We were tasked with creating a brand new bottled water brand for GMs, as part of a case study. As a group, we applied the strategies/theories and learnings from the class to give our recommendation on what brand of bottled water to create from scratch.
3. Company: General Mills
Mission:
“Nourishing Lives. Making lives healthier, easier and richer every day.”
The company has improved the health profile of 60% of their products
Multiple healthy/organic brands in the portfolio
Strengths: Strong US-based network and good brand reputation
Weaknesses: It will be GM's first foray into the beverage industry
OUR GOAL: To help the company create a bottled water
brand that fits into their overall product portfolio
4. Industry: Bottled Water
• Growth of private label
• Negative press about the environmental impact of bottled
water has effected purchasing behavior
• FDA Rules for Bottled Water Are Generally Less Strict than Tap
Water Rules
• Lack of trust from consumers
5. Industry: Bottled Water
CATEGORY TRUTH:
Despite the questionable
integrity of bottled water,
people are choosing it
over other bottled
beverages, due to
associated health
benefits, lower prices and
its general availability.
6. Customer
• Green Movement
• Sustainability is key
• Local is in
• Consumer paradigm shift towards "cause" purchases
• Top 3 considerations when purchasing bottled water:
1. Price (56%)
2. Taste (43%)
3. Source (28%)
CULTURAL TRUTH: People want to live healthier and be more environmentally friendly, without
having to compromise too many of the conveniences that they are used to.
CONSUMER TRUTH: "I want a bottled water brand that I can trust, and one that is good for my
body and my environment."
7. Competitors High Price Point
Non-Eco-Friendly Eco-Friendly
LOCALE
Low Price Point
12. Brand Platform
Attributes/Values: Proof Points:
• Environmentally focused • Local production and distribution
• Socially conscious • Re-purposing filtered tap water
• Locally filtered/distributed • Cause/Socially conscious
• Convenient • 85% from recycled material
• More affordable • Trucks fuel-efficient
Benefits: Brand Position:
• Cost savings Convenience Without Compromise
• Guilt-free purchase of bottled water
• Low impact on environment
Personality:
• Honest
• Down-to-Earth
• Loyal
• Friendly
• Generous
13. Target Customer: Michelle
Profile narrative:
Michelle is a recent college graduate, who
lives in Chicago. She works as teacher at a
private school and is studying for her
Masters in Education. She is very
environmentally conscious as she supports
the green movement by recycling, planting
trees and teaching her students the
importance of recycling. Michelle spends
her free time tutoring, shopping at the
green market, cooking for friends, riding
her bike in the park, hiking and hanging
out with friends at the local tea house.
14. Presenting:
LOCALE
lo-cale
noun
A place or locality, especially with reference to events or circumstances connected to it
Sub-brands by region:
West
Southwest
Southeast
Mid-west
North-east
15. Partnership:
A non-profit organization that brings clean and safe
water to people in developing nations
All of the public donations directly fund water projects
21. Sample Messages
"Rethink the way you drink"
"Sustain your body, sustain your environment”
“Bottled water doesn’t have to be wasteful”
22. Brand Activation: Alignment
+ 1) Trigger: Interest for
LOCALE is triggered.
-Marketing collateral
-Events
-In store promotion 5) Acceptance:
-Product appreciates
2) Information benefits, enjoys 6) Regular
seeking: Visits taste Usage: repeat
website/reads purchase,
bottle, learns advocacy
of affiliation
with
charity:water
4) Buying:
3) Evaluating decision to
the product: purchase
Consumer LOCALE is
psychologically made.
evaluates the Rejection: taste
risks/rewards Customer not converted: Is
of LOCALE. not environmentally
concerned, is brand
agnostic when it comes to
bottled water, prefers
_ premium water.
24. Tactical Examples
• Website: Our goal is to educate the country using complete transparency. The
website has ‘Did You Know’ widgets that provides little known facts about the
bottled water industry and regional reservoirs.
• Cause marketing and environmental justice: In partnership with Charity:Water,
with every purchase of LOCALE, 5 cents will go to the charity to help bring clean
& safe drinking water to developing nations.
• Celebrity Endorsements: Angelina Jolie embodies what LOCALE stands for. She is
constantly giving back to the world and helping the environment. Having her
serve as the face of the brand enhances our eco-friendliness.
25. Experiential Examples
• National Taste Test Day: Set up a Nation Taste Test Day across multiple locations
at grocery stores to build awareness that filtered water is not inferior to other
water brands.
• Twitter: Tweet a picture of you drinking LOCALE & tweet it to @LOCALE for a
chance to win a trip to one of the cities that our filtration systems are located in.
• In-store promotion: Set up a table for a tasting of one of General Mill’s more well
known brands, Fiberone, for example, and wash it down with LOCALE.
• Sponsored Events: Sponsor a marathon in each region and hand out LOCALE
water bottles to refresh the runners.
Growth private label: premium brands sales have declined due to shift towards mid-low price level brands. Negative press about the environmental impact of bottled water has effected purchasing behavior:Health concerns about BPA also are affecting consumer demand for bottled drinksPerceived value of bottled water has been eroded as consumers find become more aware and educated about their choicesFDA Rules for Bottled Water Are Generally Less Strict than Tap Water Rules:While some bottled water comes from sparkling springs and other pristine sources, more than 25% of it comes from a municipal supply. Most people are surprised to learn that they’re drinking glorified tap water, but bottlers aren’t required to list the source on the labelFewer than four in 10 respondents who buy bottled water trust bottled water manufacturers to tell the truth about their product. Some one in six respondents do not believe any claims about enhanced bottled water.
Glorified tap waterPremium brands=fail
What’s behind the name? We are a locally focused brand. Focusing on what’s best in your region. We believe in keeping it close to you, and close to your heart. Close to home is what we aim for. Water sources come from the best city in each region. Each selected region ranks top 8 in the tap water quality rankings report. west: oregonSW – oklahomaSW – Kentucky/ MemphisMW – Kansas CityNE – Boston
Logo rationale:For the main brand, Locale, we picked a simple font to represent the qualities of the brand. It’s simple, impactful, and easy to read. The color black is the most neutral, and it serves as a neutral umbrella brand for which our regional sub-brands can exist. The font is capitalized, bold and stakes it’s place as the all-encompassing brand. For each sub-brand, each region is represented by a bright and outstanding color that represents the fun nature of the brand. Each color represents something of the region – for example, the greenery of the northeast, the lakes and cold of the midwest, and the deserts of the southwest. We chose to keep the same font for every region, to reflect solidarity in the company’s mission. The lowercase font was specifically selected because it has been shown that lowercase fonts are more friendly and approachable. We want to make the brand your local drink, your good friend, someone you can imagine hanging out with. The compass: it exemplifies the regional aspect of our strategy – the water come from different regions, but they are unified under this one brand and the compass represents that. Each compass has been mildly modified with the regions colors to show that they’re the same, yet different.
The bottle: 1. it’s simple and we plan on going only with a 500ml size because our rationale is that we’re providing the convenience of a bottled water for you to take on the go. We are not promoting drinking it at home. 2. It blue hued because studies have shown that consumers respond well to blue-tinted bottles because it conveys a sense of quenching and moisture3. Our tagline is simple and eye catching: “rethink the way you drink” – we believe that having a simple face will be able to draw the consumer in, if they are just browsing by in the grocery store. And will make them curious to find out more.
3. The label:The map – brings in the regionality again. The rest of the map is greyscaled, while the region is colored in the same color as the subbrand that it represents.
3. Evaluate the product – risks, adv, willingness to try, psycheval of our pdt