Just Add Water

1Just Add Water continuuminnovation.com

May 2014 continuuminnovation.com

“235/365 - 5/31/2011” by Gabriela Pinto is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Just Add WaterConcentrates are poised for a renaissance

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We like to vilify the bottled water industry as an example of waste. Yet we

purchase nearly the same amount of water as an ingredient in our cleaning supplies and personal care products.

Kristin Heist & Heather Reavey



IntroductionWalk the aisles of your local supermarket and consider all the shelves devoted to liquid products—not just beverages, but the number of food, cleaning, and personal care items that have a liquid component. Now think about how much that liquid weighs, where it came from, and how much energy it took to get it to your store.

We like to vilify the bottled water industry as an example of waste because it takes millions of gallons of oil to produce and ship those bottles1. Yet according to Beverage Marketing Corp., we purchase nearly the same amount of water—8 billion gallons each year2—as an ingredient in our cleaning supplies and personal care products.

Water is the main ingredient in most household and grocery staples. All-purpose cleaners are 95 percent water3; shampoos are 70 percent to 80 percent water4; creams and lotions are 50 percent water5; and juices and sodas are 90 percent to 99 percent water6.

All that water has a cost.



In cleaning products alone, reducing the amount of water by just 25 percent would save companies $200 million in transportation costs annually and, by reducing fuel consumption, keep 1.4 billion pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere. According to our estimates, that would save the same amount of emissions as replacing every new Hummer purchased in the U.S. since 2006 with a Prius.

Unfortunately, consumer perceptions have kept concentrates from becoming as popular as their ready-made counterparts. Concentrates gained a reputation for being messy, labor-intensive, low-budget, and simply old-fashioned. As a result, there was no thought or investment put into improving them.

Arm & Hammer tried concentrates in 2008 with their Essentials line, but the product was quietly phased out after only a year on the market. Arm & Hammer asked consumers to pay for an ordinary spray bottle and deal with a messy refill system. In a category where brands compete on convenience and value, that was a mistake.

Cutting emissions.



Going waterless.Today, concentrates are poised for a renaissance. Engineers, scientists, and designers are refashioning concentrates for the 21st century, focusing on new benefits that going waterless can provide consumers. What does a winning experience look like to the modern day consumer? It’s not as simple as pushing the same old frozen OJ.

Replenish Bottling in West Hollywood, Calif., has succeeded by incorporating the refill system into the bottle design. In doing this, the company eliminated the empty bottle and made refilling look easy—even fun. Suave’s new dry shampoo is an unconventional example. It is not a concentrate in the traditional sense, but it addresses the water problem in a new way.

Beyond minimizing the amount of water in the actual product, dry shampoo cuts the amount of water used during the hair washing process. It makes it possible to do touch-up washes without getting in the shower. This can be a water, energy, and time saver for people who frequently wash and style their hair.

Initially it will cost businesses more to formulate new products. Powdered, gel, and tablet forms require a balance of different ingredients to dissolve instantly, hold together, or keep from clumping. Concentrates can also require more energy to produce. Juice, which naturally has high water content, is the perfect example of this. It requires extra energy to remove the water and turn it into a concentrated form.

See five consumer trends that suggest concentrates have the potential to capture consumers’ attention once again.



PersonalizationGen Y has grown up with the ability to express their individuality through nearly everything they touch, from Facebook posts to the car they drive. Companies have capitalized on this desire to personalize, creating online platforms such as Nike ID, which allows shoppers to design their own sneakers by choosing colors, graphics, and even signatures. Toyota Scion has taken a similar approach with the “build your Scion” section of its website.

What if this ability to personalize could extend into the home—to such things as shampoo, soda, and fragrances? Ordinary household items designed to facilitate individual expression would provide Gen Y consumers with value above and beyond the competing one-size-fits-all option.



MinimalismAfter the recent financial crisis, the American dream no longer includes a McMansion. In the downsized dream home of the future, space will be at a premium. Imagine if an entire cleaning arsenal could fit on one shelf or if the stacks of sodas in our garage were something that could be mixed up on demand, like Kool-Aid?

In the laundry category, this shift has already happened. Experiential products such as fizzy drinks may not take the same path. But the technology is available—just look at SodaStream, a countertop appliance that carbonates water from your tap. Using one carbonated canister and a variety of flavorings, SodaStream makes it possible to store the equivalent of seven cases of soda in one 10th the space.



PortabilityPeople are living increasingly on-the-go lifestyles. This means they need to carry around more daily necessities. But that doesn’t mean they need to carry water. Water is everywhere—it doesn’t make sense to carry it around.

Starbucks VIA instant coffee and Listerine Pocket Packs take advantage of liquid sources away from home (yes, your mouth is a source of water). With VIA, the challenge was to get consumers to believe that quality coffee could come in powdered form. But first-year sales (2009) hit $180 million, indicating Starbucks met this challenge and proved that premium products can exist as concentrates. Imagine how many other formerly liquid products could be stashed unobtrusively in your pocket or bag, available whenever you need them if you just add water.



FreshnessIt may seem counter-intuitive to argue that concentrates can be fresh. And compared with freshly squeezed orange juice or milk from a local dairy, they are not. But compared with ready-made products, concentrates seem fresher.

Think about instant oatmeal—no matter how long it sits in your cupboard, it still feels fresh every time it is prepared. Dry packets of mix-your-own salad dressing not only feel fresh when you whip them up in your kitchen; they also don’t contain the preservatives that shelf-stable salad dressings often do.

Beauty products that come in jars with expiration dates start to feel old after a while, but a powdered mud mask that gets mixed with water before being applied feels fresh every time. While concentrates will never replace made-from-scratch versions—especially when it comes to food—they can deliver convenient, authentic-feeling, freshly made experiences.



PrideMost concentrates require some act of assembly. Traditionally this has been considered a negative, because it requires time and elbow grease. Yet there are countless examples of consumers choosing to do more work because they know it will make the result special.

We need only look at the resurgence of such activities as home brewing, canning, and cheese making to see that the Ikea effect10—that people become more attached to things they construct themselves—is felt in categories far outside furniture. Concentrates designed to provide thoughtful preparation experiences can deliver this feeling of pride.



The biggest challenge for companies shifting to concentrated forms of their product will be ceding control of key components. Concentrates require some form of self-assembly. This means companies must take their formulation, packaging, and even branding—the foundational pillars of most consumer products—and hand control of them to the user. Done wrong, this could mean losing what makes your product special.

This happened to Kraft’s Tang brand in South America, where Tang is considered premium and the same quality as fresh juice. Recently Kraft noticed that local customers were substituting a lower-cost juice mix and serving it as “Tang.” The two looked and tasted the same. With nothing to distinguish it from its cheaper competitors, Tang was no longer worth the higher price.

To solve the problem, Kraft developed a unique concoction that looked and smelled more like fresh juice. The R&D team added foam and fruit pulp that made Tang look just like a pitcher of freshly blended juice. They also reformulated the taste, making it more authentic to the regional fruit flavors. The new Tang has been a huge hit in Brazil.

Companies must focus on what their consumers truly value and design a product that delivers that benefit. They must go beyond the old-fashioned powders and messy concoctions of yesterday and imagine new, engaging experiences that beat ready-made. Looking ahead, the concentrates of the future promise a triple win—for business, for the environment, and for consumers.

The Tang experience.



Citations1 http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/bottled/bottled-water-bad-for-people-and-the-environment/

2 Beverage World State of the Industry Report 2011–Beverage Marketing Corporation

3 http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/11/replenish-sells-you-empty-cleaning-spray-bottle-just-add-water/

4 “Shampoo.” How Products are Made. Ed. Stacey L. Blachford. Gale Cengage, 2002. eNotes.com. 2006. 5 May, 2011

5 Michel McDonald, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine (Dermatology), Vanderbilt University Medical Center; February 20, 2009.

6 http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2010/05/11/logigfail-sodapop-is-90-water-the-most-important-nutrient/



Continuum is a global design and innovation consultancy.We partner with clients to discover powerful ideas and realize them as products, services and brand experiences that improve lives and grow businesses.

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