Communicate efficiently: the VW strategy

Hi guys!

Do you know what makes someone a true fan?

No?

Really, you don’t know?

Well, this is communication.

And do you know how many fan are there on VitaminWater’s fan page?

100,000? No

500,000? No

 1,500,000? You’re still far away from the count

2,932,528.

Yes this is the number of fans on Vitamin Water.

How is this possible?

Yes you finally got it, COMMUNICATION!!!

When launched in France, Coca-Cola’s strategy on Vitamin Water was totally innovative and nobody before did that.

Indeed, in 2009, the elixir was sold only in Paris, in very selective stores (Colette, La Grand Epicerie, Monoprix…). But was it the aim of a huge company that is able to mass-communicate?

Clearly, it is to get embedded to people’s mind, little by little, but efficiently. And it worked.

It worked, because the company chose to have a qualitative strategy on the market, and not quantitative like its other soda brands. And people are fed up with being the victims of mass-communication of multinational companies.

Vitamin Water chose to take its time. 2 years, more precisely to get established in the French’s mind.

This strategy enabled Vitamin Water to watch closely the French’s habit, their tastes, by being launched on a “trial market” first.

With marketing operations in shops, the brand has been able to communicate directly to the potential customers about the benefits of the drink. So yes, the qualitative approach.

And soon, people and influencers started to talk, talk, talk and talk about Vitamin Water. And that was the strategy, Vitamin Water, the brand that is talked about!

The funny side of the brand is also really welcome by the fans!

And Vitamin Water waited all this time to attack more easily the market, with a first large (and funny) ad campaign in May 2011.

credits: VW blog

Today, the vitamin bottle is sold everywhere in France, and in more shops than in 2009.

Coca-Cola chose the duration strategy, and for sure we know that this is a true success. In this three years, they reach a brand awareness rate of 34% (Source: Engage Research, avril 2010) and it is said that 1 Parisian out of 3 know the brand.

The second strategy of Vitamin Water is the choice of being close to its fan. By listening to your fans, a brand gets the friendliness of the customers.

And again, Vitamin Water chose an innovative strategy. They launched in 2009 in the USA, the first drink created by a fan. How? They implemented the application “Flavor Creator” on the social network Facebook, where people were able to associate vitamins and flavors. A huge success, as more than 500,000 fans were recruited thanks to this initiative. The flavor was launch in Mars 2010 in the USA, and the name is “VitaminWater Connect”.

It seems like people like to be listened in the creation of the brands! And for sure, this is a good job.

And, you, do you like this qualitative approach on Vitamin Water’s strategy ?