The Vitamin Water brand continues to amaze me; not only do they have a wide range of flavors that are all very good, they also have some of the funniest and clever marketing campaigns in the beverage industry that have been remarkably successful. Since partnering with rapper 50 Cent back in 2004, the company has been using a mix of celebrity endorsements, intelligent social media marketing, and entertaining advertisements to reach new customers and build a very strong brand. In 2007, Coca Cola bought the company for $4.1 billion and has increased its availability world wide allowing it to quickly take market share from soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, and juice drinks alike. They have launched hilarious ads featuring the NBA star and self-proclaimed “Canadian Celebrity” Steve Nash that are truly the funniest ads on TV right now. Their newest ads featuring Nash spoof the successful Dos Equis “most interesting man in the world” ads with Nash as “the most ridiculous man in the world”. Previous ads featuring Nash have spoofed infomercials where he portrays a Billy Mays type of spokesperson praising Vitamin Water with a priceless cameo by 50 Cent. They have also just wrapped a successful social media campaign on Facebook that culminates with the launch of a customer-created flavor available next month. Their latest ad, celebrating the Winter Olympics, transforms bus stops in downtown Vancouver BC into a ski lift with Vitamin Water signage. Taking bus stop ads, which seem to be a dated medium that hasn’t experienced much change or innovation and turning them into a spot for photo opportunities centered around the Vitamin Water brand is a great idea. With Olympic fever and increased tourism pouring into Vancouver these ads are sure to receive a lot of attention. As they continue their media blitz with effective inspired ads across a range of different mediums, Vitamin Water is definitely a company to watch.
As brands continue to try to find new ways to connect with customers and shape their product to appeal to them, Pepsi decided to have their customers do all the work with their newest Mountain Dew social media campaign “Dewmocracy 2.0”. Brands like HP and Vitamin Water have already called upon their consumers for branding materials. After all, consumers should know themselves better than anyone. Last year Mt. Dew launched a similar campaign where they allowed consumers to vote for the next Mt. Dew flavor and name, but has taken this branding practice to a whole new level this year. They are now letting their consumers invent and name three new flavors, design the package, AND create commercials. They launched a new website 12seconds.tv where Dew enthusiasts can submit their own commercials and vote for their favorites. Brands have resorted to similar tactics putting brand choices in the hands of the customer but never to this extent. This campaign gives the consumer more control and interaction with their favorite brand. Going beyond simply consulting consumers for ideas they are making them an integral part of creating a new product and marketing it utilizing different social web applications like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. They expect that this will help foster a strong relationship between the brand and the customer because they are now able to have the feeling of owning and being part of the product like never before and brand loyalists are now empowered to be a part of the brand. Only time will tell how effective this new campaign will be but with the brands existing loyal fan base and cross platform social marketing strategy it looks very promising. It will be interesting to see how other brands follow suit utilizing social media to empower their customers to become part of the brand.
