Brand Storytelling | Brand Strategy
WE SIP DIFFERENT
THE SITUATION
Waterloo Sparkling Water, a challenger brand with negligible penetration and share, needed an authentic positioning and platform to differentiate it from well-funded competitors. While the category promoted indistinguishable functional benefits, Waterloo needed a breakthrough message to connect with consumers and retailers on a deeper, more meaningful level.
The Challenge
How do we meaningfully differentiate Waterloo in a commodity category? Establish a distinctive brand positioning, brand identity, and brand marketing campaign to introduce Waterloo to consumers and retailers.
We identified a core consumer target audience of “Life Tasters” through our Mindset modeling. Defined as highly engaged, sensorial, stimulation-seeking consumers, they strongly desire to express their authentic individuality and creativity.
Our brand foundation and strategic discovery process determined that there were 167+ million US adults who were sparkling water consumers. Overlaying our Mindset Model, we identified that 27% (44.5 million) of US adults were Life Tasters and that 43% (19 million) were sparkling water consumers.
The marketing budget could not support a competitive voice among the 19 million as a challenger brand. However, we could afford to meaningfully target the 6 million Life Tasters in our top 5 markets.
The Inspirational Insight
Create an integrated marketing campaign that celebrates that Waterloo is for people who want to live their best lives and are willing to take the less-traveled road to get there.
The Concept
We crafted a brand positioning, identity, and introductory brand-awareness campaign through the creative platform “WATERLOO “ to differentiate and connect with those who do things their way. WE SIP DIFFERENT.”
Inspira led the IAT to create a marketing and execution plan highlighting how Waterloo sipped differently, functionally and emotionally. Core plan components included:
Paid Digital Media – our media strategy delivered a concentration of Life Tasters in targeted markets with high retail distribution.
Social Media – our strategy and content calendar engaged with a more authentic, 1:1 conversation.
Influencer Marketing – our influencer strategy, content direction, inspiration, and creative assets encouraged authentic storytelling and significant engagement with the brand.
Brand Experience – we set the strategy and created content to ensure that brand essence was communicated at in-market sampling events and sponsorship activations.
Shopper Marketing – our retail strategy and creative approach delivered the brand look and feel, plus messaging, so it was consistent across all retailers.
