Ahead of My Time, Once Again
A few years ago I was brainstorming business concepts with my brother, who is a brand manager at a very large consumer packaged goods company. He was encouraging thinking about things that could be made “premium” that had never been so before. My big idea at the time: premium ice. Yeah, that’s right — how often have you had tap water ice dumped into your otherwise pristine beverage? And yes, I’m aware that bottled water is Bullshit, but I must say that having moved from San Francisco to San Jose, I’m sorely disappointed with how the tap water tastes down here. Besides, I like to maintain my Purity Of Essence. Anway, the point of this post was that this crazy idea of premium ice has apparently become a reality in just about exactly the crazy way I had imagined by a company with the very creative name of Aqua Ice and other product called Ice Rocks (Ice Rocks ups the ante on snootiness by claiming their water is “secured”). I’m now rooting for these products, despite the fact that I long ago decided that premium ice was not a business I actually had any interest in. Guess I missed my window.
Hat tip to Kieran for pointing me to the WSJ article about this.
Ha! Have you ever seen the show Blow Out on Bravo? It’s about this egomaniacal hair stylist named Jonathan (one name, like Madonna) in LA and it’s actually compelling TV. Anyway, Jonathan’s water shuts off one morning so he heats up Evian on the stove and uses it to shower with. When he gets to work he rounds up all his “people” and tells them that his hair and skin have never felt better, and that he wants to design and market a water filter for your showerhead.
Comment by Pete — July 25, 2006 @ 7:17 pm
This is insane. Couldn’t you get the same thing by just using using bottled water to make ice cubes? Or is pouring from the bottle to the tray just too much work? I think I’ll develop and market hermetically sealed, pre-moistened, disposable washclothes, so we can end, once and for all, the use of tap water for washing ones face. Crazy.
Comment by jane — July 26, 2006 @ 8:42 am
In the context of a valid example, VentureGeek commented to me that people don’t go to McDonald’s to get their car washed (you have to pick your brand - one or the other). As an aside, I think you’re wrong…people would go to McDonald’s to get their car washed. My car is perpetually filthy. If given the choice between McDonald’s and Burger King, I’d choose the one with a car wash in the parking lot. You’ve already got customers waiting for their made-to-order meals and everyone brought their car…might as well wash it!
Comment by Nate — August 8, 2006 @ 4:53 pm
Of course, Nate, that assumes you are representative of “most” people. And I happen to think that would be bad assumption (grin).
But, you should definitely check out the many decades of research about the way people relate to brands. One book that is a quick read is The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing — it’s a tad dated and makes some claims that are certainly arguable, but as a basic primer on the nature of marketing it’s hard to beat.
Comment by Nathan Dintenfass — August 8, 2006 @ 5:31 pm
survey says…
http://www.bluleb.com/polls/?poll=58951
p.s. i am a run-of-the-mill guy (with a dirty car)
Comment by Nate — August 9, 2006 @ 2:44 pm