Nice little case study on “anti-marketing marketing”: the brilliance of Darius Bikoff and Glaceau Smartwater.
Despite the success, despite the obvious attention to marketing principles such as design and differentiation, and despite even the national effort, Energy Brands seems to have retained the important sense of being an irreverent underdog: It has mastered the art of anti-marketing marketing.
The label on “Endurance” states: “professional athletes have not endorsed this product … excessive use will not lead you to have a desire to be like Mike, Magic or even athletes named Ned.” “Energy” takes a similar tack. “We rebut any offers by professional sports leagues to become ‘the official water’ of anything. Although this is a great alternative to sports drinks we do not believe in succumbing to commercialism. Unless, of course, there’s a lot of cash. Then we’ll talk.”