In a previous post I talked about how to differentiate yourself and one of those ways was “To Be First in the Market” (or thought of as first).

Here’s an interesting example from a SUPER competitive marketplace…Water!

Bottled water has become as $9.2 billion market and personally I’m a huge fan of FIJI water. In fact, I have one on my desk right now. Okay aside from the landfill/environmental issues – let’s talk about the marketing of water…

I like my plain H2O but sometimes I like a little flavor to my water. I might throw a lime in there or something – but when I want a little more of a kick there’s really nothing I feel good about drinking. All the flavored and enhanced water have sugar or some crappy chemicals like Splenda. No thanks. I try to limit that as much as possible.

That’s why I was excited when I saw this water at my local Balducci’s food market called “O Water”. (BTW – Balducci’s is a high-end foodie market here and I’ve never gotten out without spending at least $100.)

Anyway this water uses all natural ingredients and no added sugar. There are just 3 ingredients – purified/distilled water, natural flavor and potassium sorbate. It’s damn good but distribution is semi-limited right now. You can check O Beverages site if there’s a spot close to you that sells it. (Or it looks like there is a link to buy directly online.)

So what’s the marketing lesson?

In a super competitive landscape you have to differentiate yourself…and this company (started by one of the founders of Nantucket Nectars & former president of FIJI water) does just that. That’s the all-natural aspect to me with 0 calories and 0 added sugars does it. I’m hooked and I’ll be buying more!

I think grocery stores are some of my favorite places to view marketing lessons at work since the landscape is so competitive and most decisions are made in split-seconds.

Here are 2 good ones with the BIG differentiation ideas using “DONE for you”:

1. Uncrustables are a pretty silly idea but they work. Create a pre-made PB&J sandwich, remove the crust and seal it together so the bread is a little pouch. Then put in your freezer and stick in your kids lunch bag to thaw for lunch.  (Yes, we buy these a lot! Missy absolutely loves uncrustables herself. I’m the one who loves 5-star meals at fancy restaurants with great wine, while she could go for a grilled cheese sandwich any day of the week.)

2. 100 Calorie Packs are from Nabisco and now have grown to a bunch of different varieties. Anything from Ritz crackers to Oreo cookies – but they only have exactly 100 calories per pouch. That’s the big idea – you don’t have to count calories because we’ve done it for you. You know that with each snack pack you can’t eat 18 portions because they’ve put less than 100 calories in there for you.

Personally, when critiquing or looking my own projects I’m always very concered with the “BIG” idea and how to convey it quickly to prospects. And with Maverick Business Adventures I’m hoping to capture the “first” position for this unique aspect of combining business & adventure for entrepreneurs (not corporations).

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 10:14 am and is filed under Marketing-O-Rama, Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.