The team at Sensations had a very clear goal: Give birth to a new brand, au natural. In fact, they wanted to do everything, au natural. So naturally, they came to us for assistance. Au natural doesn’t always mean pain.

Sensations believed in utilising new world science with old world craftsmanship. So when they decided to build a brand that romanticised this notion, we helped them develop a comprehensive brand vision. We then helped them in rallying their customers and consumers around this vision. We mined insights from these two groups; Their wants; Their needs; Their moments of truth. Once we understood what gap we were filling, we knew how to fill it, and with what.

Sensations became an instant hit, winning over big customers like Harvey Nichols and small consumers like Yasmine. Naturally.

What happens when you tell a mother what to feed her baby?

We knew the answer to that one. It takes a brave soul to take this project one.

Research told us that mothers stopped feeding their babies ready-to-eat preparations at twelve months and switched them over to home-made. We had our hands full.

We tapped into women’s groups, talked to grandmothers, experienced moms, not-so-experienced moms, we even talked to dads. The results of our talk-a-thons gave us valuable insights into the emotional and rational needs of these outstanding caregivers.

The insights we gathered helped us to develop a range of products that directly addressed their requirements. Then we spoke to them in language that they could relate to.

Sales continued to climb, exponentially. Customers were customers for much longer. And babies continued to grow up as Gerber babies. After all, the feeding system we communicated to them wasn’t our invention. All we did was listen and create what they asked us to and in the process, shared in the joys of nurturing.

It’s just water. Isn’t it?

Combine this consumer statement with the daunting task of competing against 200 known (and another bunch of unknown) brands, and many strategists would raise their hands in the air and call it a day.

We raised our hands like eager students at the front of the class. This was a challenge we wanted to be associated with.

Our research wasn’t confined to mere numbers off a retail audit page. We delved into the marketplace, conversing with retailers, buyers, consumers, customers, young, young-at-heart. We factored in social and regulatory, economic and political in identifying a key niche that a new brand, MAi™, can enter, own, exploit and grow.

By focusing on the very essence of what consumers and customers alike want, we were able to identify opportunities that would allow a new brand to quench the thirst of the growing youth.

The result was positive that we began adding our input for the global brand strategy, liaising with international operations to ensure that segmentation strategies were sound.

Science has proven us right. Consumer research has put Mai Icelandic Glacial Water on top when compared against the competition. That’s something to drink to.