Response to Elisabeth Piccolo’s blog post about Vitamin Water
The power of leveraging famous people from TV shows is not a new concept; look at all the “Got Milk” ads that feature the latest and greatest stars. So what’s more effective – the traditional print ads or sponsorship?
Elisabeth did a nice job highlighting how Vitamin Water aims to appeal to a large market by adverting it’s product as appropriate for any occasion via TV shows such as Gossip Girl. I find sponsorship of TV shows quite interesting because it’s kind of a “behind the scenes” marketing tactic. If done well, consumers subconsciously are attracted to the product because they see their favorite stars consuming or using the product. If the ploy is too obvious, it seems over done and tacky. I watch Gossip Girl, and had also noted the excessive use of Vitamin Water. The immense cost of this type of advertisement means that marketers should be careful and really analyze if it’s an effective method of appealing to their market.
I think Vitamin Water’s focus on appealing to a broad audience is smart. They used to focus on promoting the health benefits, but it became quickly known that Vitamin water is not actually a healthy drink – 33 grams of sugar per bottle, and no actual juice. It was smart for the company to focus more on the drink’s versatility than on the not-so-impressive nutrition facts.
This example demonstrates how important it is for marketers to decide what aspect of their product they would like to highlight depending on what their target market is looking for in a product. Whether it’s actually the drink for both athletes and CEO’s, that’s for the market to decide. I know that I don’t plan on buying a Costco pack anytime soon.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfCIhi3Zxe4[/youtube]
Funny, or too much?