The Start of "Anything" "Whatever" Soft-Drink
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Contents taken from Today Newspaper 9th July 2007 (Summarized Key-Points)
Mr Johnson Tan - The Man behind "Anything" and "Whatever"
Education Level : Didn't complete his Primary School Education
Passed Business Venture (Experience) : Digital-Enhancement Firm - Flop
Additional Information:
Just three days after the advertising campaign was launched last month, vandals destroyed the display and stole the aluminum cans that decorated them, resulting in losses of $50,000.
How he came up with this unique concept
During big gatherings at home, there was always a common reply when he asked his guest what they would like to drink and their reply were expected : "Anything if not Whatever"
The same questions were asked over and over again, thus he came up with this unique concept even though after discussion with his friends, his concept was being laughed at and his friends didn't believe him neither.
What makes you certain that customers will pay for a drink, not knowing what flavor they are getting? What if they don't like the taste?
1st: Arouse the curiosity pushes people to buy and try.
He having seen watched a news bulletin about how a shopping centre in Japan conducts this annual special where they pack a lot of stuff into a bag and customers just pay a specific amount without knowing what is inside.
2nd: Do market research on people's preferences of soft-drinks.
Singaporeans are known to rave about new products, but when the fads die down, many shops hocking those goods struggle to make ends meet. How will you ensure that your beverages do not lose their novelty?
It depends on how you create your brand name.
We will probably work more on developing the brand instead. What we are doing is a concept drink, and this is an idea that no one has though of.
We ill not be complacent and keep it that way, however. We are doing research ans will make some adjustments to the taste to cater to more customers.
Let's talk about the advertising campaign that had to be pulled due to vandals and thieves. Do you see it as a costly venture that went wrong, or was the publicity garnered worth it?
Believe it or not, within a few hours of the campaign launch, most of the cans were either dented or hand their flaps opened, and some displays were even completely gone!
As the situation worsened over the net two days, we gave up and decided to pull the displays.
Even today, I'm still not sure if it's more positive or negative for us but based on the first month sales, we sold 3.5 million cans of drinks surpassing our initial target of 2.4 million.
Were there any concerns of criticism when the idea for such drinks was first bandied about?
There were many people who tried to talk me out of doing it because they thought it would not be easy for me to penetrate the soft drink market, which is dominated by the "big boys".
I had no prior experience in beverages, but once I set my mind on doing something, I never look back. If I believe I can work something out, and that it could be a success, I will go all out.
The most important thing is never say die. -
this drink now like seldom see people drinking le.
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also never try that drink before...
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Learning Lessons from this Article
If you already identify a common problem in everyday life, it's best to come out with a solution and it would be great if you could market (sell) it out to the public. To take on the "Big Players" in the current beverages industry like Mr Johnson Tan said, it's about the branding and to make adjustments to the taste to cater to more customers.
Additional Information: Branding is a complicated term which not only focus the Brand itself, but also on the positioning of an individual product or brand when it is first launched.
To successfully market out your products, you have to know your positioning of your products (when compared to the other products in the market) and how to market it out to the public, in the case of Mr Johnson Tan; he identified a trait which is that people's buying habits - "Curiosity" The road to being a boss of a company is not easy. When you share your ideas with people hoping to get feedbacks, often you will be faced with negative feedbacks and lots of discouragement on their part to advise their close ones not to risk their savings etc into a risky business.
To succeed, it takes GUT Feeling to identify your Niche/Unique Market & Product which others can't copy, and be able to do it alone if there's a need to do so. Every business venture is a valuable experiences and the person has have to got enough capital to keep the overheads, expenses running, generally it's the overheads per month which kills, in the case of this article, Mr Johnson Tan have sufficient funds (1st Pot of Gold) to go ahead with his plans. -
True, but the boss do know this problem, and perhaps that's why I have seem an advertisement some time back that he tagged his soft drink to together with another popular drink.Originally posted by stellazio:this drink now like seldom see people drinking le.
Something like buy 6cans of a certain drink and get 2 cans of "Anything" & "Whatever" for free. -
Originally posted by stellazio:this drink now like seldom see people drinking le. Seldom see people drinking? U'll never know. (p.s: i'm not drinking Anything ad watever anymore
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Anyway, i believe there's still ppl likes to drink Anything and Watever.. Just that the drinks is in Can and not in bottle.
I think sooner or later, the boss that started this drink, will offer buy 6 get 1 free can of Anything or Whatever. (as fallen suggested?)
Hmmm. Don't know whether Anything or Whatever drink have the 6 in 1 type?
Cheers,
tur