5 Questions with Nika Water’s Jordan Mellul

There are many companies that embrace driving social causes with their products, aiming to make the world a better place by donating a portion of their profits to for sustainability initiatives.  Nika Water is one such company that does this, and really tries to help as much and as quickly as possible with their social mandate.  Nika Water’s website details that the company donates 100% of their profits for clean water, education, and sanitation projects in developing nations.  BevWire was given an opportunity to interview Jordan Mellul, VP Operations for Nika Water – and through this interview you will see that their focus is really on improving sustainability and environmental causes.  Read about my insightful interview with Jordan below, ranging from Nika’s product positioning, to their marketing strategy, and their distribution strategy.

BevWire:  While Nika’s unique selling proposition is a social mandate to not only be carbon neutral, but also to donate profits to help solve environmental problems in developing countries, what makes Nika better than other products?

Jordan Mellul: To be honest, we try to keep it simple at Nika Water.  While our product is a reverse osmosis/UV light purified water, we really do want the focus to be on the brand and message that it carries.  Our aim is to reach the mass population and appeal to the widest demographic possible.  After all, Nika is set to donate our profits.  By specializing, and thus limiting, our consumers, we have less of a chance of creating larger funds to donate.  Compared to those that are benefiting from our efforts, we are humbled to even be able to discuss water choice in such detail.

Courtesy of Nika Water & Olive PR Solutions.

BW: Nika Water’s website mentions that part of your strategy is to leverage marketing partnerships and social media to raise awareness of these environmental causes.  As such, Nika Water has partnered with World Vision and Free the Children among other organizations.  What type of inventive marketing partnerships and social media activities has Nika Water implemented?

JM: Unlike most typical and traditional water companies, Nika has always set itself apart by how we promote and share our brand’s message.  We know that educating the consumer on what choosing Nika Water means is the primary goal.  By marketing in the way that young, energetic juice, tea, and energy drinks go about things, we are able to show that the water category has the opportunity to be relevant and cool as well.  By speaking face to face with people at street fairs, festivals, and other events, we can share our story directly.  We have partnered, not only with world-class NGOs to show how social entrepreneurialism is a new way to make global change, but also clothing, accessory, and lifestyle brands that help make a difference too.  Social media has been used at every level and intertwined into all of our efforts to create awareness.  By holding contests, promoting other like-minded groups, and keeping open, honest conversations active with supporters, Nika does what no other bottled water does to be in touch.

BW: In terms of product availability, the website mentions that Nika can be found in natural food stores, delis, cafes among other distribution channels.  Is there any particular retailers stores I can direct the readers to go if they would like to purchase Nika water?  Also, what is Nika’s plan for expansion into the traditional grocery/drug/mass retailers?

JM: Currently, we are focused on building our brand in the types of places that have an independent feel and are staples of their community.  With a cause-based product like ours, we seek quality accounts over simply quantity.  It’s the owners and customers in these locations that connect with Nika’s entire appeal.  It’s because of this, that it isn’t so easy to point people directly to where to find Nika, other than their “corner shops”.  We may have plans to do open opportunities with more traditional grocery/drug/mass retailers down the road, but not until we feel we can really compete on the level that it requires.

Nika Water VP of Operations – Jordan Mellul

BW: While Nika’s website has a “Shop Nika” section that allows for online purchasing, are there any plans for international expansion into Canadian retailers?  If so, when would this be?

JM: Nika’s sales goals are taken territory by territory.  Still in our infancy, it is important to stabilize each market that we venture into, before looking to expand.  Our goals include covering the major US cities before attempting to break into the Canadian scene.  However, with the support of one of our first and largest NGO partners, Free The Children, being based in Toronto and well-known across all the provinces, we’re confident that the support would be there almost immediately.  In regards to the merchandise that we peripherally sell however, Canadian followers of Nika are welcome to purchase that now and wear their support!

BW:  Last question, are there any plans for line extensions or product innovations?

JM:  While it has always been discussed internally, there are no plans being put into action at this moment.  We really want people to focus on what we do now, and build our business’ foundation, before becoming more creative and branching out.  Water is simply our vehicle at the moment.  It is the means to an end. If trends or experience dictated that another product would be more suitable to generate income for our NGO partners, we would definitely adapt accordingly.

 Thanks so much for your time Jordan, and thank you Olive PR Solutions for arranging this!

AQUAhydrate Grows Through Distribution and Celebrity Partnerships

Has anyone noticed the amount of press that AQUAhydrate has gotten recently?  After their rebranding effort in 2012, they have reached some significant milestones.  Most recently, they gained more national availability in the grocery channel with new distribution agreements at Safeway and Kroger’s.  They secured even more publicity after Mark Wahlberg and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs announced they were partnering with AQUAhydrate to help develop and execute the beverage brand’s business strategy.  What does all this mean for the brand and for Canadian consumers?  Will their continued success lead to stronger availability in Canada?  And how will celebrity partnerships help the beverage refreshment perform better?

Let’s answer the latter question first: will celebrity partnerships with Mark Wahlberg and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs help deliver stronger business performance?  It all starts with making the right choices; there must be mutual benefits beyond previous arrangements like the celebrity endorsement compensated financially.  When you are endorsing a beverage or any other product, you are mainly communicating the product or service benefits to the public.  There is no guarantee that you believe in its success or benefits – you are simply saying what you’ve been paid to say in order to make money.  However, what more and more companies realize that without any vested interest from the celebrity, it’s mainly a one-way transaction.  There is no passion for the refreshment beyond the financials.

Mark Wahlberg and Sean Comb speak to the media at the AQUAhydrate press conference. Courtesy of AQUAhydrate’s facebook page.

Through this realization, more companies are finding celebrities that truly believe in the product’s success.  Diet Coke found Jean-Paul Gaultier, Taylor Swift, and Marc Jacobs.  Pepsi found Beyonce.  Evian has been doing this for years, and has found a plethora of fashion designers willing to put their mark on collectible glass bottles each year.  All these celebrities are not just being paid to talk up their favorite beverage, rather they are involved with the business in some shape or form.  Beyonce is involved with Pepsi’s creative process and how the soda brand is represented to music fans worldwide.  In a similar sense, Wahlberg and Combs are expected to be involved with the business strategy component for AQUAhydrate.  They are expected to actively participate in helping get AQUAhydate into more grocery stores and more consumer shopping carts.  The fact that both celebrities chose to partner with AQUAhydrate, they must believe in the beverage’s business prospects and how they can add value.  Therefore, this business partnership should stand a very high chance of success.

To answer the former question on what this means to Canadian retailers and consumers, the new distribution arrangements should help.  Safeway is a grocery chain with an American presence as well as a Canadian presence, so the incremental distribution for AQUAhydrate could likely be the result of having the refreshment merchandised in Canadian Safeway grocery stores.  Some research and a quick question to the AQUAhydrate team revealed that the water beverage is indeed found in Safeway stores, as well as most Canadian GNC and Quebec Couche-Tard outlets.  Some readers have said that the beverage brand was also found in high-end grocery stores, so it can be expected that AQUAhydrate will continue to expand its Canadian presence.

Since its September rebranding effort, AQUAhydrate has rebounded and made some great strides forward.  With its expanded distribution and strong celebrity partnerships, there’s no doubt that the beverage brand is primed for even more success in the future.  With Walhberg and Combs on board to help with the business strategy, who knows what celebrity wants to sign on next with the brand to help propel it to new heights?

Canadian Grocery Re-post: Gas Pump Vending Machines Coming Soon?

Recently, the American publication Vending Times reported on some interesting news that may increase sales for beverages and other food items as well (link here).  Vendgogh, a company that provides “gas island solutions” have come up with a concept where gas consumers can integrate their beverage and snacks purchases with their fuel purchase.  The gas pump machine that normally asks the customer which grade of gas they want to fill up and if they want a car wash, can now also be programmed to prompt about purchasing drinks and snacks.  As more and more fuel stations are fitted with technology to allow for payment at the pump, these same stations are seeing their basket size decrease with less opportunities to influence the fuel customer.  The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) indicates that about half of all gas customers do not go inside the store, and therefore gas stations have half as many opportunities to drive incremental sales.  The premise of this concept gives petroleum stations increased opportunities to convert pay-at-the-pump consumers without them ever having to enter the fuel station kiosk or store.

While fuel is the core of this channel’s business, growing the basket size is just as important here as in other channels.  Customers may prefer paying at the pump since it’s convenient and quick, but gas owners prefer the customer come inside since there’s many more opportunities to up-sell the customer.  Have you bought a beverage or lottery ticket as part of your fuel-up?  That likely is a result of suggestive selling by the store clerk.  Without the ability to add on beverages, snacks, lottery tickets, or cigarettes, the gas station is only getting base business.  And with so many gas stations around, the competition is fierce for the customer’s dollar.  Even the same chain will be competing with the next closest gas station in the chain for the same dollars.

Vendgogh’s beverage gas pump unit re-establishes the suggestive selling opportunity for the gas station.  By maintaining the customer’s convenience to pay at the pump, the fuel station also has the ability to up-sell beverages and snacks, which drive over 40% of a gas station’s in-store sales.  Beverage purchases drive about 25% of the in-store sales, so popular beverage options such as energy drinks, carbonated soft drinks, and bottled water can be expected to be filled in the vending unit.

Gas stations can always rely on one thing: customer trips.  There will always be motorists that need to refuel, and therefore provide gas stations with opportunities to influence their refuel purchase.  Having a machine to assist in growing the customer’s basket should be a welcome tool across the overall petroleum convenience channel.

Starbucks Buys Teavana, Diversifies Beyond Coffee

It appears that Starbucks’ recent purchase of Teavana has some analysts and coffee drinkers scratching their heads.  Considering that the coffee giant already owns a tea brand in Tazo, why would they want to purchase another tea brand?

The simple answer is that Starbucks is readying their continued evolution to a diversified beverage company.  Having changed their logo to remove the words of “Starbucks Coffee” shows their seriousness of extending their brand beyond just coffee, and beyond the Starbucks name. Their past acquisitions of Tazo (1999), Ethos Water (2005), and Evolution Fresh (2011) have been instrumental for expanding their beverage footprint in the consumer’s mind and physical purchase locations.  And while most of these offerings have been incorporated within the Starbucks coffee shops, other products have expanded their reach into grocery supermarkets and other consumer outlets.  Products like the bottled Frappucinos, Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, Verisimo system, Starbucks Refreshers, Tazo Tea, and Evolution Fresh juices and smoothies have all permeated other channels and have seen some form of success beyond the Starbucks coffee shops.

So what can we expect the Teavana purchase to do for Starbucks?  How is this product differentiated from Tazo Tea?  Will there be some form of cannibalization between the two tea offerings under the Starbucks portfolio?

The Teavana purchase will undoubtedly expand Starbucks’ reach outside their branded coffee shops.  Teavana owns and operates their own stores, which may soon incorporate select Starbucks products that fits into the Teavana theme and strategy.  For example, selling Starbucks coffee within Teavana shops may not be appropriate, but selling Evolution Fresh juices and smoothies and Ethos Water may be a possibility.  This cross-selling effort will certainly increase the reach of non-coffee beverages under their portfolio.  Also, considering that Starbucks has started to open standalone Evolution Fresh locations in the U.S., those locations may also incorporate some Teavana offerings as well.  Aside from the bricks and mortar stores that Teavana operates, Starbucks also acquires their online infrastructure where the loose leaf tea products are sold as well.  This also significantly buffs up Starbucks online presence and can provide an entirely new set of learnings and opportunities.  Starbucks has mainly existed as a bricks and mortar presence insofar to create that “third location” away between the home and office, but expanding their online presence gives them a chance to offer additional products to the consumer.  How about purchasing some VIA Ready Brew with that Teavana tea tin?

With regard to product differentiation, it’s commonly understood that the Tazo-branded products are bottled or tea bags.  The main opportunity does not exist in offering a different form of tea packaging, but the expanded consumption occasion.  Tea bags or bottled tea are typically consumed on-the-go or at the office, because the consumer is in a rush and does not have the time to sit and enjoy the beverage.  Teavana’s loose leaf tea allows Starbucks to reach the consumer in their relaxed state – at home or at the office – when they have more time to enjoy their beverage.  In that aspect, these two tea brands should be complimentary to the overall “tea consumer” rather than cannibalistic.  It would also make sense that Starbucks only minimally incorporates the Teavana products into their existing Starbucks establish (similar to Evolution Fresh) while maintaining the operations separately and at arm’s length.

At the end of it all, this acquisition bolsters Starbucks’ presence and further entrenches their beverage offerings into the consumers’ hands – be it at the office, on the streets, or at home.

This also signals a warning shot to the traditional beverage manufacturers (ie Coke, Pepsi, Dr Pepper Snapple Group) that the total beverage landscape is changing dramatically.  Consumers are increasingly turning away from the the sodas, to coffees, bottled water, and teas.   And Starbucks is leading the charge in this area.  If you don’t believe me, check out their video below.

Icelandic Glacial Delivered To Your Home, With The Daily News

BevWire recently read about Icelandic Glacial’s expanded distribution network: a home delivery partnership with the LA Times and Sun Sentinel to deliver water along with their newspapers.  It’s an interesting partnership to say the least – piggyback on the news delivery trucks and save on carbon footprint.  However, with actual hard copy readership on the decline and digital editions on the rise, is this a sustainable business model?  There’s also a variety of other questions, like responsibility for product breakage or damage en route for delivery.  Or how about how payment is collected? And what about whether the delivery trucks will need to be re-fitted to store the beverages on the delivery trucks?

Having reached out to Icelandic Glacial’s PR team, their forwarded press release provided some details into this business arrangement.  Icelandic Glacial will be utilizing the current newspaper delivery infrastructure, making use of truck space and delivery routes.  This means that any customers receiving their news through these newspaper delivery trucks will have the opportunity to purchase the bottled water as well.  Icelandic Glacial will also leverage on the newsprint media company’s customer service system, indicating that payment may go directly to LA Times or Sun Sentinel first and then remitted to Icelandic Glacial.  Given that the payment and delivery trucks are borrowed assets for Icelandic Glacial, it would appear that any damaged product during delivery may be under the LA Times or Sun Sentinel’s responsibility.  At the end of the day, this will still come back to Icelandic Glacial –  it just means that they will be reimbursing the damaged product that the newspaper company may have to pay to the end consumer.

In spite of where responsibilities rest – beverage company or newsprint organization – the main question still remains whether this business model is good idea and sustainable.  Given that readership is on the decline, this should be seen as a win-win for both parties as perception shows they are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint.  For Icelandic Glacial, this opens up additional distribution and translates to a larger customer base.  Being able to promote your product through a trusted media source is helpful as well.  For LA Times and Sun Sentinel, this is an opportunity to offer hard copy readers an incremental benefit as well as open up a new revenue stream.  Fewer readers translates to more delivery truck space, which can now be filled to deliver bottled water along with the news.  And from the reader’s perspective, getting newspaper along with a refreshing bottle of water is  just added convenience.

This is a good idea but may also represent a short to medium term solution for LA Times and Sun Sentinel.  Consumers can already get their news online or on their phones, so delivery trucks will eventually have more room for bottled water or other products aside from newspapers.  The longer term solution may require transforming the entire business model to focus on the “distribution” aspect, leverage the customer base and provide a wider assortment of products to the end consumer.  Beyond newspaper and bottled water, other alternatives may include coffee, fruit, and grocery items.

Time will tell but it’s likely that this is the start of many partnerships for newspaper companies to stay relevant and remain profitable.

Diane von Furstenberg designs 2013 evian Bottle

As with every year since 2008, premium bottled-water manufacturer evian has selected a fashion designer to come up with a limited edition design for their glass bottle.  Click here to read about the 2012 design by Andre Courreges.  This year’s designer is Diane von Furstenberg.  This also marks the first year that evian has used an American designer.  von Furstenberg is also the first female designer chosen by evian, but I don’t think that this should be a big deal since gifted designers are both male and female.

In von Furstenberg’s design of the bottle, here’s what the Martin Renaud, President of evian® Volvic® World said:

Diane von Furstenberg is a globally-recognized pioneer in the fashion industry through her eponymous DVF brand and has also established herself as an icon through her philanthropic ventures and mentorship as president of Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Her design for evian’s latest limited edition bottle symbolizes von Furstenberg’s youthful mindset and inspirational way of life, while perfectly embodying evian’s Live Young attitude and brand values.

The glass bottle’s design features words printed with the designer’s own handwriting, “Water is Life is Love is Life is Water is…” and is explained in the video above.

Something noticeably different in the packaging design this year: the bottle cap.  The bottle is sealed with a screw cap rather than a twist cap, which appears to be easier to open than the previous designer bottles (I’ve only collected them, but have not opened any of them).  In which case, this should make it a tougher decision for purchasers to collect them without opening them up.

According to the press release, the bottles can also be found throughout the of the year in hotels, bakeries, and select restaurants.  In looking to purchase this collector bottles in Canada, I recommend going to your high-end specialty grocery supermarkets (Pusateri’s, McEwan, IGA, Urban Fare, etc).