Today I want to give a Tip of the Hat to VitaminWater. Since the first flavors were introduced by Glacéau in 2000, VitaminWater has built a strong and clear brand that continues to grow year after year. Here are a few things that they have done particularly well:
Functions not flavors:
VitaminWater was one of the first companies to popularize naming their drinks after functions instead of flavors. While the names themselves aren’t anything special, the concept is genius. You’re not getting lemon-lime, you’re getting energy. You’re not getting kiwi-strawberry, you’re gaining focus. With VitaminWater, you can go to the corner store and leave with the illusion of great balance or more power or 13 other specific upgrades. It’s a little like boosting your stats in a video game.
It’s brilliant really. When you see someone walking down the street with a VitaminWater, you can start to piece together a back-story. If a girl is holding a Revive on a Saturday morning with big sunglasses and sweats on, she’s probably nursing a hangover. If some guy is drinking a Focus on the way to work, maybe he has a big presentation. While these assumptions might be totally inaccurate, you can definitely infer more than you can when you see your co-worker drinking a Diet Coke.
Packaging and writing:
VitaminWater actually has very well-designed packaging. The type is clean and the labels are simple and elegant. The different ‘flavors’ look great next to each other and the overall effect is bright and colorful. This insures that VitaminWater is instantly recognizable in any liquor or grocery store. They aren’t too bad at writing either. Here’s what the label for Revive says:
“if you woke up tired, you probably need more sleep. if you woke up drooling at your desk, you probably need a new job. if you woke up with a headache, on a ferris wheel at the Idaho state fair, wearing a toga, you probably need answers. not to mention this product. it’s got potassium and b vitamins to help you recover and feel refreshed—kinda like in those old irish spring soap commercials…”
Targeting the G:
Not too long ago, VitaminWater decided to take aim at Gatorade. While Gatorade simply replenishes what you lose when you sweat, VitaminWater’s functional flavors offer much more targeted help. (Who knows if it actually does anything, but the placebo effect is not to be underestimated.) They also made some very smart partnerships with very popular athletes like David Wright and most of the US Olympic Basketball team (Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade, Melo, Chris Paul and Deron Williams.) I’m sure this wasn’t cheap, but it certainly appears to be getting under Gatorade’s neon-colored skin. Pepsi, the owner of Gatorade, tried to fire back with Life Water under the SoBe brand, but I don’t think I’ve seen a single person actually drinking Life Water in public. Either way, it’s nice to finally see a suitable challenger to Gatorade’s dominance. Since Coke owns VitaminWater, this should prove to be an interesting new battleground for the sugar water giants.
The commercials for VitaminWater10 are pretty funny too—although the concept of drinking VitaminWater10 instead of water is slightly sickening. While the health benefits are trivial at best, the naming and branding are great. These guys definitely know what they’re doing, and for that, we tip our hats.