… and then there are my boyz at Fred.
They invented water. Well, not really water but rather Fred, he’s water.
Rarely does a creative opportunity such as this come along- nice people, fresh thinking and a good product. I have been a part of the brand from its inception. The brainchild of Adam Gayner, brought to life by creative director Ariel Broggi and designer Kurt Huggins. Fred has been a true creative collaboration.
The story behind the story… I had placed an ad on Craigslist to rent some office/studio space (our place is huge- just don’t need it all). The first response was from some guys with a small ad agency wanting to relocate. Much to my surprise, I had worked with one of the principals when he was at Nail Communications. We had done a nice campaign for Berkshire blankets.
It turned out the space was not appropriate for their needs however we stayed in touch and they became neighbors. Over the next few months I shot some small projects for them and eventually became good friends. In addition to their ad work, they were conceiving a product that they wanted to bring to the marketplace. I was excited by their entrepreneurial spirit and loved their ideas. I was invited to be a part of the branding. Basically you had four smart guys (a CD /copywriter, designer, marketing genius/brand strategist and me) with varied experience coming together with the goal of making this product a success. Fred was born.
We set out to create a compelling personality with universal appeal [Fred is your friend], offer unique function [Fred slips in your pocket or carry bag, a friendly design] and employ an unexpected, playful and fresh communications strategy. With these three aspects of Fred in place, we were able to deliver a product of interest and excitement, creating an entirely new relationship within the bottled water category. What I refer to as “animating the inanimate”
Due to the small and tight nature of the group we could easily execute ideas and basically had only ourselves to answer to. During shoots we fed off each other. The energy was great and we all genuinely had fun.
“When input includes all points of view from the beginning, not only is the work better, but it’s more efficient. Back and forth tends to ruin ideas or water them down, making them less effective in market.”
It worked. With next to no money for media, utilizing clever placement ( industry pubs) , merchandising and the internet. I’m proud to say that Fred is going like gang busters. AC Nielsen reported Fred as #1 in NYC water sales, in grocery single serve size under 24 oz.
Pretty cool.
So unique and effective was this collaborative approach that not only is Fred getting attention… so are we!
Communication Arts http://www.commarts.com/exhibit/fred-natural-spring-water.html
Good Design http://www.gdusa.com/issue_2007/03_mar/news/#
PDN
1 comment:
Fred is my "universal name" and the response to the question "what shall we call it?". A thousand times I have answered "call it Fred"
Fred has thus been a fabric, a color, a garment and, more recently, several toys.
Fred's cool.
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