Tap’d water is this new tapped water on bottle from New York. It’s basically water straight from the tap, poured into a wonderfully designed bottle and sold on the streets in NY. The people behind this product must be marketing geniuses. Read this statement taken from their website:
“New Yorkers are known for having great taste, and our water is no exception. It’s the stuff of legends (or at least urban legends.) In taste tests against fancy glacial, spring and exotic waters, NYC tap water wins hands down. We’re proud of the source of our water and will help all New Yorkers be proud to drink their own water. Not only will we spare the Arctic glaciers, we’ll help create local jobs and support New York businesses and infrastructure.”
On top of advertising like above Tap’d has got a manifesto that clearly communicates their point of view. Here’s a short piece from it:
“Year after year, bottled water companies have told us that their water was somehow healthier or better for us than our own water. They spent billions of dollars on marketing to make us believe that we needed exotic water, in sleek packaging, from far away Arctic glaciers, tropical islands, and European volcanoes. We fell for the fancy marketing gimmicks, too, and the brands we drank started to become status symbols. But we’re New Yorkers and are ready for an honest change. It’s time for a better way of thinking, er, drinking: A Tap’dNY Manifesto for the new age.”
Well, if that isn’t a clear positioning. It’s a school example of how you pick an enemy, make sure your weapons are loaded and then give’em all you got. Well, Tap’d is not far from winning me over. But…there’s always a but…
In Sweden people have been arguing if it’s smart to drink water on the bottle since our water basically is cleaner than the stuff we get from different brands. However, here in Sweden the different brands tell us their water is tapped from 100 year old wells. It’s good for you, it makes you stronger, it’s cleaner etc etc etc.
Why the hell do we need to go and buy a bottle of ordinary non-carbonated water that has been transported by trucks all over Sweden and Europe when the water we can drink on the toilette is probably as clean, as good and in a lot of cases tastes better. So, now it seems I’m almost agreeing on the point Tap’d is trying to make.
My standpoint: If Tap’d are bragging how they’ve tapped the water of New York. Why the hell do they need to tap it? You still need a factory, plastic bottles, warehouse, trucks to ship it (through the traffic jams of NY) and take care of the waste. Do you really care about the New Yorkers or do you care about the New Yorkers money?
Well, your great communication platform, your packaging and advertising almost had me.