Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Water premium
One of the cable channels - ether Discovery or Nature - ran a documentary on water this week. One of the surprising things mentioned was that in 1856, spring water was bottled and sold for $1.75. One dollar, seventy-five! An incredible sum, considering that today our most popular bottled water (Dasani / Aquafina) averages for less than that (not to mention the fact that Coca-Cola and Pepsi take their bottled water from the public water supply and the 1856 water was from an actual spring). It got me thinking about early imprints and how they support- and are supported by - branding...: if our very early memories of bottled water are that it has restorative, healing properties (as imprinted by bottled water's long and illustrious past), we have a perception of high value for it - and we'll pay more. Therefore, brands like Dasani and Aquafina are associated with having restorative, if not healing powers, because in the past, products in their category did. And Coca-Cola and Pepsi reap the benefits still today.
One of the cable channels - ether Discovery or Nature - ran a documentary on water this week. One of the surprising things mentioned was that in 1856, spring water was bottled and sold for $1.75. One dollar, seventy-five! An incredible sum, considering that today our most popular bottled water (Dasani / Aquafina) averages for less than that (not to mention the fact that Coca-Cola and Pepsi take their bottled water from the public water supply and the 1856 water was from an actual spring). It got me thinking about early imprints and how they support- and are supported by - branding...: if our very early memories of bottled water are that it has restorative, healing properties (as imprinted by bottled water's long and illustrious past), we have a perception of high value for it - and we'll pay more. Therefore, brands like Dasani and Aquafina are associated with having restorative, if not healing powers, because in the past, products in their category did. And Coca-Cola and Pepsi reap the benefits still today.
Labels: brand imprints
Friday, October 05, 2007
The Hatch Awards ad show last night in Boston really made me proud to be part of such a talented and supportive advertising community. Congrats to all the winners, and thanks to the Boston AdClub for putting on such a swanky event. Rumor has it that last night saw record attendance, and judging from the many people from my past I saw for the first time in a long time, I believe it. It's strangely inspiring to have been around long enough to see people I worked with almost ten years ago...
Congratulations to all the winners, and to all the agencies - big and small and in-between- doing great work in New England.
Congratulations to all the winners, and to all the agencies - big and small and in-between- doing great work in New England.
