Vawter, Vawter... everywhere?

I recently ordered a round at our local which included the new drinks brand ‘Vawter', as requested by my wife who was keen to try something new. It might have been the din in the pub or the easily-confused phonetics of the new brand name but three rounds later three different barmen had handed me a glass of water in place of my wife's new drink of choice. She eventually got to enjoy her refreshment but come the next round I was hesitant to return to the bar to spell out her order again.

Category ‘orphans'

Sarita and Vawter aren't necessarily bad names in themselves but the threat to their survival in the hyper-competitive drinks category is that they are category ‘orphans', ie they are not part of a known category in the mind of the market. When a new beer or cider launches the consumer has an initial reference, namely other brands in the beer or cider category. Both these brands, however, have perilously started their own categories. Sarita is described by SAB as a mellow, dry alcoholic apple drink or, in marketing acronym-speak, an ‘MDAAD'. Vawter is described by Distell as a new premium pure sparkling spring water cooler (PPSSWC). Now those roll off the tongue smoothly, don't they?

The advertising launch of Vawter even played on the silliness of the name and also helped the consumer to pronounce it. The chances of this brand being alive this time next year are very slim, in this commentator's view. Sarita, however should survive and thrive, given that it is closer to a known category (ciders) and has a place in the consideration set of the consumer.

To be fair to both brands, they have both done a great job on their packaging and taste profiles – the incumbents (Savanna, Brutal Fruit, Breezers etc) are not exactly subtle on the palate or on the eye.

Learning from previous brand name bellyflops

In the '90s US beverage giant Coors launched a new beverage (Zima) which was proudly described as not beer and not wine, but the consumer was left asking, “Well what the hell is it then?” This brand name bellyflop is eerily close to our two local examples…but perhaps in the hype, excitement and choc-chip muffin fuelled NPD brainstorming session, this well-documented brand failure was conveniently forgotten.