It’s the IOD annual Convention 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall this Wednesday 30th April and we’ve taken on the bold step of becoming the official water sponsors for this high profile CarbonNeutral(R) event until 2010. This years’ guest speakers are scheduled as Bob Geldof (KBE), Kevin Spacey, Willie Walsh, Dame Fiona Reynolds, Hamid Akhavan, Kevin Roberts and the Rt Hon David Cameron MP.
This is our first foray into officially sponsoring water for high profile corporate events. We’ve previously operated on a less formal basis, as we did for Eurostar when they held a ‘green day’ celebratory trip to Paris to commemorate the opening of Ebbsfleet station in January.
Coming back to the speakers, it’s a sad indictment of modern society that a press photo of any one of these successful individuals sipping an Aquapax will potentially have greater impact for our business than all our combined product research and quality focus added together. Some of the more flamboyant (big budget) bottled water brands have resorted to celebrity endorsement as their sole marketing strategy, such is the adulation society seems to give to someone in the media spotlight.
It’s as if we’ve dumbed down the thought process we (large numbers of us) make on what represents quality or acceptability, such that if it’s ok for someone whose famous (including ‘b’ list celebs) to drink brand ‘x’ (even if they might be paid for it) then it must be ok for me. Perhaps the dumbing down reference more accurately relates to the association some people combine with their blind adulation, where a syndrome of ‘if I do what they do, then I’ll be like them’ exists?
Either way, it’s going to be really uplifting to see these fine and thoroughly successful people enjoying (perhaps) their first Aquapax (planet and baby friendly pure mineral water in a paper carton) along with c.3000 other delegates. I do hope we can get some photos to use on a future ‘gallery section’ of our website. Who knows, we could get a whole new customer base from people who want to ‘be like Bob’.
Our real reason for the sponsorship was to reach the independent minded senior directors in the audience and hopefully get them thinking why their businesses still use plastic bottles, despite their clearly articulated and well publicised environmental policies.
If you aren’t scheduled to make it along to the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday, we’ve added a link to our website so you can see the 30 second showreel we’re showing at the convention on the big screen.
I wonder if the commitments being requested of business leaders at the ‘May day’ celebrations taking part with HRH Prince of Wales on Thursday 1st May will encourage some of the delegates to ‘join up their thinking’ – now that’s what I interpret as the thing my dad used to call ‘common sense’.
