Wednesday, December 14

Interview with Ms. Charmeroy



Fabienne Charmeroy
Marketing Director at Nestlé Waters


- What are/were you doing at Nestlé Waters?
I was Marketing Director at Nestlé waters and member of CEO, managing a team of 30 people : product managers, survey department, consumer service, thermal resorts.

- What are/were your main responsibilities?
To be in charge of the brand manangement of brands such as Perrier, Contrex, Vittel, Hepar. I also way responsible for the respect of the profit and loss accounts.
Development and launches of successful products was also a part of my job : Vittel sport's cap, P'tit Vittel, Quezac.

- What are for you the emotions that can be used by a product manager for branding plain bottled water?
Many emotions, water is the element, without it we cannot survive. Emotions and product reality should be linked to express youth, vitality, beauty, well-being, purity, feast...

- What are the added-values in order to perform as a plain water brand?
As for every brand, brand positioning is essential, it is the heart of a brand added-value. Once it is well defined and that you have checked it is relevant, you need to work on each element of the marketing mix to provide value. Porter is always in your mind....

- What associations can create long durable brand awareness and knowledge?
If the brand positioning is clear and relevant like for Contrex, you need to be consistent about the message itself but you can be inspired by what is happening. Have a look to the new Contrex tv ad...

- What would be your advice to a young product manager on the water brand market?
My advice would be to keep what is working and try to change what should be. But not only on water brand market....

Monday, December 12

Possible Trends?

The Secret of Water


Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher, made an astonishing discovery about water. This revolutionary discovery may possibly lead to a new consciousness of water
Dr. Emoto developed a technique using a very powerful microscope to photograph crystals of frozen water samples. The crystals from different areas changed depending on the environment. He also discovered that human vibration energy, thoughts, words and music affect the molecular structure of water. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_14nqkk-GU&list=PL703CAA91CCCBF8F1&index=19


Emoto taped paper strips saying "You make me sick," "You are a fool" and "I love you," "Thank you" on bottles of tap water and then photographed the frozen water. He found that  "Thank you" and "I love you," caused the tap water to form beautiful crystals. While bottles with "You make me sick," or "You are a fool,"  strips caused ugly, distorted crystals or no crystals at all. According to Dr. Emoto, we can cause tap water to form beautiful frozen water crystals simply by praying for the water, by sending it positive thoughts, or by exposing it to beautiful music.




"Love and gratitude" create the most beautiful crystals.


"You Make Me Sick"




Aquamantra


"Inspired by the 2004 film What the Bleep Do We Know and Dr. Masaru Emoto’s book Hidden Messages in Water, Aquamantra utilizes the theories of quantum mechanics, whereby positive thoughts are shown to influence the molecular structure of water, to make their water more refreshing for body, mind, and soul. Each bottle of Aquamantra premium Natural Spring Water features unique art work from local California artists and the mantra I am Loved, I am Grateful, I am Healthy, or I am Lucky to infuse the water with positive energies."






References:
http://www.whatthebleep.com/crystals/
http://www.bcorporation.net/aquamantra

Tuesday, December 6

151 liters of water per year

Guess what is the first spending of French people in their food budget: bottled water.
Each year, they drink 151,1 liters of mineral and spring water.




In the eighties, the five most consumed food products were: potatoes, fresh vegetables, wine, bread and milk. 
Now, it is mineral and sping waters, fresh vegetables, potatoes, bread and milk. 

It seems that bottled water gained a lot of ground