If you were to sit down and & examine a list of consumer insights on the subject of energy, sports and nutritional beverages it would be both long and contradictory. UK markets have evolved in these categories far faster than consumer understanding of the product and associated benefits within. This has lead to a consumer beverage landscape for such categories best described as a wilderness where, due to low levels of understanding from consumers, insight can at times be misleading and should therefore be handled with a great deal of care.

Having recently commented in The Grocer on Neuro:

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=208231

a functional beverage from the United States which soft-launched in Waitrose in the UK in January I was interested in a similar functional proposition from Crystal Light Pure Fitness by Kraft:

This represents a first journey into the fitness territory for Crystal Light who have added a fitness proposition to their long list of functional variants which includes energy, hydration, enhancement, fortification & skin essentials. The dry-mix format itself is not a familiar one outside of the ‘performance’ area of the category however the brand has credence here through the heritage of the core range. The hydration focused strap line of “water you body” highlights the necessity to educate the consumer target on the benefit however fails to communicate any benefit above and beyond drinking only water – a huge rival to the fitness beverage market.

One aspect of their strategy I find interesting is in retail where they are avoiding the crowded aisles now dominated by Zero Ranges from Powerade and Vitamin Water and other functional drinks brands in favor of alternative shelf space.

If the goal of such a launch is to increase penetration then putting any mythologies over the ingredients/reasons to believe aside (Truvia in this case) I would suggest that the in-store position might have the effect of cannibalizing their existing range rather than attracting new customers to the product. This is especially true if the US market has a similarly low level of consumer understanding as the one I’ve seen in the UK where ingredient are often misunderstood or serve simply as a check-list / safety net. That said penetration may not necessarily be the strategy supporting such a launch which could easily be focused on re-energizing a range in order to win back lapsed female consumers lost to a glut of new competition.

The first premium ‘functional’ bottled water for kids has launched in the US, hoping to offer a cool alternative to other soft drinks . With no sugar, colouring or calories, WAT-AAH! hopes its child-friendly branding and advertising will persuade children to move away from high-calorie, high-additive carbonates and juices.

The brand’s founder, Rose Cameron, claims: “The soda bubble is bust… Water is the true alternative to soda, but until now kids have found it boring and preachy. Not anymore. WAT-AAH!, 100% sugar free, ultra pure water, convinces kids that drinking water is far from boring! ”

WAT-AAH! launched earlier this month in New York with a grassroots viral and outdoor  campaign featuring the WAT-AAH! boy covering traditional fizzy drinks logos and ads with the brand’s posters. Meanwhile, a branded blog asks parents to ‘Take the Challenge’ and report whether their child went for a traditional soft drink or WAT-AAH!

While the product is always consistent, it’s packaged as four variants: Brain, Power, Body and Energy. It’s a clever approach, which plays on children’s love of variety and creates a sense of ‘amping up’ the relevant area. Stories are already being reported of children choosing ‘Body’ when heading to sports practice, or ‘Brain’ on school test days.

So the big question is: will it succeed? The brand is aiming for an irreverent, fun positioning with a note of naughtiness, which may strike a chord with younger kids.  It has the potential to prove popular with harassed parents desperate to wean their children off more mainstream soft drinks – but one wonders how many parents will be prepared to pay for something that’s always been available on tap (pun definitely intended).

Gut instinct says potential will be limited – after all, WAT-AAH’s media spend constitutes a drop in the bucket against market players such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, with their multi-million, star-studded campaigns. Having said that, its concept, advertising and most particularly its online strategy are clever, and could become playground currency.

As with all things kids, the magic formula is difficult if not impossible to predict. So we’ll be watching developments with interest…

Last month Diageo, the word’s largest spirit drinks company, shone at the prestigious World Spirits Competition that is celebrated in San Francisco every year. It won 110 medals, of which 40 medals were gold or double gold.

One of the Diageo’s stars of the night was its Venezuelan rum Pampero Aniversario, which won a double gold medal. This is not the first time Diageo succeeds with the iconic Venezuelan brand. In 2007, Pampero Aniversario was awarded the best rum in the same competition, which gathered 86 of the world’s finest rums.

The Pampero brand’s story goes back to 1938 when Alejandro Hernandez, the son of a fisherman from Margarita Island, returned to Venezuela after his extensive travels and founded the Pampero rum distillery with some innovative ideas that changed the way rum was produced in the South American country.  It is alleged that Pampero was the first distillery that set the high quality standards that make Venezuelan rums famous.

Venezuelan rums are well known for their intense and complex flavour. The supreme quality of the Venezuelan sugar cane, produced in a geographical location where climatic factors help to age the liquor faster than in other countries. Then there’s with the guarantee that they are at least two years old (according to Venezuelan law). Finally, the oak casks in which they are normally aged make the local sugar cane spirits amongst the best in the world.

In comparison, most Caribbean rums are normally only 6 months old and many of them are aged in metal barrels instead of oak casks.

Medium bodied, rich and smooth, Pampero Aniversario is simply one of the finest rums in the world according to rum connoisseurs and aficionados. In addition, its unique short rounded bottle, enclosed in a tan leather sack, makes it to stand out from the crowd.