Hydro Flask Marketing Campaign
Inspired from the tropical beaches of Hawaii in 2008, Hydro flask revolutionizes the water canteen industry. Designed with a double wall vacuum insulation, the Flask is durable, light, contains no toxic coating or lining, has no flavor or odors, and is BPA free. There are several choices in colors, lids, caps, and sizes, which vary from 12 oz. to 64 oz. Another benefit of the Hydro Flask is company is they offer a free lifetime warranty and a 5% back program. This program gives customers the option to donate 5% of their net purchase to any charity listed on the Hydro Flask website.
We chose this product as a group because of the Hydro Flask’s versatility, dependability, design, material, and the company’s business ethics. There are many outdoor and proactive companies that create similar products but the main focus of Hydro flask is to divert people from using plastic water bottles. Bottles like Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, and Arrowhead, are just a few examples. The common issue with plastic bottles is that they absorb and release toxins called BPAs, because these chemicals can cause harm to humans, animals, and the environment. Hydro Flask’s main goal is to be clean and environmentally friendly. Our product may not currently be well marketed; therefore, to promote and inform our targeted audience, we created a commercial video, a flyer, proposed a game app.
Hydro Flask is a product that can be used by anyone in the general public. It is essentially a flask that can hold hot or cold liquids for long periods of time. Our target audience is young adults between the ages of 18-25. In this stage of a person’s life, he or she is beginning a college career, working either part or full time, volunteering, or participating in different activities throughout a day.
There are three transmedia elements that we used to promote Hydro flask. The first is a commercial video, the second is a flyer with a promotional code, and the last is a game app for smart devices. The similarity between these three items is they are all visuals that can reach a lot of people and provide information to the audience. However, the difference between the three is how each element influences and causes an audience reaction.
The video targets people who want to visually see and hear the product that is being marketed. We use different scenes in the video to show and target the diversity in using Hydro Flask such as people who work, study, or participate in different activities. We have Karl as the jogger, Felix as the dancer, Kristen as the student/worker, and Krystelle as the explorer/blogger. People can relate to these roles and see how the hydro flask can follow you in different aspects of your life.
The flyer basically targets people who prefer physical items with a visual, or witness a live presentation about Hydro Flask. If an audience member does not use the app or watch television to see the commercial, a flyer is the next closest form of promotion a transmedia element can be used. The flyer we made is simple but it explains the product in full detail with a simple message. “BPA free, cold for 24 hours, hot for 12 hours, lifetime warranty”. This message states the product’s purpose that is covered by a lifetime warranty and is perfectly safe for everyday use. There is also a promotional code at the bottom.
The game app is for the newer generation of audiences who use smart phones or devices. The game causes people to become addicted, ingraining the name “Hydro Flask” into their minds as they play. The user can choose from three different characters; a boxer, a jogger and a ballerina. With five levels in the game with different difficulties, the user must complete each level, through each difficulty, and with each character in order to achieve the golden Hydro flask. By completing the levels, the player can become the Hydro King. The boxer represents strength. By collecting the flasks, he or she becomes invulnerable and can power through enemies with ease. The ballerina represents agility. He or she has the ability to jump or speed through dodging enemies with no trouble. And the jogger represents stamina. The jogger has the most health and energy out of the three characters, meaning their ability is able to last all levels without having to recover or rest too much. Once he or she completes the levels and becomes the Hydro King, the user will receive promotional codes for any items to support their Hydro flask usage such as new caps, lids, flasks, or codes to continue promoting.
When applying the concept of mind to our target audience with the three transmedia elements, our audience would use 10% of their consciousness and 90% of their sub-consciousness. Each element would have a different outcome for each person, because there must be a transmedia element that needs to capture and remain depending on the viewer’s memory. When a viewer utilizes 10% of his or her consciousness, then rational and analytical thoughts would occur. He or she would ask questions like “What is this product? Will this product be useful for me? Why do I need this? When will I use this? Or how will I use this?” With the 10% being the logos in a personal analysis of a product, the conscious response and analysis would invoke the subconscious. The 90% of a subconscious applies to the long term memory and emotional feelings that would envelope a person, otherwise known as pathos. If a transmedia captures a viewer, he or she would experience the emotions of desire and the need to purchase the product to satisfy personal gains.
For our first transmedia element, we chose a commercial because we wanted consumers to be emotionally engaged and connected with our property. The production heavily relied on the use of Canon Vixia HF G20 and a Tripod. Regarding the locations for our commercial, we tried to stay around the school working around each other’s class schedules. Total production hours were about fourteen and post-production was about six. There was no audio involved but we included music in the background to add more emphasis on each scene. After considering each aspect from the target audience to the viewers, and story we decided to go with the song called “Sweet Disposition” by the Temper Trap. The song is contemporary yet classic, so it would appeal to people of all ages. In addition, the tune of the song itself carries a story and that helped the gradual buildup the commercial needed. The tagline for our commercial was “Hydrate Your Life.” The video takes the viewer on a journey with four individuals and shows how they hydrate their life using Hydro Flask. This appealing tagline is specific to our property. The themes for the commercial are narrative story, inspiration, and motivation.
The first scene starts off with Karl, as a jogger, running through the Burke Gilman Trail, next to the UW Bothell Campus. After what seems like a long hike, Karl takes a drink from his black Hydro Flask and continues on with his running. Then the scene transitions onto Felix, the dancer, as he goes into his studio with his duffle bag in one hand and his red Hydro Flask in the other. He begins to dance and after a long exhausting session, he takes a break by gulping down water from his Hydro Flask.
Then the scene skips to Kristin, the student/part-time worker at a local café, who is studying hard for the finals in the library, looking into the books and typing up her last essay. It has been a long stressful week and the only way she has been surviving is by drinking that ice-cold water from her Hydro Flask. The scene then takes you to the last character, Krystelle, the explorer/blogger, who loves to explore and take pictures wherever she goes. She is sitting at a local cafe called “Lyons Den,” checking out her map to see where she could go next to get the perfect picture for her blog. Krystelle takes a drink out of her green Hydro Flask, even though she has a cup of coffee available. Then the scene transitions to her sitting on a beautiful hill filled with vibrant grass and big ray of sunshine. Krystelle takes selfies with her Flask, to show everyone how she kept hydrated throughout her exploration. This is the peak of the commercial. As the song continues to grow with more momentum, the scenes fly back to back with each of these characters taking a big drink out of their Flasks, looking as happy as ever. Then as the song ends, the commercial ends with Krystelle setting down her Flask next to her with confidence in her eyes with the quote “Hydro Flask. Hydrate Your Life.”
As mentioned earlier, each of the characters has their own unique bottle. The different flasks have different connotations depending on the color. The jogger and the student both use the black Flask as it symbolizes fast, clean, and modern; the dancer uses the red one as it symbolizes passion, fire, and desire to accomplish; the explorer/blogger uses green as it symbolizes earthy, nature, outgoing, friendly, and adventurous. As you can see, each Flask is a part of that character’s identity, a portion of their personality. Just as the characters in the commercial have a relationship with their Hydro Flask, the consumers can also build a bond with theirs.
In this technological world, there are various ways to advertise a property. However, one of the oldest and most effective forms of advertising is a flyer. Flyers are easy to mass produce and simple to distribute. They can be posted on telephone poles, decorated on the windowpanes of restaurants, and even projected on screens in the infamous Times Square in New York. This form of advertisement is extremely prominent in marketing some of the largest properties in the world, which is the reason we decided to create one for the Hydro Flask.
In order to accomplish this task, we decided to contact Hydro Flask corporate. Thankfully, they were interested in our project and were more than willing to help. From the Hydro Flask Company we received several lifestyle photos and multiple variations of their logo. However, there were two conditions; we needed to tell them what images we used and we could not edit the pictures in any way. In addition, we requested an incentive, which they gave to us as well. Anyone who is was aware of this promotion will be able to receive 10% off their order until December 31st with the promo code: UW10, which we posted on our flyer.
Finding images for our flyer was difficult, as we had to find pictures that went with our color scheme and style. From the photos provided, we decided to use a striking photo that would give the feel of adventure, youth, and nature. This photo captures the outdoor, traveling, and organic feel that Hydro Flask embodies. From this nature-inspired photo, the audience could see how environmentally friendly this product is. The flyer tells a story about the experience one could have with the Hydro Flask. However, we also wanted to display the actual product; hence, the photo in the left hand corner. The silhouette of the hiker drinking from the Hydro Flask, symbolizes that it will accompany you wherever you may travel, whether it is hot or cold, to the top of the mountain or across a lake. We kept the rest of the design clean to give a contemporary feel and appeal to our target audience of 18-24 year olds.
In addition, we decided to include the most important facts about the Hydro Flask and what makes it unique from its competitors; that is: BPA free, the length of time the flask keeps liquids hot and cold, and the lifetime warranty. We believed that these facts would entice buyers and appeal to our health conscious consumers. The lifetime warranty is especially unusual for a water bottle, separating the Hydro Flask from its competition. We also took the liberty of creating our own slogan: Stay Hot. Stay Cool. Stay Hydrated. This slogan exemplifies the driving force of what make the Hydro Flask so unique as well as keeping it young and fresh with the simple wording and composition. The slogan is three succinct statements, keeping it direct and straightforward.
Our flyer was created with our target audience in mind, physically active 18-24 year olds. However, the main reason we decided to make a flyer was because we wanted to be able to educate people about the Hydro Flask. As it is now, Hydro Flask is extremely low key with minimal marketing campaigns. Their main form of advertising is through their website, Instagram, and word-of-mouth. The layout of their website and how they display the audience’s Instagram photos with the Flask is a clever tactic. However, Hydro Flask has not done anything to introduce their property to all of the States. Currently, they are only well known in Hawaii and Oregon. Hydro Flask is still an extremely obscure property. Our strategy was to expand people’s knowledge about this product, by using forms of transmedia that would be available to people in all States. Having a flyer would help spread the word about the Hydro Flask. Once people know about this property, we can capture people outside of their target range of avid outdoor athletes and expand to a more commercial audience. People who are not athletes will still be able to enjoy the properties of the hydro flask.
We decided to design an app “Hydro King” as one of our transmedia elements, in order to help raise awareness about our property the Hydro Flask. We thought that keeping the design simple and clean, would help make the app user friendly and encourages the audience to engage with our property. The way our group designed the app helps pull our audience into interacting with Hydro King. Limiting the controls of the game is the first stepping stone to the user friendly concept. We limited the amount of buttons given to the user on the home screen to allow this concept to work. Once the user gets past the home screen, they have access to the level select screen. The audience then has the option to select the stage they want, select the character they want to play, and see their high scores. Another mechanism we restricted, was how the game worked in action. The game works by tapping the screen to jump, so the user doesn’t have to worry about moving the character since it’s automatically done. By keeping the mechanisms of playing the game limited, it allows the user to just focus on one control. This focus allows the target audience to just focus on jumping and made our game less complicated.
On each screen, similar fonts were used to help keep the style of the app simple. Having a clean font is important because it makes it easier to read. The font is created to be lively and eye catching. Having this font isolated helps the catches the user’s eye, piquing his or her interest. We also used bright colors, to make playing the game livelier and set a positive mood. With dark colors it makes the game less appealing, because it implies a negative atmosphere. The style of the font and colors of the app are minor details that are important for keeping the audience’s attention and creating a fun atmosphere when playing Hydro King. Having interesting graphics will help make the app more addicting.
We designed Hydro King so that it would target a younger and older audience. Hydro King was designed to target ages 18 to 24, but the app can also appeal to an older and younger age group than our initial target. We recommended our users to be at least age 6 to experience the game of Hydro King. In the beginning of the designing process, we originally chose ages 4+ to play the app. However, based on feedback, we changed our group age to 6 because it was more suitable to the younger age group. The generation we live in is dominated by the use of smartphones. We wanted to use this knowledge to expand the audience for the Hydro Flask. Knowing that today’s generation is powered by smartphones helped our decision in choosing our transmedia element.
Implementing real life perks is a concept that would help attract more users to the Hydro King app. These perks include promo codes (discounts/coupons) and the chance to buy a limited edition Golden Hydro Flask. Points are collected as the user plays the app. Over time, when the user collects a certain amount of points, they gain the ability to get coupons/discounts. Another real life perk that players can unlock, is the Golden Flask. This can only be obtained if you complete the last level of the game. This concept helps Hydro Flask expand their brand because the Golden Flask difficult to obtain, meaning more people will download the app just to achieve this special prize. The use of real life perks help Hydro Flask attract more people, because those who play the app will have more advantages than those who do not.
Our group chose three transmedia elements to help expand the audience for the Hydro Flask property, a flyer, app, and a commercial. These marketing campaigns were intended to spread the Hydro Flask name and to inform our audience about their products. These transmedia elements would help Hydro Flask to branch out from their target audience of adult outdoor enthusiasts, and appeal to people from all different ages and backgrounds. The flyer is a traditional way to spread information and can interest a wide range of people. The app is a fun and addicting game that attracts an older and younger age group in addition to our target audience. We entice them by giving players the chance to achieve real life perks such as unlocking the Golden Hydro Flask and promo codes. However, the most important aspect of our campaign is our commercial, because it captures people’s attention by telling a story. The commercial shows the flexible use of the Hydro Flask, and the adventures one could go on with it. Our Hydro Flask campaign successfully captures the original intention of the product, while improving their existing marketing strategies. Through this experience, we learned what branding entails, how to pay attention to specific details of each transmedia, and how to successfully broadcast each campaign.
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