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Advice on differentiating product
1. Tourists who come to SL and whom I can sell the water to - I've already talked to a tourist company about the possibility.
2. The general public - especially at bus halts, etc - I've noticed that a lot of women especially buy them (including myself)
3. There are a lot of hotels in and around my area which would buy these up
And that there is no local industry in my area to do this
The problem is that bottled water are very generic - how can I differentiate my product from other competitors ?
Views: 1399
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Vijay Bhatt on -
Jyoti, i may be wrong but i think that she is looking for that big "differentiator" ...one that would her USP.
I mean water is water, right...why should i buy water from her when it is available so easily from so many different companies..branded and unbranded????
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Permalink Reply by Vijay Bhatt on
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Hi Nadeera, how about some kind of mix like coconut water strengthened with water kinda mix OR lemon taste ....i am just thinking aloud..
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Permalink Reply by Nadeera Nilupamali on -
@ Jyoti .. thanks for the reply …what I think is it's not just the shape or the colour of the sticker … You can target some people like kids and some women just going for a smart bottle … but it should be unique … but in which way that is my main concern …
@ Vijay .. well you are correct I’m looking for the big "differentiator"… and about your second comment some people might not like lemon taste or even coconut (I myself don't like coconut )
so it has to be water ... no matter what … So how can I make customers go for my product …
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Permalink Reply by Ashwin C Parulkar on -
Jyoti has shown some examples and if you notice carefully none of the bottle has TINT on the bottle here are few ideas-
you have to decide yourself the USP of your product
you should go for a sparkling plastic bottle with a great lable and name- you can use thin bottle for eg Poland spring here in US uses 20% less plastic in bottle and cap to go GREEN on environment.
your water should not be added with any ARTIFICALTASTE (as vijay said) then it may go in bevarage catagory and FDA regulations.
HImalayan water Tastes awafull as mentioned by Neil because its packed in Himachal if I am not wrong from natural water streams and since it is a back ward area it gets govt concession in excise
Your PR has to be killing
last but not least- PRICE at which you are offering the product and your target customer, as bottled water is also ment for catagory of customers. there some very expensive water avilable inthe market.
USP has to be- look, brand name,Packaging, TASTE, Price and PR.
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Permalink Reply by Nadeera Nilupamali on
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Permalink Reply by Aditya Babbar on -
I'd look at it from a slightly obtuse angle this.
The answer to your Primary target market/Differentiation is something you have mentioned yourself. HOTELS and OFFICES in your neighbourhood.
My suggestions are as follows :1. At this stage(assuming that you have the mineral water plant down to a tee), your target should ONLY be the hotels and offices. You'll have a tremendous advantage.
Firstly, as you said there is no player in this market, so its a clear and open field for you. Supplying to them means a regular supply contract. Lock them in for a 3-5 years and give great deals.
Secondly, you'd rather be spending on a great product, and ensuring the supply chain to these offices and hotels is secured. It would work out more cost effective than trying to get into setting up a supply chain to retail stores.
Hotels use water across their rooms, restaurants, banquets.
Offices use is in dispensers, pantries and board rooms.
The key would be providing a good price and prompt delivery.
2. I do not think you need to target the general public at this stage, as the capital cost to setup this operation (as Neil pointed out) will be tremendous. This should be part of your Phase 3
So my 2 bit is target the following areas in this order:
1. Offices2. Hotels
3. Restaurants
4. General Public
You will have water jugs(dispensers) primarily and a smaller quantity of bottled water for these establishments.
Your differentiating factors could be
1. Environment friendly bottles/jugs (it would mean a cost analysis and comparison between regular plastic and bio-degradable plastic)2. Bundle the dispensers as well as the Water cooling machines into your package. It would mean finding out who are the manufacturers and Collaborate with them for something like this.
3. Prompt Service, Pickup and Drop Off for the supply.
I hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by Alok 'Rodinhood' Kejriwal on -
Nadeera - have you examined what VITAMIN Water has done in the USA?
Just adding Vitamins created an entire new category.
Also just VITAMINS - coz everyone likes to eat them!
Check - http://glaceau.com/
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Permalink Reply by Siva Shanker on -
Agree with Alok. Vitamin water is big in UK as well. Everybody gets the habit of having one in the morning and the color it comes up with really makes everyone to pick it up. But this is seen more of an alternate to beverages like coke/pepsi.
Not sure Nadeera wants to try this category(beverage) or the aquafina type category like the water for thirsty with quality.
I would recommend the beverage category as competition is yet to start. And people love the medical terms to justify their purchase.
-Shiv
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Permalink Reply by Manan Mehta on
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Hi Alok...TATA too is in process of launching similar water products. And i think its going to change the game in India
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Permalink Reply by Nayana Somaratna on -
And vitamins (the water soluble ones) are completely non-toxic - the excess is excreted in the urine.
Wonder if there would be regulatory issues though ? Since she'd be adding stuff to the water ?
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Permalink Reply by Tushar Solanki on -
Alok is right everyone seems to be crazy after vitamin water here in US.
Also check www.alodrink.com, with so many people becoming health conscious, Alo water (and other fruit flavored with pulp) water which are good for health are gaining traction and might just click.
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