Over the last several years, Enagic’s Kangen model has become a top-seller in the water ionizer industry. It’s clunky, low-tech and over-priced, yet sales through its multi-level marketing program still continue to set the pace for the market. Several other manufacturers, like Jupiter and Vollara, have tried to mimic its success, but none seem to have the technological or financial incentive to put a dent in Kangen’s market share.
Other manufacturers employ more conventional retail and wholesale sales strategies. The industry-leading Tyent model proves that a brand can be successful without an MLM sales force building the marketplace.
In the next few months, however, a new player enters the marketplace. Evontis, though quiet for the last few months, officially ends their pre-launch period on January 25th and will begin a soft-launch of their new network marketing sales plan. Evontis is the newest group to chip away at Enagic’s dominant position.
From my perspective, Evontis has a better chance to succeed than Ionways or Vollara for 2 good reasons.
First, Evontis uses the same technological powerhouse that runs the Tyent line of water ionizers. Tyent smashed on to the scene years ago with a model that out-performed the competition in the highly competitive US marketplace and has proven ever since then that the best product will, in fact, be a best seller and will demand (and get) a premium for its top-quality product. By partnering with the same manufacturer and having many components in common with the Tyent line, it will be interesting to see how consumers reconcile the Evontis compensation plan with their top-performing product. In the past, consumers that were already apprehensive about Enagic’s comp plan solidified their decision to steer clear upon discovering that “most expensive” wasn’t also “industry best”. Evontis has a clear advantage here, and this will certainly cause many consumers to overcome their apprehension to obtain the best on the market.
Second, though Evontis does have the Elite Water Ionizer as its flagship product, it doesn’t stop there. Evontis created a full line of products focused on “turning your home into the healthiest place on earth.” For roughly the same price point as Enagic’s Kangen ionizer, a consumer can get the industry’s best water ionizer (the Evontis Elite), a set of air ionizers, a pH-sensitive shower filter (Shower pHresh), and a host of other alkaline-activated products that complement the water ionizer.
The biggest challenge Evontis will face as it gets started will be to figure out how to compete with Enagic’s army of reps, many of whom rely on innuendos, half-truths and whisper-down-the-lane rumors to make sales. Much of the time I spend updating this website is to answer the “my Kangen rep told me…” questions, which range all the way from “beginner’s mistakes” to “blatant lies”. With a product as good as what Evontis is bringing to market, it will be interesting to see how this affects their sales strategy since they won’t need to bluff their way through the price point. A superior product demands a superior price, which is exactly why Tyent has done so well to date. I wouldn’t be surprised if Evontis does even better.
But now, with Evontis introducing the next generation of water ionizers at a competitive price point through a network marketing strategy, this could change the game for a lot of top manufacturers. Time will tell.
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