- “The first cases shipped in 1995, but lean years followed as the company unsuccessfully tried to market Bionade solely on its health claims. The turning point came in 1999, when marketing expert Wolfgang Blum arrived. He gave Bionade a radical makeover — a slick retro blue, white and red logo, and a new strategy, branding it as a hip lifestyle drink that happened to be healthy. With no budget for television or print advertising, the company needed to get everyone else — especially the media — to spread the word, Blum says. So Bionade sponsored hundreds of sporting, cultural and kids’ events across Germany. Between word-of-mouth and a flurry of German news reports, sales picked up.”
- “Winning influential fans has also been crucial to Bionade’s success. Sarah Wiener, one of Berlin’s top chefs, serves the drink in all three of her pan-European restaurants. “It’s a great idea. The timing was right,” she says. In 2002-03, Bionade sold 2 million bottles. By 2006, it was available in Switzerland, Austria and the Benelux countries, and sold 70 million. Leipold, now 69, is relieved the company’s faith in its product is paying off. “We were just too early,” he says.”
Treuman, J. (2007) A Brand-New Brew [Online]. Time Magazine
available from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1575303,00.html
[Accessed 13.09.2007]
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- “Wolfgang Blum hit upon a product which was something of a “sleeping giant” when he began advising Bionade in 1999 –and he turned it into a cult brand. Today, Bionade is the third-biggest brand for sparkling fruit drinks in the German food retailing sector.The product is exported to 18 countries, including Australia. For 2008,the company plans to break into the US and Japanese markets.
On joining Bionade, Blum recognised that the brand’s potential was far from being fully exploited, and he completely repositioned the brand, moving it away from being a “sensible mineralised drink” and consistently towards being the modern soft drink for the LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) generation. In doing so, he created a completely new market segment: one where Bionade is the clear market leader.
Blum has also demonstrated that even with a modest marketing budget, it is possible to build up an internationally successful brand – without advertising, but simply by using intelligent viral marketing. Through targeted events sponsorship in the culture, youth and sports segments and a massive presence in the right prestige venues, Blum generated enormous demand.
Ultimately the retail and gastronomy sectors could no longer afford to ignore Bionade. Strong distribution partners like Deutsche Bahn,McDonalds and Starbucks came on board. Sales rocketed from one million bottles in 2001 to 70 million in 2006. By the end of 2007, sales of over 200 million are expected. This rigorous brand positioning, hand in hand with intelligent, innovative brand communications, impressed and convinced the jury.”
Mathony, S. (2007) Executives at Bionade and ING-DiBa Receive ”Chief Marketing Officer of the Year” Recognition: Booz Allen Hamilton presents awards to promote excellence in marketing International jury honors two German managers as the best European heads of marketing Awards underline the importance of strategically-oriented marketing and innovative marketing communications [Online] Booz Allen Hamilton.
Available from http://www.prweb.com/releases/marketing/booz_allen/prweb568080.htm [Accessed 15.11.2007]
