After I discovered the vitality of the energy drink brand, Jean-Christophe and Christopher made me know Waka, a coffee-based drink which is positioned differently from traditional players.

Waka was created by a firm specialized in coffee-roasting established in the northern France (Cafés Didier Boulet). What amazed me in this product was the innovation process which led to the creation of the drink. As its name suggest, the firm is indeed specialized in the transformation of coffee beans. The entrepreneur (Didier Boulet) looked at diversification possibilities while remaining in his field of expertise. The resulting drink, created after 2 years of research,  is Waka which clearly belongs to the energy drink segment. However it differs from the competition by a more natural positioning. While competitors stress contents in taurine, guarana and other components consumers may perhaps not be familiar with, Waka plays on coffee and sparkling water, the two main components (although there is also some sugar and natural aromas).

My take:

Although I don’t know the very details of the innovation process, I guess that the 7-employee firm probably used an effectuation process (without knowing what it means) to create Waka. Basically it used the set of means at its disposal to go in a certain direction and innovate.

The result is very surprising. Not only does it taste great but in my opinion it’s also a clever marketing approach. This only confirms how crucial SMEs are in the innovation landscape and why so many large corporations try to imitate SMEs capabilities.