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This week we’re talking about how water has become cool and trendy with CPG brands, Nike’s newest marketing campaign for the Zegama 2 using regionality as a tactic, and how Caitlyn Clark is close to cashing in with a Nike signature shoe deal 🤝.

Basic essentials turned luxury

I bought this water from Lifetime Fitness last week:

Aluminum shell, screw off top, simple bottle. Meant to be thrown away.

But I kept it… I liked the aesthetic of it.

Will I ever re-use this? No.

But it got me thinking about how much the water category has changed over the years.

Historically, it was pretty boring.

You had your disposable clear plastic bottles and your personal water bottles for sports, temperature control, and/or reducing waste.

That has completely changed.

I did a quick deep dive on water (including sparkling) in 2024 and here are a few brands that I wanted to highlight:

1. Liquid Death - most of us know about them. They have the best marketing in team in the game.
2. Boxed Water - value prop is on being environmentally friendly. But as far as the “cool” water space, I think they were too early and once aesthetics and water became cool, they were the old dog in the room.
3. Not Beer - Looks like they are pulling inspiration from Liquid Death with the style of their can and focus on entertaining marketing. Gives off vibes of the Budweiser of water.
4. Yacht Water - Going for a “luxury” look. Marketing to make you feel like you are on vacation, on a boat, and giving you a feel of escape while sipping on a basic essential.
5. Mountain Valley - Regarded as one of the best waters out there. And with the world becoming more aware of microplastics in their water, we are seeing more brands do glass bottle packaging like Mountain Valley.
6. Cadence - Modern minimalism at its finest. For those looking to drink from a can that sticks with their monochrome and minimalist wardrobe, Cadence is for you.
7. OEM - An online drug store that is now selling grapefuit water in a can. Not sure I understand this move, but hey, if everyone else is making a flavored water can, why not OEM.

This list barely even scrapes the surface of the amount of new entrants in the water space…

Brands of new are popping up left and right.

And brands of old in adjacent categories are launching their own waters.

Some of my takeaways from all of this:

1. The trend here of making your product aesthetically pleasing, feel luxurious, or have branding for a specific niche, is much bigger than just the water space. You are seeing it with supplements, kitchen items, fitness equipment, and more. People don’t just want their clothing in public to look a certain way anymore. They want their entire life to be a mood board that expresses themselves.
2. You can win in endless ways. Both in terms of the market you choose and the lane you choose within the market. Water is the most basic essential on earth, and new winners are still popping up. Then with marketing, you can position yourself for any niche in the space, I can promise you they are not all taken. Saturation is overrated. If you have a good strategy and operational ability, you can win.
3. Market timing matters. There are several factors to this like enabling technologies and economic impetus. But the one in play here, is cultural acceptance. 10 years ago people did not care as much about everything in their life being aesthetically pleasing like they do now. Sometimes the reason you win or lose is based on when you start your company.

Nike marketing with regionality

I recently got a pair of the Nike Zegama 2’s. Nike’s newest version of the Zegama trail running shoe.

This shoe went through 2 years of testing and looks absolutely beautiful.

But that’s not what I geeked out on.

The packaging paper inside is what got me excited.

It features a hand drawn trail route that is in Spain and France, and was drawn by a local artist.

Nike plans on releasing several variations of this shoe, each that is focused on a different region of the world.

And with each variation, the packaging paper will have a hand drawn trail from that area and again, drawn by a local artist.

This is a masterclass on the tactic of “Regionality”.

The strategy of marketing to a specific location.

Tapping into their emotions by making it feel personal to them, making them want to buy.

Strategy I pose to you:

Regionality is such an underutilized strategy among brands, especially newer brands.

The best way to get your first customers is by getting hyper specific on who you are selling to.

So one way to do this is picking on a region and playing into their interests and beliefs.

Or you can even playfully make fun of the region.

Many groups have stereotypes about them, which they often know are true…

So poke fun at them. This can spark virality and sharing of your brand.

Caitlyn Clark cashing in

There was a lot of buzz on Caitlyn Clark’s rookie salary.

Which is a 4 year deal worth $338,056.

This topic is a whole other discussion, and not the point of this section.

The buzz I want to talk about is the rumored Nike deal offered to her worth over $20 Million and includes a signature shoe.

While she’s a great basketball player, that is not why the value of this potential endorsement is so high.

It is Caitlyn’s ability to garner attention.

Before Caitlyn, the 2022 Women’s College Basketball final had 4.8 Million viewers.

The 2024 final, with Caitlyn in it, had 18.8 Million viewers.

Nearly a 300% increase.

On top of that, Prada, fitted her at the WNBA Draft.

Which is the first time they have ever done this for either a WNBA or NBA player.

She’s also got 2.1 million followers on Instagram for the cherry on top.

A couple takeaways from this:

1. This is common knowledge, but let me say it for those that need a reminder. Attention is currency. Those that have the ability to create an audience through entertainment, teaching, comedy, or anything else - have the ability to do A LOT. Brings you more deals, leverage for more money, lowers customer acquisition cost, built in distribution, surplus of customer feedback… The list goes on and on. Where attention goes, money flows.
2. Athletes are still catching up to today’s digital world. Since we saw NIL go into effect in 2021, a majority of the money is flowing from brand deals and schools just directly paying players through their NIL collective. Very few athletes are focused on creating an online audience that they can leverage outside of the game with their own products and businesses. Brand deals are short term and aren’t building something of long term value. The game doesn’t last forever, you’ve got to do something to set yourself up for the future.