Nestle’s Resource: Differentiation Via Electrolytenment

Bottled water is one of those things that you want and need when you travel. At all other times, tap water is almost always just as good, at least in the developed world.

Given that, how do you introduce yet another brand and differentiate yourself to the point that consumers are willing to pay more, on a per gallon basis, for your “still” water, than they would, for gas?

You endow it with “Electrolytenment”, despite this: 

As for promoting electrolytes, David G. Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, noted that Resource stopped short of explicitly claiming they benefit health.

“They’re trying to stay away from F.D.A. interference but it also allows them to leave it up to the consumer to imagine the benefits that might come from electrolytes,” Mr. Schardt said.

With the exception of distilled water, all water contains some naturally occurring electrolytes like sodium and potassium, he said, adding that the added electrolytes in sports drinks are necessary only for extreme exertion.

“Replacing your electrolytes is only an issue for endurance athletes sweating for hours, not a jogger going out for a half-hour,” Mr. Schardt said.

Andrew Adam Newman writes elsewhere in the article I excerpted that snippet from that the only concrete positive about Resource is that the bottles are made with 50% recycled plastic. Which is great and I wish that all other plastic bottle makers emulate them or do better.

But still (an unintended pun), tap water uses no plastic at all, yes?

Progressive’s “Rate Suckers” Ad

I saw this “rate suckers” ad from Progressive Insurance the other day on TV:

I think what the ad is really trying to tell drivers is: 

1) Unsafe drivers raise insurance premiums for everyone.

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More On T-Mobile – “Gangbusters” and Confused Consumers

I recently said that while T-Mobile’s revolutionary plan to change the US cell phone market’s pricing model is great for US consumers in theory, in practice, much depends on its marketing and messaging. 

That’s because consumers are not sophisticated and I thought (and continue to think) that unless T-Mobile does a great job explaining the new non-subsidized phone purchase plan and its simplified monthly plans, it may have trouble attracting customers. Especially those from #1 Verizon, #2 AT&T and #3 Sprint – who might be more inclined to spend more over the lifetime of their relationship with T-Mobile, as opposed to “value” customers.

And today, there are two things to report.

The first thing is that the introduction of this new pricing model coincided with T-Mobile’s ability to sell the (still coveted) iPhone for the very first time.

And public reaction, at least on Day 1, seems to be very good:

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Online Ads – Amazon’s Next Frontier?

So it appears that Amazon has been quietly building its online ads business.

While advertising on Amazon.com might not have made sense – since Amazon could presumably use that space to hawk things it was selling right underneath or next to those ads – things are different with the Kindle Fire and Amazon Apps on Android and iOS. 

As Amazon VP Lisa Utzschneider says in an article on AdAge:

“Lexus partnered with us on Kindle Fire,” she said. “We don’t sell cars. They saw Kindle Fire as sight, sound and motion, a great pallet to tell a story to a very engaged audience.”

Stay tuned, folks. Given Amazon’s strange freedom from the pressure of reporting growing earnings and given that it doesn’t really need this ad revenue, yet again, it may move in unorthodox ways that will likely threaten other established players. 

Viacom vs Disney – The Fight For Pre-Schoolers

Kids in the 2 to 7 age group are attractive to TV entertainment companies for many reasons.

In aggregate, they spend billions of dollars a year or rather, they “encourage” their parents to do the spending (the Dora The Explorer show alone generates more than $1B globally in merchandise sales every year, per the NYT article cited below), on all kinds of useful things such as toys, halloween costumes, party supplies, balloons, etc.

They also become attached to brands early on – so those that watched Nick Jr when they were 4 years old have a strong tendency to watch ad-heavy Nickelodeon when they are older.

Strangely, Nick Jr was left alone to dominate this segment’s TV time…until last year, when Disney introduced its’ Disney Jr channel also aimed squarely at these younger viewers, with shows like Sofia the First. 

The results have been stunning, as Brooks Barnes and Amy Chozick write on the NYT:

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Bloomberg to Provide Curated Twitter Feeds To Wall Street

In a move the underscores Twitter’s increasing power and use in breaking material company news, Wall Street professionals, most of whom use Bloomberg Terminals for real-time updates on market data and news, will now get a curated Twitter feed, courtesy of Bloomberg (the company, not NYC’s Mayor).

As William Alden writes on the NYT’s DealBook,

Bloomberg’s new service shows tweets sorted by company and topic, allowing users to search by key word and to set up alerts for when a particular company is getting an unusual amount of attention.

“We were getting requests from customers who were seeing news they wanted to be aware of on Twitter,” said Brian Rooney, core products manager for news at Bloomberg, who said that compliance officers from Wall Street banks had expressed an interest in allowing employees to see tweets.

But Mr. Rooney added: “This isn’t where you monitor The Onion or Ashton Kutcher.”

Rather, Bloomberg will show tweets from companies, chief executives and other news-makers, in addition to certain economists and financial bloggers. Mr. Rooney cited the economist Nouriel Roubini and Paul Kedrosky, the investor and blogger, as examples.

Interesting timing, coming as it does, in the same week that the SEC said breaking material company news via Social Media was OK.

But, how will Bloomberg decide whose feeds to include and whose to exclude, once they’ve worked their way through obvious ones like CEOs of public companies, hedge funds and PE firms?

Perhaps being on or off that list becomes yet another arbiter of your power and status in the Financial World. 

PS: Talking about Twitter, I just gained my 100th follower on Twitter today. For comparison purposes, Justin Bieber has 37 million followers, President Barack Obama clocks in at 29 million and Bill Gates comes in at 10.6 million. Consider becoming part of my next 100 followers at @BminusC if you’re not already enjoying my ultra-insightful tweets there.