would be powerful. And the idea of Water companies saving lives by giving them clean water feels so natural.

Just an idea. Happy New Year.

From Vine to Box: Thinking outside the bottle

The box of wine has long been the cellar dweller of the wine category. When it comes to the perfect container to hold your vino, the box of wine isn’t what you think of, it’s basically a cardboard box with a plastic bag inside to hold the wine, and a spigot to dispense the wine. Why does this package get such a bad rap?

The wine drinking experience starts with the sense of anticipation that goes with opening it. The uncorking of a bottle is like a ceremony; it's like the difference between going to a restaurant and eating a frozen dinner.

Although some sommeliers may turn their nose up at wine not from a bottle, but boxes are perfect for wines that don’t need to age. Boxed wine has many advantages to the glass bottle: first, it’s hard to break, second, it’s easy to open, and most importantly, it stores wine better than any other container. As the wine is dispensed, the bag shrinks, so no fresh air is exposed to the wine. Oxygenation negatively effects wine; wines can go flat and then begin to turn into vinegar, consumers can enjoy a box wine for over a month after opening.

Aesthetically speaking, designing small labels to woo shoppers to grab their bottle off the shelf can be dwarfed by how much can be communicated on the packaging of a box wine. As the market grows and premium brands enter, boxes will naturally be designed to be unique and reflect each brand.

Glass bottles are also having a negative impact on the environmental. Since 90% of wine is produced in America is on the West Coast, greenhouse gas pollution from shipping creates a huge carbon footprint. Pound for pound the wine in a box produces half the emissions during transportation, the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the road. And believe it or not there is a shortage of sand for making bottles in France, so they are having to import glass.

Wine in a box makes sense environmentally and economically. For the winemakers the most important thing is to sell the product. Boxed wine has grown 40% yet makes up lees than 1% of total sales in the wine category. Just imagine what a box of Opus One would go for and how it would change the perception about wine in a box. If the customer is happy to buy the wine in a box, then so be it. Boxed wine may be short on class, but it is long on practicality. And you don’t have to remember where you left the corkscrew!

Happy Holidays

So one of the great marketing urban legends of all time is associated with the world’s largest beverage company. It is rumored that the image we know as Santa Claus (the jolly guy with a white beard in the red and white suit) was created by a Coca Cola advertising campaign. Through the centuries, Santa Claus has been depicted as everything from a tall gaunt man to an elf, he has worn everything from a bishop's robe to animal fur.

Early marketers played roles in evolving the Santa character. The man-sized version of Santa became the dominant image around 1841, when a Philadelphia merchant named J.W. Parkinson hired a man to dress in "Cris Cringle" clothing and climb the chimney outside his shop. A Boston printer named Louis Prang introduced the English custom of Christmas cards to America, and in 1885 he issued a card featuring a red-suited Santa. Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly in 1862, over 30 years he gave him the beard changed the color of his coat from tan to the now traditional red.

In the early 1930s, Coca-Cola was looking for ways to increase sales during winter, many people thought of Coke as a refreshing drink on a hot day. Around this time the D'Arcy Advertising Agency launched the slogan "Thirst Knows No Season," and combined it with the ultimate winter icon: Santa Claus. They turned to illustrator Haddon Sundblom who created a Santa Claus with rosy-cheeks and happy wrinkles, in a red-and-white suit. The Coca-Cola Santa made its debut in 1931 and continued into the 1960s. Each year they flooded the market with Santa-Coke propaganda; magazine advertisements, billboards, point-of-purchase, promotional items, collectibles, etc. which appealed to children (an important segment of the soft drink market) and as they grew-up their memories of Santa where of this Coca-Cola version.

So Coca-Cola didn’t invent the image of Santa Claus wearing a company colored red suit. The success of their advertising campaigns did cement the image of Santa Claus in pop culture. For many, Coca-Cola ads signify the start of the holiday season, and Santa has been a wholesome brand ambassador for generations of Coke drinkers.

Sex, Drugs and Energy Drinks

Hands down the largest growing category in the beverage indusrty the last few years has been energy drinks. The caffeine- and sugar-laden drinks have become a $5.4 billion-a-year industry. Red Bull, Rockstar and Monster are the top selling brands and each one revolves around a similar concept; if it involves catching air on some sort of a board or bike, they're for you. As with any category (when the marketplace expands) the opportunity for new players comes along to cater to the niche consumers.

The Powerthirst spoof isn't that far from some brands actual marketing.


Sex sells. And Playboy is one of the most recognized brands in the world, their entry into the energy drink category gives consumers a taste of the lifestyle that has always been associated with the Playboy brand. Playboy's cousin from the south Hooters, is in the energy game also. Cans feature Hooter girls who work at the company, no doubt this drink will live up to the company tag, "Delightfully tacky yet unrefined." The adult film market is not without an energy drink to call its own. Deep Throat Energy boasts on its can "XXX-TREME ENERGY" and "Keep it up all night," forget innuendo they're banking that hardcore sex really sells.

Energy drinks already fight the stigma that they are bad for your health. Well remember the saying "Bad publicity is better than no publicity." Claiming to be 350% stronger than Red Bull, Cocaine Energy is redefining that old adage. Under pressure from the FDA they changed their name briefly but then changed it back. As a marketing stunt the name has attracted attention (mostly bad) and for a small few the novelty led to them trying it.

In an effort to differentiate themselves from the competition some brands are willing to try just about anything to create a buzz (pun #1). Most fall very flat (that’s pun #2). Some have no taste (pun #3, I promise that’s it). Seems like anyone can take the recipe and slap a sticker on the can and call it an energy drink. What this category is in sore need of is some innovation that will cross over many demographics. Until then I’m keeping my energy drink old school.

Coffee.

Black.

Juice up your brand

So here’s a concept: Let’s create an all natural healthy beverage for the on the go consumer that is packed with vitamins and a serving of vegetables.

Its called V8 and they thought of it in 1933!

Invented by W.G. Peacock, the original V8 is made mainly from tomatoes and the juices from seven other vegetables: Beets, celery, carrots, lettuce, parsley, watercress and spinach. Originally called "Vege-min 8." a grocer in Evanston, Ill., recommended he shorten the name to simply "V8." The product became a household name in the 1970s, when TV spots ran with the catchy tagline "I could have had a V8!". The problem was when you picture a V8 drinker you think of a 80 year old. That’s the point when a brand has to evolve or die off as their customers do.
Their plan was tap into the purchase power of the modern health conscious consumer, without losing their identity. The breakthrough was V-Fusion, a fruit + veggie blend that appealed to the tastes of the premium juice market. The equity in the V8 brand gives proof of the new product’s healthfulness and is packaged in an on-the-go bottle with vibrant colors. V-Fusion’s sales have been so successful supply has had trouble keeping up with demand.

Being healthy never goes out of style. And trusted brands will be winners in a competitive environment like the grocery store shelves. V8 is a great example of a brand taking its legacy and rolling it into a contemporary product to meet a demand in the marketplace.