one flavor to rule them all
a simple creation with global success
(BRANDING AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT)
BACKGROUND
Not long ago, the vaping industry exploded into the mainstream. At its heart, was a small electronic device that contained a flavored, food grade liquid called e-liquid. Once heated, the liquid produces vapor that you inhale. Nicotine was then added, and tens of millions of smokers finally had an alternative to traditional smoking. Vaping was born.
MARKET ANALYSIS
When I jumped in, the market was in mid explosion, and a handful of flavors had already gone viral.
New flavors and devices hitting the scene weekly.
It was difficult to get recognized amidst the new crazy.
People were beginning to adopt particular brands as part of their persona and identity; a phenomenon that usually develops in the music and fashion markets. In fact, a new genera of “Vapers” had been born.
For the brand’s success, we had to appeal to this emerging audience.
We had to stand out!
STRATEGY
To compete, the branding had to be bold and iconic.
The product had to be simple and delicious. This approach was all about simplicity, coupled with a unique, competitive edge.
At launch, we created one simple flavor; vanilla cake batter, and designed the liquid to produce more vapor than anything else on the market. The bigger the clouds, the greater the impact.
This directly translated to value to our customers and prospect
BRANDING BREAKDOWN
Every good brand should have a soul that permeates what’s
visible on the surface.
For both, brand and product identity, we leveraged some simple word-play: “bakery" and “cake batter”.
Product Name: Cloud Batter
Flavor Profile: Vanilla Cake Batter
Competitive Edge: Flavor and vapor production
This simple play on words appealed to the consumer’s familiarity with baked goods and tasty desserts, while staking the claim that our products were created for “Vapers” who wanted performance.
Success + metrics
Cloud Batter was a home run. Within the first month of launch, we acquired distribution. In the next 6 months, Cloud Batter was being sold in 11 different countries worldwide.
With product recognition in place, we released 2 additional flavors in this line and later leased a second flavor line named Cloud Patrol with 4 unique flavors. Could Patrol’s #1 selling flavor; Carolina Cookie outsold Cloud Batter 2 to 1 and remains Cloud Vapory’s all time best selling flavor.
ANALYTICS:
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International distribution
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$500,000 total revenue
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3,000+ units sold per month
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3,000+ organic IG followers
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2 full product lines
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2 nationally competitive trick teams
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Full apparel line
SUMMARY
Cloud Vapory, the creation and release of Cloud Batter, and all of the wonderful flavors that followed, became a true labor of love. It was an exercise in creating a startup in an emerging market, and we did it from scratch. Today, its management has changed, but the magic remains the same. Cloud Vapory is still selling flavors all across the country to its beloved and die-hard followers.
