The human body is roughly 60 percent water, giving credence to its celebration as the most precious resource on the planet. KOR Water recognized this, as well as the cavalier attitude with which most people regard the seemingly limitless stuff. But limitless it is not, with massive waste and pollution creating shortages of potable water. Tens of millions of disposable plastic water bottles are discarded daily, exposing landfills and waterways to Bisphenol-A (BPA), a harmful chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate bottles. Public concerns were growing and it was clear a more responsible option to the disposable plastic bottle was needed.

KOR Founders Eric Barnes and Paul Shustak saw this as a perfect storm brewing. Wasted resources, unnecessary expense, pollution, and health dangers created consumer demand for a smarter solution, as well as an opportunity for those who could envision such. Knowing of their reputation for creating innovative, precision-engineered solutions, enhancing functionality, and heightening consumer experiences, they selected RKS Design from among the nation’s top firms to make their vision for a healthier, more sustainable option a reality. The challenge was formidable: solve the problem in a way the consumer will embrace.

RKS’ guiding mantra, “It’s not how you feel about the design or experience… it’s how it makes you feel about yourself” resonated with KOR. We’re mostly water, and re-hydrating ourselves is a very important and satiating experience. RKS applied its Psycho-Aesthetics® design strategy to determine the essential elements of the ritual of hydration and uncover the emotional connection people have with this essential act. This, they knew, would be the key to the elusive solution. Insights developed through extensive market and consumer research set the stage for a design that would make users feel like heroes for discovering a better, more responsible way to stay hydrated. They could be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

Other issues quickly became apparent in the consumer experience. Ease-of-use was paramount, and existing refillable bottles often had the user fumbling with awkward lids, screw caps that required two hands, ill-conceived handles and wrong-sized openings that made filling difficult and drinking a clumsy process. Most designs lacked any elegance and looked more like something that would be found dangling from a camper’s belt than on the table of an executive boardroom.

It was essential that no new product carrying the KOR name would have any health risks associated with it, and a new material without BPA composition was needed. Each project at RKS provides new insights, opportunities and solutions to every one that follows, and the KOR project was no exception. While creating the innovative RKS Guitar series, a close relationship with the Eastman Chemical Company was developed. Searching for a BPA-free plastic material, RKS designers contacted Eastman to see if any such material was available. To their delight, it was found that Eastman was developing just such a material at that time. While proceeding with the design process, RKS received early samples of the material—known as TritanTM—and were thrilled to discover its glass-like properties that would showcase the water to its best effect and enhance its perceived value and enjoyment.

The design team collaborated to consider form and function while experimenting with the potential of Eastman’s Tritan™, to deliver both performance and elegance. The design would need to be highly functional as well as iconic, enhancing the beauty of the pure water within. With an integrated handle and insert area for personal messages and pictures, the product would reflect the lifestyle and the life of the consumer carrying it. The design was evolving into both a solution and a personal statement.

All the elegance in the world means little if the product doesn’t perform, and where the “rubber meets the road” in this case would be where the lips meet the mouthpiece. Creating a pleasant tactile sensation resulted in a threadless cap and neck, large enough to accommodate ice cubes as well as providing either a thirst-quenching gulp, or a dribbless sip.

It was deemed essential that the cap be operated easily with one hand, hinged back and out of the way of the mouth and nose. The securely locking and sealing cap would enable the user to toss the vessel onto a car seat or in a purse without fear of spillage.

The RKS brand proliferation program merged CMT insights with brand advocacy strategy to generate greater consumer meaning, matching each bottle color with a critical water-related initiative. The KOR One vessel thereby became a public statement of the particular user’s ideological concerns. RKS’ collaboration with KOR on this brand strategy and product proliferation plan led to a roll out plan that drove KOR down the price pyramid while maintaining its high profile, high-value brand.

The evolution of the brand then spawned Delta, which offers many of the familiar design attributes of the original KOR One but at a lower manufacturing cost and retail price point, making it more affordable and accessible to more consumers while respecting and protecting KOR One’s leadership position.

The brand grew as Vida and Aura models debuted in 2011. Vida is a stainless steel design that captures the essence of KOR while creating a new design language for the brand. Aura is a plastic version of the Vida that leverages existing manufacturing processes, allowing KOR to compete on a price level with many of the category leaders while differentiating itself with its unique characteristics.

Today, KOR is driving adoption through design that functions intuitively, enhances the user experience and makes a positive statement about that user. Broadening consumer acceptance to every conceivable environment, whether in a yoga studio, on a hiking trail or in that executive boardroom, the brand is a statement of fashion as well as function. Creating a premium brand through holistic design strategies and carefully considered materials, user benefits are developed in concert with a conscientious concern for the world in which we live.

RKS’ standard, viral communications program generated considerable attention from consumers and Hollywood, putting KOR squarely in the public eye through cameos in summer blockbusters like Iron Man 2, and in the pages of celebrity magazines. The KOR One captured the attention not only of influencers everywhere, but the design community as well, with recognition from the International Design Awards and Spark! The results of the RKS team’s research, strategy, design, engineering, manufacturing and brand activation was a highly successful new brand, with KOR and RKS ultimately becoming strategic partners.

RKS is proud to have been responsible for KOR’s growing family of hydration vessels, driving meaningful change through design. KOR has emerged from obscurity to become a serious competitor in the refillable water vessel field, pioneering the use of an important new material—TritanTM—facilitating broad industry adoption and now found in hundreds of products that contact food or beverage. Over its lifetime, each KOR One bottle is estimated to replace 1,000 plastic bottles, only 20 percent of which are recycled, leaving the rest to decompose and pollute for hundreds of years.

Awards:

Vida: IDEA — Bronze (2011), GOOD (2011), IDA 2nd (2011)

Aura: GOOD (2011), If Award (2011)

KOR ONE: GOOD (2008), Spark Award Bronze (2009) IDA 1st (2008)

Delta: GOOD (2012)

Related Links:

AdAge.com — iPod-like Fashion Accessory

Fast Company — The KOR ONE Bottle

KOR Water Website