TAPPED Birch Water

Market

Target market

TAPPED is targeted at people who are interested in health & food. Broadly our target consumer is 25-45 years old, predominantly female (but not solely), who can invest in their health through their food and lifestyle choices.

Typically this is young, urban, professionals who are busy working full time, that might have a family and are looking for interesting & intriguing healthy refreshments. They are conscious of their consumption of sugars and sweeteners (and are likely to be trying to limit consumption of one or both).

They care about what they eat and drink and want products which enable them to stay healthy yet taste good at the same time.

Such consumers also tend to enjoy organic foods so we make sure we use organic birch water.

In the longer term, we expect the awareness and appeal of birch water to increase so the customer base should widen. We’ve seen this trend happen before with smoothies and more recently coconut water.

Characteristics of target market

The UK soft drinks market is estimated to be worth approx. £14bn (2016), with 200 soft drinks bought every second. It is currently undergoing an important change. Consumers are moving away from sweet drinks due to health concerns around sugar (and artificial sweeteners) and developing an increasing preference for drinks which are more natural and less sweet.

No 1 brand Coca-Cola's sales declined last year. Meanwhile bottled water is in steady growth and looks set to replicate the trend we’ve seen in the US where volume sales of bottled water have overtaken those of carbonated soft drinks. We believe this means that retailers’ need for premium soft drinks which drive soft drinks category growth is especially pronounced.

The alternative waters/tree & plant waters is worth $2.7bn billion, and forecast to double in size to reach $5.4 billion by 2020. Coconut water represented 86% of this in 2016, with other tree & plant waters including birch water accounting for the remaining 14% of the market. The tree and plant waters market has been forecast to grow to be worth $2bn by 2025.

Consumers also appear to be seeking drinks which have some added functionality, ideally naturally derived. We’ve seen coconut water capitalise on this with drinks which are natural, low in sugar and provide health benefits.

Birch water similarly meets these needs, being natural, low in sugar, not sweet, refreshing, and having health benefits through naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.

Marketing strategy

IN-STORE: Since day 1 when we launched in WholeFoodsMarket High St Kensington, turning a pillar into a birch tree, we’ve focused on in-store impact. We're building birch trees, bringing the nature of the birch forest to stores just as innocent smoothies used astroturf to bring nature to store, and Vita-Coco used deckchairs and T shirts to bring the Brazilian beach to store. We support this with regular in-store sampling activity, promotions to encourage trial purchase and point of sale materials. As we expand our business we intend to do more of this including retailer specific marketing campaigns.

SAMPLINGS: We believe people need to try birch water and we have undertaken over 300 in-store samplings. We also support events with drinks and sample at selected consumer shows (such as OM Yoga Show and Scandinavian Mid-Summer markets). This May we attended the Balance Festival which is one of the UK's largest celebrations of the thriving fitness scene and wellness movement.

YOGA BY TAPPED/TAPPED TRAINING
We also run our own events, working with up & coming yoga teachers and personal trainers, plus retailers in the healthy food, fitness and clothing sectors (e.g. Sweaty Betty and lululemon).

SOCIAL MEDIA: We tell people what we’re up to, sharing information about the tree tapping process and traditions, including using short video clips from the birch forest. Birch water is intriguingly different, so we need to make sure TAPPED is interesting and can delight and engage its followers.

PRESS & PR: We’ve generated some great press so far and plan to generate further coverage, especially when we launch new products. We also aim to use written press pieces to raise awareness of birch water, how we get it and its benefits.

Competition strategy

The soft drinks market is highly competitive with lots of choice for the consumer and new sub-categories emerging.

In the tree water space there are over 10 brands in the UK market which, in our opinion, is exactly what a new category needs at the beginning; lots of brands competing, making noise, bringing new consumers into the category. We believe the 4 main brands to be: TAPPED, Treevitalise (birch), Sibberi (birch, maple), and DrinkMaple (maple).

Within the birch space we believe we have the best tasting products and have created the most distinct proposition, with a brand identity and packaging that helps explain what the drinks are and their Nordic roots. Although we have created a brand which could one day sell tree waters from different trees, we believe that right now we should focus on one tree – birch – and to do it well; to educate the consumer about the birch tree and its specific benefits. It’s too early to branch out* into other tree sources as it will only confuse the consumer with inconsistent messaging and imagery.

* pun intended

Our range of 3 products widens appeal. Our Pure Organic appeals to consumers who want the pure experience of organic birch water straight from the tree. Our 2 flavoured products extend the appeal to those who want a solid dose of flavour from a clean refreshing and hydrating drink, but who don’t want the sugar or calories or that cloying sensation on the teeth. We believe this makes our flavoured products somewhat unique in the UK market: we’ve struggled to find any other fully flavoured products which are made with natural ingredients and not with sugar and/or artificial sweeteners. We think there’s a real opportunity to develop this market further with more flavours, especially for the lunch/with food market, as well as general on the go consumption.