Summertime is filled with opportunities for brands to show they care, whether by helping consumers find a place to change at the beach or by giving them a little cooling refreshment during a heat wave. Targeting the latter option is Soak Media, a UK firm that gives out free bottled water to London commuters courtesy of on-bottle advertising.
Focusing only on the months of July and August, Soak sells advertising space on 330 ml. plastic bottles filled with Buxton water and then hands them out for free to overheated London commuters, who would normally pay GBP 1 or more for such refreshment. Soak's own staff hands out the bottles from an ice-filled cart, after which time it estimates the bottles spend about 50 minutes in the average consumer's hands. The company also does specials including leaflet tip-ons, specially shaped bottles and sampling. Perhaps best of all, however, is that it donates all its profits to charitable causes.
Given the ongoing controversy over plastic water bottles, it's not entirely clear that such vessels will be the right medium to focus on going forward. Nevertheless, the last two heat waves saw a 20 percent increase in bottled water consumption, Soak says, so there's no doubt consumers can use a little extra help staying hydrated. Deliver a little sympvertising—in whatever form—and you'll likely see a nice refreshing boost to your own bottom line! ;-) (Related: New Yorkers invited to refill their water bottles at cafés — Heated bus stops offer sympvertising and samples.)
Website: www.soakmedia.com
Contact: jamie@soakmedia.com
in Japan, there's using small packs of disposable tissues in the same way!
my 2 cents
Handing out plastic water bottles is only going to reflect negatively on the advertiser in my mind, and I'm sure I'm not alone. It's time to move on - if people have to make a living from marketing and advertising, they are going to have to come up with smarter, more responsible ways to do it!
Could you provide recycling points at stations for the bottles also, and brand the bins too: "Your bottle was recycled by Sony/Orange/whatever"
Sx
I don't get it! Why not just help the NYC TapIt initiativ you mentioned. Hand out the TapIt bottles and spread a good idea earning money. Heat wave or not I think this is a good case of showing how you can do more wrong than right with sympvertising if you don't think the case through.
its obvious branding and works to some extent but I'd be worried that the brand falls into the bribery category - subliminal provision of a necessity is preferable. but hey Im not the one spending the cash
We all know disposable water bottles are wasteful and bad for the environment, yet their production is growing rapidly everywhere. Just 20 years ago the market for plastic water bottles was practically nonexistent, but today we produce billions of these completely unnecessary products. There can be only one sane response, plastic water bottles must be banned!
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2009/10/water-bottle-manifesto.html