When Vitamin Water first hit the shelves the buz was everywhere. People were talking everywhere about this new flavoured water that 50 Cent endorsed. It has been a very successful product reaching markets globally.
Interesting enough, during the time when 50 was hitting it big with G-Unit, he was offered an endorsement deal from the original owners, Glacéau. He accepted the deal and obtained 10% of the companies shares. In the process the distribution of the “Formula 50” flavour was established. Then in 2007 when Coca-Cola decided to buy out the company, Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) supposedly made over 100 million dollars through his endorsement deal. Sick deal, eh!
Unfortunately, now that Coca-Cola owns the “healthy beverage” it has had to deal with the undesirable attention for its claimed “mis-promotion.” The initial hype about the delicious drink has recently been overshadowed by lawsuits on its misrepresentation on how healthy it really is. Vitamin water does have both water and vitamins as it’s title and brand name might suggest. However, there is more to it than that.
When you take a closer look at the ingredients the sugar levels are higher than would be expected, a whopping 33 grams. I wont get into the nitty-gritty aspects of the lawsuit, but feel free to check out more on it here at http://cspinet.org/new/201007231.html.
So be sure to promote your brand and product without deceiving your consumers, and get some lawyers to check it out too!
If you are interested in learning more about Vitamin Water’s Marketing strategies, you should check out Andrea’s blog. She discusses Vitamin Water’s strategic advertising through its packaging. Mentioning how on each bottle there is a paragraph with a description of what that exact drink is doing for you. But not only does it describe it, it breaks it down in a relaxed colloquial language that is appealing to the youth and young adult segments.
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