Throwing It All Away

I have been thinking about the fact that part of the downfall of the Croc company was that their product was fairly immortal. It made me think of nalgenes, which are also supposed to be indestructible, and wonder whether they were facing the same problem. However, all the articles I found about Nalgenes had to do with the BPA chemical issue in the bottles and whether or not they're dangerous. So I looked at Sigg instead, the Swiss hardcore reusable bottle maker. It appears that in 2009, despite the recession they saw unprecedented growth and planned for 2010 accordingly:

"The growth we experienced in 2009 is unprecedented," stated Paul Rappoport, COO for LEVEL. "Especially considering the challenging economy, this validates our ability to remain relevant and create differentiating digital campaigns that span a wide range of our clients' industries." The agency's success was a direct outcome of their ability to architect stronger connections between a brand and its audience. Leveraging their expertise in providing global brands with innovative marketing campaigns delivered by proven technology platforms, LEVEL continued to positively influence the way that consumers interact with their favorite brands.

"Humbly recognizing our performance last year, our executive management team developed a strong plan for 2010 and will approach this year with the same amount of diligence," stated Tom Adamski, President | CEO for LEVEL. "We will focus on generating brand awareness for our clients across connected devices while continually expanding our product design and mobile application practices." About LEVEL Studios LEVEL Studios is an independent digital agency that amplifies global brands by innovating across desktop, web and mobile environments. Founded in 1995, the agency now operates three California studios specializing in user experience, digital media and application development.

I wonder whether they are about to go the same direction as Crocs because their bottles won't need to be replaced. What we learned in class is that Croc profits died due to decreasing demand as a result of the saturated market while the producers simultaneously geared up for increased sales. How similar is Sigg to Croc? Will they necessarily go the same direction? I think that the per person demand for the bottles is about as finite as for the shoes because they last forever and are not the sort of object that people usually collect more than one, maybe two of. But I think that maybe Sigg will continue to grow when Croc died because there are more people to convince they should buy reusable water bottles with the expanding environmentally based economy, as compared to people who could be convinced to buy somewhat endearingly ugly juvenile plastic shoes. Sigg should be careful to not overestimate their popularity, to learn from the Croc example, but I think they might continue to see increasing profits if they keep on creating new bottle designs and using marketing to reach more people.

Thoughts on the fate of Sigg? Anyone have one of their water bottles?