Comments on: What Dasani Bottled Water Taught Me About Better Blogging

By: Holly Rowland

Holly Rowland — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:13:44 +0000

Dasani is an interesting example to use – it has completely different connotations here in the UK. The launch was an unmitigated disaster and a great story of how badly a product launch can go. Once it was discovered that Dasani was just purified tap water the public and media backlash was huge. Dasani became a joke. Coca-Cola lost a fortune and were forced to pull Dasani from sale. Maybe the lesson for bloggers is make sure that your blog really is genuinely packed full of interesting and original thought, not just recycled ideas – or you may find your distribution channels suddenly dry up.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:56:55 +0000

I heard a speech by a former Chief Marketing Officer of Coca Cola that said the exact opposite. He claimed Coca Cola's diversification was killing them. There was tons more money in further expansion of its existing lines and by not focusing their efforts on maximizing the inventory they already had to sell they hurt profits and revenue. http://www.directtextbook.com/reviews/1591840546

By: Ilan Neisse

Ilan Neisse — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:40:20 +0000

Hi Rob,
As you say, product and distribution is the winning combination. I also realize that nowadays distribution and retail has gained a lot of power over the products or the manufacturers. Yet, I believe that the distribution channels were build up by companies that offered a very good brand or product to start with, for example Coca Cola. It seems to me that much weight and effort is put on distribution today but for small start-ups or new bloggers doesn’t the product quality and stickiness play a major role or is distribution enough to create a hype?

By: laurence haughton

laurence haughton — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:52:36 +0000

You hit the nail on the head Rob.
This shatters the myth of “stick to your knitting.” Deciding “what you do” and “where you can expand” (intelligently) is not at all obvious. (Coke isn’t just the #1 maker of brown fizzy sugar water. They’re much more.)

BTW This also shatters the myth of the first mover having the ultimate advantage. Finally this shatters the myth of the MBA as a master of anything beyond academia.

By: Khalid Hajsaleh

Khalid Hajsaleh — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:47:26 +0000

I think you read similar advice on many other blogs. But you have done something unique with it. You brought a real life example and applied to the world of blogging. With so many blogs out there, I get bored reading the same topics again and again. I am always looking for a new take on things. That is one of the main reasons this blog has been in my RSS reader for months now

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:07:32 +0000

Rob,

Very well written post. I was doing a consulting gig with Pepsi when they first came out with Aquafina, and they related the exact same story. Plus, they were already creating some of the purest water in the world to go into their soft drinks. The only thing they needed to change was to add a bit of new packaging!

Mike

By: The It's Hit List

The It's Hit List — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:14:11 +0000

Your site has been tagged by The It’s Hit List for using the contraction “it’s” (short for “it is”) instead of a possessive (“its”):

…just keep building your distribution, then let the occasional viral post or video happen on it’s own.

Please let us know when you’ve fixed this and we’ll be happy to update our hit list!

(Great blog post, by the way!!)