Brands & social media: time to sell experiences, not "stuff" – feat. VOSS Water, the coolest water in the world.

This is Voss, Hordaland, Norway. 

The place is pretty pristine, the air fresh and the water pure; Scandinavians do it better, we know that, and a couple of friends decided, a few years ago, to sell the aforementioned pure water, in über-cool design bottles, with a different concept: sell the experience, not the liquid.Although when I was living in Norway many people would say the guys bottled tap water and sold it as the ultimate miracle, the brand is undoubtedly doing a great job, on every social media platform (except for Instagram, quite surprisingly).

Here’s a few things brands could learn from VOSS water:

• To live a healthy life is very a la page, today. Go for it.
• Lifestyle is a key concept. Promote it. Talk about food, travel, book, design, inspiring stuff in general.
• Inform and entertain, offering quality content, with a smart attitude (anything can be used to your benefit, if you know how to do it).
• Even if you stop talking about yourself for five minutes, people will survive, and will not forget you.
• Quality is better than quantity.
• Have values. if you don’t have them, try at least to pretend you have a human face. Even the wildest imperialist brand can look humane if they invest one dolla every gazillion they make in social, nonprofitable projects.
• Even the simplest and most basic thing ever – water – can be sold as an experience, not just as something you drink the day after a heavy drinking session.

VOSS’s philosophy is quite simple, yet very contemporary and extremely cool: to promote a healthy and elegant lifestyle, made of travels, places, Zen details, escapism, design, food, social consciousness and beauty in general.

Their values are quite admirable: ‘VOSS is proud of its ongoing commitment to the Voss Foundation, with the mission of providing access to pure, clean drinking water to communities is Sub-Saharan Africa.

VOSS is committed to the environment, and maintaining 100% carbon neutrality, through a set of comprehensive environmentally friendly measures.’

The website is very stylish and rich in information; but for the truly engaging stuff, you’ll have to check their Twitter and Facebook pages. The latter especially is quite impressive: 144k fans – remember, these guys sell water – and a couple of very smart moves:

• They tend to involve and talk about lots of other pages, brands, and websites, embracing the motto “cooperation rather than competition”.
• Lots of visual content – especially user-generated – make the page very appealing.

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the main course: Pinterest and Tumblr.

The former is pictured below, the latter deserves a special mention for the content: mainly beautiful places, but also food, images, design and other intriguing stuff.

The concept behind the blog is well planned: ‘VOSS World is both a real and virtual place comprised of VOSS enthusiasts. This global society shares similar values that transcend both border and cultures.

Chefs, celebrities, foodies, thought leaders, consumers, distributors, and brands that have a relevant connection to VOSS are all a part of VOSS World. VOSS World is inspired by the incredible places around the globe where VOSS is enjoyed and celebrated. It is the confluence of VOSS’ wonderful associations that give VOSS World its unique and universal appeal.’

Different boards for an uplifting experience: Weddings, People, Fashion, Found, Design, Moments, Responsibility, Graphics – among others.

Once again: remember, they sell water!

Wow.

Finally, the website explains: ‘The success of VOSS comes from a clear vision of quality and design, and this vision has become a global reality.’

Celebrities spotted with the classy bottle helped the brand achieve a cult status, as well.

Demi Lovato. 

Even Lindsay Lohan drinks water – one glass every seven bourbons on the rocks. 

Jessica Alba. 

Richie Sambora – Rockstars have swapped pure Arctic water for psychotropic substances. Sex, VOSS & Rock ‘n’ Roll. 

As usual, when something is impossibly cool, the haterz gona hate, and the brand becomes the laughing stock of the meme-aficionados.

Hipster Jesus. 

“First World Problems 

The inevitable tattooed, smoking hipster with the vintage watch. 

What do you think?

London Web Agency Appnova – keep following us on Twitter @appnova and “like” us on Facebook for useful news and tasteful digressions about geeky stuff.