Common Problem. Simple Solution.
Have you ever had a good idea that you thought everyone could benefit from? Did you actually see it through to reality? Well, for better or worse, we’re doing that with BevBands and sharing our journey.
A Common Problem
For years at holiday times we would gather with family to enjoy good company and food. It was always a full house and it became customary to grab a marker and a piece of tape and write your name on a glass to help reduce dishes. However, during the rest of the year, when it came to everyday glasses around the house we’d always find ourselves asking each other “which glass is mine?”
A Simple Solution
Wine charms typically require a wine stem, which makes them impractical for everyday glasses, and while there are a lot of party oriented drink markers (think bachelor / bachelorette party) – we didn’t really want a small human figure, cat or big smiley face attached to our glass of water.
So we started thinking of a fun and easy solution that we could add a touch of design to. Our goal was to keep it simple, affordable and produce a drink marker that could be with you on-the-go, suitable for everyday use and at a gathering.
- Bright color + pattern = easy to visually identify
- Stretchy material = ability to fit many shapes and sizes
Branding & Pre-production Product Testing
Our product is a small improvement to the way people live – by keeping track of glasses, we can reduce loads of dishes. The material is an everyday object, the rubber band. We knew that branding was going to be crucial – we wanted to:
- Make great looking bands that people will want to use to solve a common problem
- Embrace the fact that these are rubber bands
The name, BevBands, came to us quickly and was available as a .com (lucky break). So we got to work designing a fun and stretchy looking logo and created a single page website to help us work through our messaging and visual identity. From there we ran the website by a small group of family and friends and put it out for some anonymous market research feedback (Tip: this style of “hallway testing” can be a very affordable and insightful way to prove your concept). Overwhelmingly, the product and website were well received and the feedback helped us hone in on our pricing. It was time to take the next step. We decided to build the product out in multiple phases:
- Phase 1: Brand, design, produce and sell out of the product on Amazon FBA in 6 months.
- Phase 2: Add packaging fulfillment to the production process and budget
- Phase 3: After 1-2 subsequent sell out rounds on Amazon bring the concept to retailer(s)
out the Amazon FBA platform and advertising
Results
- BevBands sold out in 4 months on Amazon
- 55% ROI on selling 90% of our inventory
BevBands sold out in the first 4 months on Amazon and we’re now in the second phase. We listened to the feedback, made some design changes and will be restocking on Amazon in a few weeks. Stay tuned for more about our experience soon!
