REBRAND
Niagara Conservation
From commodity product to powerhouse challenger brand.
CHALLENGE
Niagara Conservation has been at the forefront of water conservation for 40 years, engineering toilets and shower heads that work better and waste nothing. However, despite the ingenuity of their products, the company was largely unknown and often found themselves competing on price. So we set out to elevate Niagara from a commodity to a powerhouse challenger brand. And, as a challenger brand, we needed a compelling way to break through to buyers and to understand how best to tell the story of its innovative products and mission.
INSIGHT
Every company in the industry talked about water conservation as one of a list of product features. But no one owned it. As the brand behind the world’s most efficient toilet, Niagara was flush with opportunity to do so. We knew water conservation wasn’t top of mind for everyone. But neither was responsible food sourcing before Whole Foods and farm-to-table restaurants. Niagara could be a pivotal voice in a growing movement, while highlighting the most distinguishing feature of its products.
DISCOVERY
Our research also revealed a strong opportunity to use Niagara’s website as a communication channel. It showed good potential for direct sales and e-commerce. To succeed, we needed to change the SEO strategy. Buyers weren’t using internet search to discover brands, but to evaluate them, using qualifying keywords such as “best of,” “most” and “highest efficiency.”
Attitudes around water conservation were also telling – and nuanced – with important implications for messaging content. Buyers had foundational expectations relating to not using too much water and considered actively using less water a secondary value-add.
Prospective customers were driven more by the idea of not wasting water, versus actively saving water. These insights helped us pivot our positioning – including the water conservation message as part of our mission – and focus on new standards for high-efficiency toilets.
PLAN
We began by establishing a cleaner brand architecture and clearer understanding of the customer. We used those efforts to create a more compelling way to show and talk about water conservation. A new visual identity celebrates the beauty of water and marries modernity with hints of humanity. Niagara welcomes customers to the water revolution by reminding them that they’re “too smart to waste.”
Yep. That’s Times Square!
RESULTS
Prior to the brand launch, Niagara generated 930 qualified sales leads over the course of a full year. Following the launch, the company received 612 in just four weeks. At KBIS, a major kitchen and bath industry show, Niagara’s re-branded booth created an immersive water conservation experience, doubling referrals over previous years.
