Mathilde's 1st Post

Expectations and Goals:

During the first class of Evolving Industry, I immediately thought that I was in the right place. The energy displayed by Mr. Jarmon through the fun anecdote about the guy who was able to lick his elbow or the question about belonging or not to a party, and finally the deep dive into Marketing fundamentals (6 P’s) made me think that I have a lot to learn from this class.

The first class inspired me to become more curious and critical about products and brands in general but also to be more aware of my consumption habits. Analyzing and applying the marketing concepts covered in class to the reality of the consumption around me will help me to have a better understanding of what is it to use marketing tools.

At the same time, I expect our visits to agencies and communication companies to help me clarify in what sector and environment I want to work. I think that these visits are an incredible opportunity to deeply understand what the Communication/Marketing field really consists of today and translate our theoretical knowledge to the real world.

“THE TARGET IS YOU” Final Paper:

The Brand I decided to work on is the French mineral water Evian (Danone Group). I do remember having a bottle of Evian on the table during the first class and it immediately attracted my eyes as the teacher asked us to choose a Brand.

As far as I can think, Evian has always been THE mineral water at home. Now that I live in New York, I like buying Evian as a continuation of my consumption habits.

The brand especially caught my attention a few months ago when I discovered the new 500ml bottle while shopping at Duane Reade. I remember thinking that the packaging looks pure, elegant, and that drinking Evian was kind of chic! After further research, I found that Evian launched the new design last June and defined it as a ”simplified and elegant reduction of the previous logo design”. It was the first time in 14 years that Evian redesigned its water bottle. In a press release dated June 2013, Evian justified this change with the objective to create a “new connection” with its US consumers (this new design has exclusively been launched in North America).

I’m excited to focus on this brand since I think that Evian has always done a great job in associating the “elegant, and refined premium water” image with the brand’s more “pop, fun, cool” side.  I experienced the former once again when I went to the US Open this year and discovered the Evian displays all over the stadium, and I recall the latter when thinking of its famous roller babies video and its recent app “baby-me”, where you post a picture and the app finds your baby equivalent.

What I’ve done so far is:

-Liked the Brand on Facebook

-Made research at the Evian website and DANONE website

-Read press releases about communication plans

-Created a Google alert

-Subscribed at the Beveragedaily.com newsletter to have a general view on the mineral water market.