For best results, stick it in the fridge

Have you noticed that most product packaging falls into two categories. It's either dreadfully boring (as if it were written by someone who has never has any fun). Or it is chock full of inane corporate gobbledygook "this flexible, cutting-edge product will improve your business process."

I always think this crap is just written to fill up white space on product packages and I've often thought there is a better way.

This weekend, coutesy of my 14-year-old daughter, I found a cool example of how to do it better -- Glaceau vitaminwater. My daughter is a competitive swimmer and takes a bottle of vitaminwater to most meets. The other day, she casually mentioned to me that she and her friends like to read the labels on vitaminwater bottles.

Hold on! This I gotta check out—teenagers reading product packaging!

All the bottles have this helpful information:
"for best results, stick it in the fridge."
"the inside is natural. The outside is plastic."

And each of the dozen or so flavors has a fun essay on the label. Check this great writing out:

Revive
fruit punch
If you woke up tired, you probably need more sleep. If you woke up drooling at your desk, you probably need a new job. If you woke up with a headache, on a Ferris wheel at the Idaho state fair, wearing a toga, you probably need answers, not to mention this product. Its got potassium and B vitamins to help you recover and feel refreshed—kinda like in those old Irish Spring soap commercials. And if you’re like our boss, Mike, and woke up married to an Elvis impersonator, you probably need a lawyer.

XXX
acai-blueberry-pomegranate
C’mon, get your mind out of the gutter. We only named this drink XXX because it has the power of triple antioxidants to help keep you healthy and fight free radicals. So in case you’re wondering, this does not cost $1.99/minute or contain explicit adult content or anything considered ‘uncensored’. It has not 'gone wild!!!' during spring break nor will clips of it be passed around the internet like a certain hotel heiress, and it has never been seen live or nude, but it is definitely au naturale.

Power-C
Dragonfruit
Legally we are prohibited from making exaggerated claims about the potency or the nutrients in this bottle. Therefore, legally we wouldn’t tell you that after drinking this, Eugene from Kansas started using horseshoes as a thighmaster or that this drink gave Agnes from Delaware enough strength to bench press llamas, Heck, we can’t even tell you this drink gives you the power to do a thousands pinkie pushups… just ask Mike in Queens. Legally, we can’s say stuff like that—cause that would be wrong, you know?

Yeah, it is cool. Great writing can exist on product packaging as vitaminwater has proven. What about your product?

By the way, while the product packaging is great, the vitaminwater Web site absolutely sucks. It is an inane flash-driven site that looks pretty but doesn’t deliver any real information. Ugh.

Comments

[Tatiana Tugbaeva]

I like reading those labels myself. But I'm not sure if this kind of product packaging will be as effective for an older target market. Do you know of any other products that target different markets and use similar packaging strategy?

[Charlie]

I think those essays really work because now I am craving vitaminwater even though it tastes like Crystal Light!

This reminds me of the most awesome instance of packaging text. Three years ago, my friends and I got some bags of potato chips for a long road trip (we were moving from Chicago to New York). I discovered that each bag had a story with a moral message written on it. Even though the stories were very corny and preachy, we read each one over and over! And even though the chips were unremarkable, I scanned every convenience store in New York for that brand so I could read more stories! I wish I could remember the name of the brand (Uncle Something???, I think).

Remember how Snapple used to have weird trivia under each cap?

[Peter Renton]

Product packaging is so important these days in the ultra-competitive retail space. It is surprising to me that few companies really leverage their product label like Vitaminwater is doing. With today's digital label printing (the focus of my blog) it is very easy to come out with more interesting product labels. In fact if you had lots of great content, every label could be different. Now that might be a great conversation starter...

[Mike]

I actually buy a bottle every morning, along with a USA Today newspaper, at a local shop.

I'm embarrassed to say, I've never read the labels...til now !

Thanks for outin' them David.

[Robert French]

Fun copywriting for a niche audience. I agree.

Sadly, the technical knowledge of the company seems a bit lacking. Look at how their company appears in Google search:

glacéau
Javascript and Flash 8 are required to view this site.
www.glaceau.com/ - 3k

So, "Javascript" and "Flash 8" are key terms for a vitamin water company?

Not to worry, they are #1 in results for "vitamin water", too. But, you'd think they'd want a better description for their product in search. After all, for their key audience, search is likely the primary path for researching new products.

[Gordon]

Guess you guys don't get innocent drinks over there (brand name: http://innocentdrinks.co.uk/) which takes a similar tack. There is a different little quip on each label, and the same 'feel' is on their website (check some of the questions in the FAQ).

[David Meerman Scott]

Thank you all for your comments.

Robert, you're absolutely right about their site. It's terrible. Because it's written in flash, the search engines don't see it. Silly...

Cheers, David

[Kris Rzepkowski]

So here's a display of how social media is helping to market a product. I would never have tried vitaminwater until I read this post. What a coup for Glaceau.

My local indoor volleyball hangout has this stuff in a glass case right next to the Red Bull. The bottles look like they belong in a medicine chest. They may have Shakespeare written on the label (which I didn't know until now), but from afar I always mistook it as Surgeon General warnings. If the product tastes like cough syrup, then it will certainly meet my expectations.

Another example of the use of clever copy and bad design for success is the shopping site Woot! They motivate you to buy "Bags of Crap" and second hand electronics with some of the most spellbinding copy I've seen.

[Pete Brand]

I found it interesting that some of the copy was geared towards the buyer persona of drinkers. You pointed out in your book "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" about how Gatorade could cater to that persona but obviously didn't. I wonder if these people read your book and decided on that niche. :) Thanks for passing it along.

[Oritseyemi Emmanuel Madamedon]

David,
Your books sold thousands of copies! May be these guys somehow never come across your books. Someone should send them a copy of each of your books most especially cashing in with content.
2. I still wonder why these companies still think the heavy usage of flash is what they need to sell or reach their audience with easy.
I don't claim to be an expert but I like the way the labelling on philosophy products are written http://www.philosophy.com/web/store/prod_cinnamon-buns-shower-gel____36581_24506_25507 (No affiliation.)Words like yummy,etc

What do you think?

[Shama Hyder]

When it comes to mass-produced products, most companies don't think the writing matters. But in a world where competition gets tougher by the minute, every aspect counts!

[Sergey Rusak]

Vitamin Water has a choice:
a) to create GatorAde / PowerAde alike design.
b) to create something new.

I guess if they choose A... they will fail.

[Chad Ludeman]

Great reference to woot.com. Fantastic writing!

I love VitaminWater and have been enjoying their labels and liquids for years. In my opinion they have succeeded by creating a new section of the market with a fantastic brand name that captures that market. Gatorade came out with Propel around the same time if not earlier and it does not compare to what VitaminWater has done marketing wise.

While I normally agree that poor websites are a sign of lousy marketing, I'm not sure how important the web is for their product. I research everything on the web but have never looked up any beverage product before buying. I have not been to their site and probably never will, but will drink their product for years. I was hooked on the product when a big VitaminWater truck pulled up to a weekend sporting event I was participating in with over 2,000 young, Philadelphia athletes. Everyone was grateful and loved the product that was being marketed directly to us. Imagine how much word of mouth that got them and that was only one event! Their product placement, distribution and delivery trucks are equally impressive. While I love the web, sometimes it might not be the #1 avenue for certain products.

Lastly, how old do you have to be to not enjoy this type of writing?

[Laurent Pacalin]

David:

Thank you for this great post regarding Glaceau. I do agree that self-deprecating humor and plain english are refreshing ways to create an image. What's a bit strange about the beverage is the name itself: Glace-Eau. The litteral translation from french means ice water. How exciting is that?

[Charlie]

It's a French portmanteau!! Doubly French! I love portmanteaux.

I also love the label of Smartwater, also made by Glaceau. It looks like a goldfish is in the bottle. And the goldfish is saying "spring water is for swimming, Smartwater is for drinking!"

[ian alexander]

David,

By sheer coincidence I just wrote about Vitamin Water last week. (Or perhaps is their marketing working?) Either way - I see your point about the Vitamin Water's balance of utility vs. the neat messaging but many brands do the same thing. Some very successfully. Regarding the informative messages, there isn't much to say - your thirsty and dehydrated and you drink. However, I do agree that the flash tool is nifty yet silly. Ok, more silly.