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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com


May 2014
continuuminnovation.com
235/365 - 5/31/2011 by Gabriela Pinto is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Just Add Water
Concentrates are poised for a renaissance
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
We like to vilify the bottled water
industry as an example of waste. Yet we
purchase nearly the same amount of
water as an ingredient in our cleaning
supplies and personal care products.
Kristin Heist & Heather Reavey
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
Introduction
Walk the aisles of your local supermarket and consider all the shelves
devoted to liquid productsnot just beverages, but the number of food,
cleaning, and personal care items that have a liquid component. Now think
about how much that liquid weighs, where it came from, and how much
energy it took to get it to your store.
We like to vilify the bottled water industry as an example of waste
because it takes millions of gallons of oil to produce and ship those
bottles
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. Yet according to Beverage Marketing Corp., we purchase nearly
the same amount of water8 billion gallons each year
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as an ingredient
in our cleaning supplies and personal care products.
Water is the main ingredient in most household and grocery staples. All-
purpose cleaners are 95 percent water
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; shampoos are 70 percent to 80
percent water
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; creams and lotions are 50 percent water
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; and juices and
sodas are 90 percent to 99 percent water
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.
All that water has a cost.
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
In cleaning products alone, reducing the amount of water by just 25
percent would save companies $200 million in transportation costs
annually and, by reducing fuel consumption, keep 1.4 billion pounds
of CO
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out of the atmosphere. According to our estimates, that
would save the same amount of emissions as replacing every new
Hummer purchased in the U.S. since 2006 with a Prius.
Unfortunately, consumer perceptions have kept concentrates from becoming as popular
as their ready-made counterparts. Concentrates gained a reputation for being messy,
labor-intensive, low-budget, and simply old-fashioned. As a result, there was no thought
or investment put into improving them.
Arm & Hammer tried concentrates in 2008 with their Essentials line, but the product was
quietly phased out after only a year on the market. Arm & Hammer asked consumers to
pay for an ordinary spray bottle and deal with a messy rell system. In a category where
brands compete on convenience and value, that was a mistake.
Cutting emissions.
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
Going waterless.
Today, concentrates are poised for a renaissance. Engineers,
scientists, and designers are refashioning concentrates for the 21st
century, focusing on new benets that going waterless can provide
consumers. What does a winning experience look like to the modern
day consumer? Its not as simple as pushing the same old frozen OJ.
Replenish Bottling in West Hollywood, Calif., has succeeded by incorporating the rell
system into the bottle design. In doing this, the company eliminated the empty bottle
and made relling look easyeven fun. Suaves new dry shampoo is an unconventional
example. It is not a concentrate in the traditional sense, but it addresses the water
problem in a new way.
Beyond minimizing the amount of water in the actual product, dry shampoo cuts the
amount of water used during the hair washing process. It makes it possible to do touch-
up washes without getting in the shower. This can be a water, energy, and time saver for
people who frequently wash and style their hair.
Initially it will cost businesses more to formulate new products. Powdered, gel, and tablet
forms require a balance of dierent ingredients to dissolve instantly, hold together, or
keep from clumping. Concentrates can also require more energy to produce. Juice, which
naturally has high water content, is the perfect example of this. It requires extra energy
to remove the water and turn it into a concentrated form.
See ve consumer trends that suggest concentrates have
the potential to capture consumers attention once again.
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Personalization
Gen Y has grown up with the ability to express their
individuality through nearly everything they touch, from
Facebook posts to the car they drive. Companies have
capitalized on this desire to personalize, creating online
platforms such as Nike ID, which allows shoppers to design
their own sneakers by choosing colors, graphics, and even
signatures. Toyota Scion has taken a similar approach with
the build your Scion section of its website.
What if this ability to personalize could extend into the
hometo such things as shampoo, soda, and fragrances?
Ordinary household items designed to facilitate individual
expression would provide Gen Y consumers with value
above and beyond the competing one-size-ts-all option.
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
Minimalism
After the recent nancial crisis, the American dream no
longer includes a McMansion. In the downsized dream
home of the future, space will be at a premium. Imagine if
an entire cleaning arsenal could t on one shelf or if the
stacks of sodas in our garage were something that could
be mixed up on demand, like Kool-Aid?
In the laundry category, this shift has already happened.
Experiential products such as zzy drinks may not take the
same path. But the technology is availablejust look at
SodaStream, a countertop appliance that carbonates water
from your tap. Using one carbonated canister and a variety
of flavorings, SodaStream makes it possible to store the
equivalent of seven cases of soda in one 10th the space.
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
Portability
People are living increasingly on-the-go lifestyles. This
means they need to carry around more daily necessities.
But that doesnt mean they need to carry water. Water is
everywhereit doesnt make sense to carry it around.
Starbucks VIA instant coee and Listerine Pocket Packs
take advantage of liquid sources away from home (yes,
your mouth is a source of water). With VIA, the challenge
was to get consumers to believe that quality coee could
come in powdered form. But rst-year sales (2009) hit
$180 million, indicating Starbucks met this challenge and
proved that premium products can exist as concentrates.
Imagine how many other formerly liquid products could
be stashed unobtrusively in your pocket or bag, available
whenever you need them if you just add water.
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
Freshness
It may seem counter-intuitive to argue that concentrates can
be fresh. And compared with freshly squeezed orange juice or
milk from a local dairy, they are not. But compared with ready-
made products, concentrates seem fresher.
Think about instant oatmealno matter how long it sits in
your cupboard, it still feels fresh every time it is prepared. Dry
packets of mix-your-own salad dressing not only feel fresh
when you whip them up in your kitchen; they also dont contain
the preservatives that shelf-stable salad dressings often do.
Beauty products that come in jars with expiration dates start
to feel old after a while, but a powdered mud mask that gets
mixed with water before being applied feels fresh every time.
While concentrates will never replace made-from-scratch
versionsespecially when it comes to foodthey can deliver
convenient, authentic-feeling, freshly made experiences.
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
Pride
Most concentrates require some act of assembly.
Traditionally this has been considered a negative, because
it requires time and elbow grease. Yet there are countless
examples of consumers choosing to do more work because
they know it will make the result special.
We need only look at the resurgence of such activities as
home brewing, canning, and cheese making to see that the
Ikea eect
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that people become more attached to things
they construct themselvesis felt in categories far outside
furniture. Concentrates designed to provide thoughtful
preparation experiences can deliver this feeling of pride.
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
The biggest challenge for companies shifting to concentrated
forms of their product will be ceding control of key components.
Concentrates require some form of self-assembly. This means
companies must take their formulation, packaging, and even
brandingthe foundational pillars of most consumer products
and hand control of them to the user. Done wrong, this could mean
losing what makes your product special.
This happened to Krafts Tang brand in South America, where Tang is considered premium
and the same quality as fresh juice. Recently Kraft noticed that local customers were
substituting a lower-cost juice mix and serving it as Tang. The two looked and tasted
the same. With nothing to distinguish it from its cheaper competitors, Tang was no longer
worth the higher price.
To solve the problem, Kraft developed a unique concoction that looked and smelled
more like fresh juice. The R&D team added foam and fruit pulp that made Tang look just
like a pitcher of freshly blended juice. They also reformulated the taste, making it more
authentic to the regional fruit flavors. The new Tang has been a huge hit in Brazil.
Companies must focus on what their consumers truly value and design a product that
delivers that benet. They must go beyond the old-fashioned powders and messy
concoctions of yesterday and imagine new, engaging experiences that beat ready-made.
Looking ahead, the concentrates of the future promise a triple winfor business, for the
environment, and for consumers.
The Tang experience.
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Citations
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http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/bottled/bottled-water-bad-for-people-and-the-
environment/
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Beverage World State of the Industry Report 2011Beverage Marketing Corporation
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http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/11/replenish-sells-you-empty-cleaning-spray-bottle-just-add-
water/
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Shampoo. How Products are Made. Ed. Stacey L. Blachford. Gale Cengage, 2002. eNotes.com. 2006. 5
May, 2011
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Michel McDonald, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine (Dermatology), Vanderbilt University Medical
Center; February 20, 2009.
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http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2010/05/11/logigfail-sodapop-is-90-water-the-most-important-
nutrient/
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Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com
Continuum is a global design and
innovation consultancy.
We partner with clients to discover powerful ideas and realize them as products,
services and brand experiences that improve lives and grow businesses.
continuuminnovation.com

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