Reflection Point: Assumptions & Failures
My assignment for today is to write a reflection on a product that has failed and the assumptions that created its downfall. The product failure I will be focusing on today is Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water.*

Between the 1970s and though the 1980s, bottled water became increasingly popular — Tap water was beginning to be seen as unclean and drinking it in public was a definite faux pas. Coors became interested and could easily get into it by using the same water that was used in every can of their already popular beer. So in 1990, Coors released their take on bottled water with flavors like Original, Lemon-Lime, and Cheery. Easy access to the product and with a name everybody already knew, Coors Rocky Mountain Sparkling Water thought they has little room to fail.
Bottled water is increasing in popularity, so we should sell bottled water: As stated before, bottled water sales were booming at the time Coors became interested in selling. They believed they could give a fresh take on the product by making it “cool”. Bottled water, however, was not becoming popular because it was trendy — bottle water was marketable because of the health aspect. People believed that drinking tap water was dirty and unwholesome. So when looking for a bottled water to buy, they were not reaching for the “new and hip” choice, but going for companies they trusted to sell “healthy” bottled water (Nestle, Clearly Canadian, Arrowhead, etc.). The competition was already preferred before Coors could even begin to be competitive.
We have a great fan base for our beer, therefor our water will have one too: Coors had a pretty loyal fan base, and they assumed that their beloved beer drinkers would be excited about buying their new product. So they marketed towards their customers and slapped their big “Coors” logo on each bottled. But this confused their patrons, as they did not want water — they wanted beer. This also turned other potential customers away: “Oh I don’t want that water! It’s made by Coors and must have alcohol in it!” (Not just the companies assumptions had an impact on it failing.)
Coors Rocky Mountain Sparkling water had the potential to be a flourishing product if they had done their research and marketed their product in the right way and to the right consumers.
*If anyone wanted water from Coors, they could just drink Coors Light… (:
