TEAM MEMBERS

Nhat Nguyen

Jeffery Andrews

Anant Pandey

Zachary Rubel

Tyre Wilson

Marketing 3300.007

Parneet Pahwa

Company Description

Mission Statement

"WATERisLIFE's mission is to provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene programs. Saving

Lives. Transforming communities."

Company Background and Goals

WATERisLIFE was founded in 2009 by Ken Surritte, and Ken has since been the

director and public face for this company. As a nonprofit company, WATERisLIFE works

closely with charity organizations to bring essential tools to ensure that households,

communities, schools, and whole cities have access to safe water and proper water hygiene.

WATERisLIFE offers three major products: the WATERisLIFE purifying straw, the

Drinkable Book, and the SUNSPRING. Because products are not sold to the public, but rather

donated to villages and communities, there is so source of income other than contributions from

charitable individuals and firms. As a relatively new company to the water sanitation industry, a

subset of the health and healthcare industry, WATERisLIFE has already made significant

contributions to the industry, and has already rose to being in the top 5 in terms of total

charitable contributions.

Through innovative procedures and groundbreaking technology, WATERisLIFE's goal is

simple: to get more drinkable water access to more people in the world, even in places where

there are extreme poverty. WATERisLIFE's also aims to ensure that the source of clean water

stays there, long after health teams have came into the villages or towns.

WATERisLIFE's short term goal is to be the industry leader in water filtration services,

while providing inexpensive, yet durable, equipment to maintain water needs long into the

future. WATERisLIFE's long term goal is to eliminate the world's water shortage problem once

and for all, and to ensure that water becomes a accessible resource for generations to come.

Industry Analysis

WATERisLIFE's falls under the water sanitation industry, which is under the health and

healthcare industry. This industry deals with the water and sanitation issues that is plaguing

multiple countries in the world, highly prevalent in least developed countries, where extreme

poverty is widespread and prevalent in everyday life.

Given the nature of the industry and the problems in which it addresses, there is a global

geographic scope, mostly focusing on least developed countries, which is prevalent in sub-

Saharan Africa and certain parts of Asia. Consumers are slowly progressing towards healthier

living, "green" living, and being more conscious about the effects of human interaction with the

environment, and a side effect of that is that people are becoming more and more conscious of

that fact that over 780 million people don't have access to clean water and over 2.4 billion people

live without proper sanitation . With the advent of social media and the cell phone, there is a

vastly increased public awareness of the dirty water epidemic that is happening on Earth, and

more and more people are taking up the fight to try and find a solution.

More than 80 water organizations exist, and there are more turning up every year. This

industry isn't bound to decline any time soon, because as more and more people become aware of

the water problem, more and more organizations will form, more people will join the fight, and

such, awareness will increase. As technology advances with the advent of innovation and design,

sanitation and water filtration will become more easy, more efficient, and more accessible, and

this industry will expand into new frontiers. Because of all of these factors, the water sanitation

industry is definitely a growing market, and it will continue to grow and grow as humanity

pushes towards providing for its poorest and most desolate population. This industry aims to

cater to the good willed population that are willing to donate for charitable reasons and the

population who wants to help solve the water crisis that is epidemic throughout most of Africa

and large parts of Asia. With products like the Lifestraw, a portable, sturdy, and most

importantly of all, cheap to manufacture, product that is able to filter out contaminants in soiled

water so that the source of water becomes drinkable and potable. Products like the Drinkable

Book, which is a manual on clean water usage and clean water handling, is revolutionary

because after reading the manual, the drinkable book can then be used as a filter to remove

contaminants from water sources. This industry also employs water filtration devices, both

portable and stationary, that are able to filter large amounts of water for years and years, with

little to no maintenance.

In regards to regulations, because a majority of the industry is non-profit, which means

that any income left, called profit, after expenses and deductions, cannot be distributed to the

shareholders or owners or anyone. Another regulation in which this industry might be affected

by is strict health regulations in regards to the percentage of contaminants allowed per liter of

water or the materials in which the filters and pumps are constructed out of. If it changes, then

the industry might have to improve the filtration process or change materials because it might

cause unwanted effects in the consumers of these products. Also, because the companies in this

industry deal with the health and sustainability of potentially large populations, there will be

strict guidelines in regards to how to handle contaminated water, how to deal with diseases, and

how to maintain proper hygiene in places where there are little hygiene control. Any changes to

health guidelines outlined by major health organizations like the World Health Organization

might have a large ripple effect on this industry. However, in terms of total regulations, this

industry isn't as tightly regulated as most other industries.

BCG Matrix

Competitor Analysis

WATERisLIFE straw

Drinkable Book

SUNSPRING

In a ever-expanding industry of 80 organizations, and more being added each day, the most prominent competitors are mainly the oldest and most experienced. The top four competitors of WATERisLIFE is Water.Org, CHARITY:WATER, UNICEF's Tap Project, and LifeStraw. Most of the competitors in this industry are smaller and less organized as the top five, which consists of almost 60% of all charitable donations and charitable activities. In regards to competition type, it is a oligopoly, in which are there major players in which dominates more than 60% of donations and "sales." There is room for many smaller companies, but they don't leave as much of an impact on the market as the top five.

Competitors Strengths and Weaknesses

Water.Org

Strengthso Cofounded by Matt Damon, which lends to its public recognition and public

awareness. o Provides not only services, but also loans and guidance on how to succeed as a

humanitarian aid. Weaknesses

o Doesn't provide products or technology. Doesn't have competition against firms who offers both products and services.

LifeStraw Strengths

o Oldest company to sell straw filtration technology, so therefore most experienced and knowledgeable about the field.

o Largest consumer base and largest manufacturing capacities. Able to send mass amounts of products out to consumers and charities.

Weaknesso Only offers products. Doesn't offer services like other major competitors.o Too dependent on sales of one product, and must keep up with advanced technology

to stay relevant.CHARITY:WATER

Strengthso Backed by private firms and large corporations, 100% of all donations go to water

projects.o Extensive tracking of all donated dollars and complete transparency. Due to this,

more people are willing to donate. Weaknesses

o Doesn't provide products, only services.o If funding companies back off, company is at a large deficit for resources.

Consumer Analysis

Problem Recognition

The consumers realize that there is an overwhelming percentage of the population that lives without clean drinking water, and that they must take it upon themselves to alleviate that problem to the best of their abilities. The Flint crisis which took place in early 2016 is small compared to the many cases of contaminated water around the globe. WATERisLIFE helps these crises by offering a variety of sanitation products such as the Straw, the Drinkable Book, and even the Sunspring.

Information Search

Social media has become such a powerful driving force in advertising and promotion, and a lot of times, it's become almost free. As more and more people share and comment pictures that are posted on social media sites, a wider population is exposed to it, and the chain continues. They often get their information from the internet or advertisements, but word of mouth travels much further. With WATERisLIFE’s constant humanitarian aid around the globe, many people are sharing their efforts on social media. This influences people to donate or even purchase their products to help fight the war against contaminated water.

Alternative Evaluation

Competition firms to WATERisLIFE is evaluated by the quality and durability of their products, the actual percentage of a donator's donation that goes to charity, and most importantly, the reputation of that firm. The reputation plays a bigger part on a customer's evaluation because they want to ensure that their money is going to be used correctly, not to fund the board of director's pocket or to other uses.

Purchase Evaluation

Because of the nature of WATERisLIFE's product, there is no promotion or deal period in which it's preferable to purchase. However, it'll cost less to produce when brought in bulk, and most companies who buy from WATERisLIFE will be buying in bulk. WATERisLIFE only retails online, and because of the nature of the company, it'll never be sold on the shelves at retail store.

Post-Purchase Behavior

Most consumer's will feel great and a sense of pride, knowing that they helped a community in need, and are actively partaking in the fight to end the world's water shortage. It appeals to the humanity's innate need to help out others, and by contributing or buying filters, it helps them become a better citizen of the world.

Company Analysis

Strengths

Cheap and portable The Straw filter is able to be distributed to many locations in short amount of time

Board members are respected members of the healthcare community Sponsorship from well respected organizations like WWF, UN, and UNICEF Technology is patented and well engineered to last for decades Team of highly sought after scientists working on improvements and advances.

Weaknesses Relatively new company that will face many challenges like infrastructure and resource

management. Getting the public to acknowledge that water crisis is a real epidemic in large parts of the

world. Getting financial backing from large investing firms like Morgan Stanley or Goldman

Sachs. Public not able to see if products are durable or not, because it's not sold to the public.

Opportunities

Changes in how people view the poor and more public recognition on the epidemic that is unsanitary drinking water.

More public acknowledgment means more funding and more people willing to invest in this company.

Changes in technology that will make water filtration cheaper and more efficient

Threats Less public acknowledgement of clean drinking water problem. Less funding from investors and venture funds More reliable and cheaper way to make drinking water available to communities. Mass migration out of communities where clean drinking water is not available.

Market-Product Focus

WATERisLIFE’s main demographic as a company are third-world communities that are

in need of sanitary water. This is its major segment, places of low income, including poorly

financed schools and villages. WATERisLife has four major areas of influence; Haiti, Northern

Ghana, Kenya, and India. They have also distributed more than 70,000 WiL water filters in 33

countries worldwide. All of which, have the same problem. They are in need for clean sanitized

water and education on sanitation and hygiene.

WATERisLIFE could have more segments, but they don’t offer their products for

individual use. Organizations can buy their products, but in turn they use them for similar

purposes as WATERisLIFE does. They reach their market through two majors products, and a

third which its way towards mass appeal. The WATERisLIFE straw is a cheap portable water

filter and can clean more than 800 liters of water. On average it will last a year and help African

children, who on average receive only 8 ounces of water a day. The Drinkable Book, not only is

it a manual to help ensure one’s water is clean, but it can also be used to filter out contaminates

in water. The SUNSPRING, is a solar powered water treatment system. This system has been

installed in Haiti, and will be brought to more areas in the future.

WATERisLIFE gets their money for their products and efforts through donations and

support from large organizations. The needs of this market segment are being satisfied.

WATERisLIFE uses its resources to bring education and products to help with water sanitation.

As there is only one segment, WATERisLIFE only has one segment target. There are a few

competitors to WATERisLIFE, including CHARITY:WATER, Water.org, and LifeStraw. They

should target the only segment they have, of helping third-world communities. There are 2.4

billion deaths a year that could be prevented each year, due to clean water and adequate

sanitation, along with good hygiene practice. Almost 1 billion people lack access to safe water,

and about 2.6 billion do not have improved sanitation. They are currently offering products that

are adequately support their market segment. With their three main products, they bring cheap, to

those receiving it, and nontraditional sanitation products to their segment market.

Product Strategy

The WATERisLIFE organization is in a growing period. They have only been active

since 2009 and are growing steadily. Everyone knows that undeveloped countries are in need a

fresh, clean water but they aren’t quite sure how to help. WiL, through social media, is gaining a

lot of backing through its easy, and cheap, way to help these developing regions receive clean

and fresh water. They have seen nothing but an increase in profits over the course of the

organizations existence and which allows them to make an even bigger difference since so many

people are willing to donate. At the beginning of 2013 they started out with $52,114 in total

assets and by the end of the year they had $83,727. This shows that they are growing a good rate

and continuing to make money to allow them to continue making a difference.

There are a lot of different organizations that are trying to bring clean water to areas in

need. However, the uniqueness of the straw that WATERisLIFE provides the people in need

does not have any direct competition. Since WiL is an organization that only accepts donations

and volunteers, the sense of competition is not as prominent as in other markets. All the

organizations within this unique market are all working towards one goal of delivering clean

water to places in need, so they don’t really need to work on beating out one another.

WATERisLIFE provides many services to help provide clean water. The main one is a

straw that filters the water and you drink it. There isn’t a whole lot of packaging and labeling

strategy on this product because it’s designed for a very specific target audience. The price for

the product is set to a low $10 so that the majority of people can donate and still feel like they

made a difference. The ability to donate and make a difference for only $10 is very appealing to

consumers. WiL does the majority of their promotions through social media, as it is a very vast

medium and can reach a lot of people in a short period of time.

Price Strategy

Benefits offered by WATERisLIFE to the end consumer include an affordable source of

water filtration, hygienic improvements in third world countries, and ultimately – the prevention

of any loss of life due to lack of clean water. The value of our product is second to none – a

product that can improve the living conditions and overall health of millions of people in third

world countries is priceless.

The pricing objective of our country is strictly a donation-base style, where these very

generous donations help fund the implementation and maintenance of our product in third world

countries. Our company is not profit oriented or sales oriented – in a sense, we are global impact

oriented. Our product, being funded through donations, is not sold on an individual basis. Our

company is focused on the “greater good” – not the needs of the individual.

The demand for our product has a direct relationship with the number of individuals in

the world that are suffering from unsanitary water sources – 1 billion people don’t have access to

safe water.

There is no “right price” for our product – stated before, this company is a non-profit

organization that is funded through donations. Employees are this organization work strictly on a

volunteer-bases, helping the funds go directly into helping third world countries improve their

living conditions.

Promotion Strategy

This nonprofit organization promotes its product through posted statistics and promoted

informative videos implemented on their website in order to educate potential donors, whose

funds would be used to produce the product.

This organization engages in public relations via twitter, using various forms of ethos, the

rhetoric appeal to the emotions of the audience, in order to convince potential donors to pursue

donation in hopes of making a tangible impact on rebuilding third-world countries and their

struggling citizens.

WATERisLIFE does not sell their product “directly” to individuals, because the product is

implemented into struggling third-world countries in order to provide a healthy source of water.

The company does not sell their product through a third product either, rather, this organization

implements their product. There is no sale – there is only implementation. The revenue needed to

fund the projects are based solely on donations made by all the donors.

Like stated before, this firms uses a rhetorical appeal of ethos to market its product for donations.

Much like Sarah McLachlan and ASPCA did in their commercials that promoted burdened

animals looking for donations. WATERisLIFE used pull-marketing, getting the donors to come

to them for business. By distinguishing themselves as a nonprofit organization, the pull-

marketing technique is clearly the best promotion strategy for WATERisLIFE. You can’t “push”

donations on people, so the firm must use a “pull” promotion strategy. No pun intended,

WATERisLIFE pulls on people heart strings with their rhetoric appeals to ethos in their

promotion videos.

Place Strategy

Because of the nature of our company, in which we don't retail our products, but more

"sell" our products through donations from both the consumers and business, the only

distribution channel is right from the manufactures to the consumers, who are different from the

purchaser. The consumers are the communities and population who are in the dire need of

drinkable water, and the purchaser are the people who donated and brought the filter filters from

WATERisLIFE so that they can be donated. There is no middleman, only from manufacture to

consumer.

WATERisLIFE is a forward integrated company in that they wish to handle the handling

of all the goods. This ensures that the supplies get to the right place at the right time, since the

WATERisLIFE volunteers deliver the goods directly to the final destination.

The channel that is chosen to deliver the goods is determined based on the final

destination. Since WATERisLIFE operates in so many different countries around the world, they

cannot use the same channels for every place as costs would be too high to do so. Delivering

filters to Kenya might cost completely different that delivering to West China. Based on the

location of the communities, WATERisLIFE will plan accordingly and deliver accordingly so

that our funds would be better allocated to solving the world's water problem.

WATERisLIFE doesn't employ any retailer, because WATERisLIFE's products aren't

meant for retail. WATERisLIFE's products aren't mean to sold, but meant to be given, based on

the donations of good willed individuals and companies. Because of this, and the fact that

WATERisLIFE is a non-profit, WATERisLIFE doesn't directly retail to consumers.

Sources

http://waterislife.com/about/why-wil

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http://waterislife.com/clean-water/the-straw

http://waterislife.com/clean-water/filter-systems

http://waterislife.com/you-wil/change-it

http://waterislife.com/documents/Form990-2014.pdf

http://waterislife.com/documents/Form990-2013.pdf

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