This post is an update of one of my first for this blog.

Can time replace money?

Two recent product launches – coincidentally both from Coca Cola have had me thinking about the power of time in the Marketing Mix. Not the timing of a launch, although I still pay homage to my first Marketing boss at Kraft for understanding that too early is as bad as too late, but the ability to take time to establish a brand.

I think we all know that retailers look for almost instant performance following a listing and that sluggish sales lead rapidly to removal from the shelf and yet some, usually small brands continue to find ways to hang on until familiarity and understanding have reached critical mass.

I used to be a very loyal consumer of Diet Coke, I liked the taste, liked the effect and liked the badge but almost without realizing it I now find myself buying Red Bull. I’m certainly not an early adopter, its taken at least 15 years to get me from awareness to trial and for most of that time I’ve seen little or no promotional support. Awareness, word of mouth, seeing it on the street, even talking about it all preceded trial.

Spending my time in both the USA and the UK I’ve enjoyed discovering Blaq, at first I was confused by the classic bottle shape in such a small size and thought that it was a competitor to Red Bull, but lots of advertising has shown its coffee role better than its on pack description of “Carbonated Fusion”.

I found Relentless in a UK Petrol station( and if you can read that brand name on the pack congratulate your optometrist). It's 500ml and claims "No half measures", "Your Energy, Your Obsession - Relentless" Again I was confused it looked more like a cheap beer to me (all that quasi Gothic type) and with no advertising so far I would have stayed confused without a professionally driven look at its web site www.relentlessenergy.com It too is from Coke and this one is in the energy drinks market.

Without advertising can Relentless hold some distribution whilst slow adopters like me get to know it? Can giant Coca Cola behave like Dietrich Mateschitz and give it time? Would retailers allow a major company to behave like a minnow?

Or will patience and determination remain the most powerful part of only a small companies marketing mix?