One More Question

Alex Center: Vitamin Water – The $4.1 billion brand that changed the beverage game

Episode Summary

In Episode #39, Ross is joined by Alex Center, founder of CENTER and former Design Director at Coca-Cola. Prior to launching his own studio, Alex spent 11 years working for the global beverage leader Coca-Cola where as Design Director he led the strategy and design vision for the brands vitaminwater, smartwater & Powerade. Today, his team at CENTER is building the next generation of icon brands partnering with companies like United Sodas of America, Heywear, and Kin Euphorics among others. Ross and Alex discuss how Vitamin Water built a $4.1 billion brand and kickstarted the enhanced beverage category, and two of the most important aspects in building great brands – courage and people.

Episode Notes

Highlights from the conversation

• They're not gonna care, and they shouldn't, because they don't need more things
• If you play it safe and you go the easy route it falls on deaf ears
• It's about the people that do it. We want to be in the right relationships with the right people. The product and all that other stuff are important, but great people build great brands and great companies, and I think that's where it starts.
• I think it takes courage to be presented with four potential brand identities in a first client presentation and take the one that's the most crazy
• A great brand has impact on the world and people and culture. It doesn't have to fundamentally make us all better humans, but it should hopefully, bring joy, happiness, connectivity to people's lives
• It's not one thing, it's so many individual moments where you have to make decisions. And you know, and all those decisions add up. And Vitamin Water is a perfect example. It's like, if you get everything right, where you treat every single moment, as an opportunity to introduce yourself to people

More about Alex

Alex Center is a Brooklyn-based designer and founder of the branding company CENTER.

Prior to launching his own studio, he spent 11 years working for the global beverage leader Coca-Cola where, as Design Director, he led the strategy and design vision for the brands vitaminwater, smartwater & Powerade. Over his career, Alex has designed packaging that has been in the hands of millions, launched multiple breakthrough brands, given talks around the world and once met rapper 50 Cent who told him “You must think you're pretty special.” He got nervous and instantly started sweating.

Today, his team at CENTER is building the next generation of icon brands partnering with companies like United Sodas of America, Heywear, Kin Euphorics, Good Light and Conbody. Alex is also a mentor with the SVA Masters in Branding program.

In his personal time he enjoys rooting for New York sports teams that wear orange & blue, eating and instagramming delicious meals and spending time with his wife Jacquelyn De Jesu and their zero kids and zero pets.

Find Alex here:

LinkedIn | Website | Instagram

Show Notes

People

• Jonathan Mildenhall 
• 50 Cent
• Brian Collins

Companies and organisations

• Black Lives Matter
• Glaceau Vitamin Water
• United Sodas of America

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One More Question is a podcast by Nicework, a purpose-driven company helping people who want to make a dent in the world by building brands people give a shit about.

One of the things we do best is ask our clients the right questions. This podcast came about because we want to share some of the best answers we have heard over the last 13 years. We talk to significant creators, experts and communicators we encounter and share useful insights, inspiration, and facts that make us stop and take note as we go about our work.

Hosted by our founder Ross Drakes.

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