In 2012, MiO was the first concentrated liquid water enhancer of its kind to enter the Canadian market. Before MiO, there was only powdered drink mixes in the market, like Crystal Light, Tang and Kool-Aid. At the time of introduction, MiO represented a number of firsts for the beverage world and revitalized the mature, yet declining category of beverage mixes.
After the very successful launch of MiO in 2012, its new sub-brand MiO Sport was launched in 2013. This time, the launch would be in a quickly changing market, as the liquid beverage mix category was still very much in its infancy and key competitors, like Dasani Drops, Powerade Drops as well as multiple control-label products were quickly moving in.
MiO had one huge challenge – introduce a new product and a new format in a crowded and competitive space to make the young and highly sought-after male millennial target care enough about MiO's advantages to put down their bottles of Pepsi, Vitamin Water and Nestea, and try MiO instead.
The insight came from the idea that MiO changes water, and it changes it with unique colours, shades, patterns, and of course, flavours, all of which the consumer controls.
If there's anything the target craves, it's change. He gets bored when things stay the same for too long; changing things up is the way he keeps his world fresh and interesting.
The media leaned on TV for mass awareness, with digital amplification playing a key role.
The 30-second launch spot, "Changes," used more than 100 visual changes, big and small, to dramatize MiO's role as an agent of change. Inviting consumers to watch again and again to catch every change, the spot took off almost immediately, quickly surpassing one million views on YouTube.
As the campaign continued and MiO's electrolyte-packed sub-brand MiO Sport was introduced, the focus was shifted from a TV-led buy to a digital experience.
Momentum was further built with "Swish," supporting MiO Sport. Annotations were used to create a choose-your-own-adventure-style experience on MiO's branded YouTube channel. Every scene within the "Swish" spot was clickable and took the viewer to seven additional secret content pieces.
Continuing the momentum, "Eye of the Squirter" was released – an irreverent takedown of the over-the-top, juiced-up world of sports-drink marketing and MiO's boldest ad to date. By changing the hero's persona more than a dozen times in 30 seconds, "Eye of the Squirter" remained faithful to MiO's change-themed positioning.
During its first year in-market, the brand already represented a 21% dollar share of the beverage mix category (this includes all the existing powdered mixes and the new liquid concentrates coming in). In its second year in-market, the brand comprised 27% of the category dollar share. (Source: Nielsen)
The category grew 14.2% in MiO's first year; last year, category growth was 8.1%. Notably, since the start of 2013, more than half a dozen competitors have entered the category with carbon-copy offerings. And still, MiO leads the category.
The MiO Sport TV ads broke through; almost nine out of ten consumers who saw the ads could link them back to MiO – well above category norms. The ads resonated even more strongly with the male millennial target, and branded recall for the "Swish" spot was 18% higher than the category norm at a similar level of GRPs. (Source: IPSOS) MiO's brand equity in its first year was rated at 47 points, while last year MiO's brand equity was rated at 85 points.
Each of the three MiO spots have been viewed well over a million times online, with "Eye of the Squirter," hitting a million views in just two and a half weeks. By the end of August 2013, "Swish" had 2.7 million views while "Eye of the Squirter" had 3.4 million views. (Source: YouTube Analytics)