12/3/2013

The LifeStraw® A White Paper

Dom Cioppa TWR2009/J. CATTON

The LifeStraw®: A White Paper

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Glossary

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): an agency of the U.S. federal government created for the specific purpose of protecting human health and the environment. It writes and enforces regulations based on related laws passed by Congress.

Profit-With-A-Purpose: a business model adopted by Vestergaard Frandsen that combines the principles of traditional capitalism and applied social responsibility.

Protozoan parasites: any of a large group of unicellular, water-borne organisms that, upon ingestion, infect the intestinal tracts of man and animal and causes adverse biological reactions ranging from simple gastrointestinal distress to death by diarrhea.

United Nations Millennium Development Goals: an eight-part plan of global action adopted by the United Nations member-states and various international organizations in 2005. It seeks to achieve concrete, quantifiable and specific social changes amongst the world’s poorest nations by 2015, namely:

The development of a global partnership for social change The eradication of extreme poverty and hunger The achievement of universal primary education The promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women The reduction of child mortality rates The improvement of maternal health The attempted eradication of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Increased environmental sustainability

Vestergaard Frandsen: a Swiss-based company that manufactures an innovative family of disease-control textiles, including the award-winning LifeStraw® personal water filter, as part of its goal to provide for and to ensure the ongoing health and welfare of the residents of third-world countries. Vestergaard Frandsen’s mission, as stated on their website, “is fuelled by our humanitarian entrepreneurship to create a healthier planet.”

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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary.......................................................................................... 3

2. Introduction........................................................................................................ 4

2.1 Purpose........................................................................................................ 4

2.2 Context......................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Content Overview…………………………………………………………………5 3. Technological Overview..................................................................................... 5 3.1 History.......................................................................................................... 5

3.2 Form ………………………………………………………………..…………….. 5 3.3 Function………………………………………………………………………….. 6

4. Features and Benefits ………………………………………………………………. 7

4.1 Statistical Performance………………………………………………………… 7 4.2 Costs and Options……………………………………………………………… 8 4.3 Intangible Benefits……………………………………………………………… 9

5. Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 10

5.1 Testimonials ................................................................................................ 10

6. References…………………………………………………………………………….. 12

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Executive Summary

This paper will introduce the LifeStraw®, Vestergaard Frandsen’s award-winning personal water filter, as a potential solution to several concerns and challenges facing the international hospitality industry today. It will also address the opportunity to market a unique and innovative approach to customer service that will set individual businesses within the industry apart from the crowd. The hospitality industry is a fiercely competitive field. In order to successfully maintain their relevance, individual business owners know they must constantly anticipate and exceed the needs, desires and demands of their clients. Every cruise line, resort, restaurant and travel agency must always search for new ways to attract and appeal to the same pool of customers while simultaneously bolstering its reputation and competitive credibility. That being said, not all challenges have simple solutions. One of the more problematic issues facing would-be entrepreneurs concerns the certain percentage of businesses that operates out of geographical locations that cannot guarantee the safety of their water supply. Vestergaard Frandsen’s award-winning humanitarian aid, the personal water filter known as the LifeStraw® is not just a tool to help prevent unpleasant ill-health, but a tangible and concrete symbol of a business’s willingness to go the extra, unanticipated mile for their clients, and to reassure them that they are, and more importantly, will remain, the best, safest, choice. Vestergaard Frandsen’s LifeStraw® is not just a tool to help prevent unpleasant ill-health, but a potential tangible symbol of a business’ willingness to go the extra, unanticipated mile for their clients. In adopting the LifeStraw® as part of their customer services packages, businesses would provide a concrete measure of reassurance - a practical and positive visual cue that will last much longer than the duration of any trip - and would gain, in return, an invaluable reputation for demonstrated social consciousness and global credibility. The newly associated businesses would, too, gain extended marketing platforms via the LifeStraw®’s related social media sites, and the prospective clientele that would very likely come with them. The hospitality industry relies heavily on three factors for success: reputation, competitive credibility, and the fiscal bottom line. Specific businesses do have, for the most part, control over how effectively they manipulate those factors, but there are always certain elements (e.g. geography and the local peculiarities of the physical environment) that can make the provision of any kind of guarantee of a positive experience more difficult than not. The LifeStraw® is not only the best performing personal filter on the current market, but would provide invaluable social credibility to a business that chose to adopt and distribute individual units as part of a customer service package.

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Introduction

Purpose This paper will introduce the LifeStraw®, Vestergaard Frandsen’s award-winning personal water filter, as a potential solution to certain concerns and challenges facing the international hospitality industry today. It will also address the opportunity to market a unique and innovative approach to customer service that will set individual businesses within the industry apart from the crowd. Context The hospitality industry is a fiercely competitive field. In order to successfully maintain their relevance, individual business owners know they must constantly anticipate and exceed the needs, desires and demands of their clients. Not all challenges have simple solutions, though. One of the more problematic issues facing would-be entrepreneurs concerns the certain percentage of businesses that operate out of geographical locations that cannot guarantee the safety of their water supply. Businesses that operate out of those locales rely on stern warnings and common sense to preserve the health and safety of their clientele. That being said, neither of those things are guaranteed, and business owners generally rely, in the end, on the fact that they are not technically or legally responsible for the physical welfare of those disgruntled customers who fail to follow through on the standard precautionary measures. Bottled water aside, there are certain concrete preventative measures available. There are a variety of personal and portable water filters on the market, and any one of them would be a logical addition to the international traveler’s kit. There is one filter in particular, though - Vestergaard Frandsen’s award-winning LifeStraw® - that provides much more than the necessary, singular solution. Beyond the essential and universal options of health, safety and the purely affordable experience, cruise lines, resorts, hotels and restaurants recognize that the adoption and corporate provision of the LifeStraw® as part of their standard customer package has the potential to:

• provide tangible proof that a particular business will go the extra mile to safeguard the health and safety of their customers

• bolster their own personal credibility and marketability by tapping into the credibility of a globally recognized not-for-profit innovation that literally saves lives

• broaden their marketing and advertising platforms by promoting themselves on any and all social media platforms that relate to the LifeStraw®.

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Content Overview Each section of this paper will examine different and important aspects of the LifeStraw® as it relates to the problems facing the hospitality industry. We will begin with a technological overview of the LifeStraw® itself as we examine what it is, where it comes from, and how it works. Secondly, we will discuss the features and benefits derived from implementing the LifeStraw® as part of an individual business’s customer service plan, and discuss its statistical performance, costs and options, and the more intangible benefits inherent. Finally, we will present our conclusions and provide information on where and how the LifeStraw® can be obtained for future use. Technological Overview

Vestergaard Frandsen’s LifeStraw® (see Figure 1) is a 2 ounce portable water filter designed to provide its owner with immediate access to safe drinking water. The LifeStraw® requires no batteries, spare parts or external power sources, eliminates the necessity of pre-boiling, and delivers the cleaned water through the mouthpiece of a simple tube rather than through a remote filtering system. The LifeStraw® is not intended as a tool for desalination, and does not remove natural minerals or heavy chemicals. It is, nevertheless, extremely effective at what it does do, and is recognized and praised for the fact that it meets or exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for water filtration in independent testing [1].

History

The LifeStraw® was first marketed in 2006 by the Swiss company, Vestergaard Frandsen. The company’s philosophy of “Profit With A Purpose” inspired its founders to invent the device as a means to help third-world nations meet their United Nations Millennium Development Goals by reducing death and disease caused by diarrhea. LifeStraw® filters are now shipped all over the world to countries such as Haiti, Pakistan, Kenya, and, most recently, Syria and the Philippines.

The LifeStraw® has won, over the years, multiple international awards, and has garnered endorsements and accolades from such prestigious sources as Times, Esquire, and Forbes magazines [2]. It is also popular with first and second-world hikers and campers, with homeowners who choose to stock emergency kits, and with individuals traveling through countries where drinking the water is considered a serious health risk.

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Form

The LifeStraw® [see Figure 1] is a simple 9 inch tube, capped at either end and suspended from an attached lanyard. It is formed of durable plastic, has no moving parts that might break or wear out, and can easily fit in a pocket or hang about the neck or from a backpack.

Figure 1: The LifeStraw® Personal Water Filter

Function

The LifeStraw® is extremely easy to use. The caps are removed from the mouthpiece and the end of the tube, and the tube is placed in the unfiltered water source. Water is sucked through the mouthpiece as through a standard straw. As the water is drawn up through the tube, all incoming pathogens and particles of dirt measuring less than 0.2 microns in diameter are trapped by the patented hollow and fibrous resin within the internal filter.

Several hard draws are required in order to activate the filters in a new LifeStraw®. In order to clean the LifeStraw®, a mouthful of water is blown back through the tube. The tube is best left

Filter Tube

Cap

Lanyard

Mouthpiece

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uncapped for several minutes afterwards so that it might dry. Once recapped, the device is stored for later use.

The user becomes aware that the LifeStraw® has reached the end of its life cycle when it no longer draws water. In this instance, the device must be replaced in its entirety.

Features and Benefits

The LifeStraw® is well known as a humanitarian aid, but it has not yet been employed or sponsored by other companies, or as anything but an occasional useful tool in other, unrelated and primarily personal venues. Any business that made the effort to promote it as a supplementary marketing tool in order to further its own agenda would be among the first, if not the first, to do so [3]. There would be no need to worry on the company promising something that it could not deliver, either, for in the eight years since LifeStraw®’s inception, and despite significant advances in technology and many imitations, it has yet to be matched in terms of performance [4].

Statistical Performance

The LifeStraw eliminates 99.9999 % of bacteria, 99.9 % of protozoan parasites, and superfluous particles up to a size of 0.2 microns from a currently unmatched 1000 litres (264 gallons) per unit – enough to sustain a 60 kg human for one full year [5]. The LifeStraw® filters bacteria such as:

• Shigella • Salmonella • Enterococcus • staphylococcus aureus • E.coli.

It also prevents common waterborne diseases including:

• cholera • cryptosporidium, • cyclosporiasis • diarrheal disease • dysentery • gastroenteritis giardiasis • guinea worm • hepatitis E • typhoid fever

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The LifeStraw®’s two major competitors, the AquaMira Frontier Filter Straw and the Seychelle Advanced Filter Straw, can make no such claims. The AquaMira website states that while its filter “…does reduce bacteria and virus, it is not certified to remove >99.9999% of bacteria and >99.99% of virus required by the US EPA water purifier standards,” and suggests that “…for maximum protection, (the user should) employ (the product) in conjunction with AquaMira Water Treatment Drops or AquaMira Water Purifier Tablets” [6]. The Seychelle website states that their straw is “proven effective against bacteria and virus to six logs reduction (99.9999%)” but makes no mention of having undergone any independent testing that would officially certify it as per EPA standards. More significantly, it makes no claim on its ability to reduce or eliminate the presence of protozoan parasites [7].

Costs and Options

Table 1 (below) shows that the LifeStraw®’s cost per unit is one to one-and-a-half times that of its major competitors, the AquaMira Frontier Filter Straw and the Seychelle Water Filter Straw. That, admittedly, would not appear to make it the particularly cost-effective choice. The LifeStraw® does, however, filter more than ten times the amount of water as the other two, and is the only one of the three that meets or exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for water filtration in independent testing. LifeStraws® are currently sold individually; the specific costs of bulk orders are discussed directly with the manufacturer.

Table 1: A comparative overview of the LifeStraw and its competitors

Vestergaard Frandsen’s

LifeStraw

AquaMira Frontier

Filter Straw

Seychelle Advanced Water Filter Straw

Cost/unit

$22 (US)

$10-12 (US)

$16-18 (US)

Cost/multiple units

Prices Dependent Upon Arrangement with Manufacturer

No Information Available

No Information Available

EPA approval rating

meets and exceeds standards

does not meet standards

Unconfirmed

Filtering Capacity

1000 litres/unit 75 litres/unit 95 litres/unit

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Given that, the costs of implementing a plan to distribute the LifeStraw to a business’s clientele need in no way prove prohibitive. There are a number of ways that a fiscally prudent business owner could offer the option of the LifeStraw to a client:

• pro-bono. Gestures of good will are invaluable when you’re being paid to be nice.

• for sale on site • as part of a paid sales package

All of these options send the same message: you value your clients (however potentially indelicate) to the point where you’re open to going the technically unrequired mile for their comfort and security. When an individual is surrendering responsibility, as they do when on holiday or out for an indulgent evening, they appreciate the extra care.

Intangible Benefits

Neither the AquaMira Frontier Filter Straw nor the Seychelle Water Filter Straw are associated with the kind of humanitarian programs that fuel Vestergaard Frandsen’s mission statement, nor do they provide charitable incentives in terms of Vestergaard Frandsen’s “you buy one/we donate one” program [8]. They are simply products that fulfil a biological need (neither as well as the LifeStraw®), and the benefits they can offer stop at that basic point. The LifeStraw®, on the other hand, is not only the best performing personal filter on the current market, but would provide invaluable social credibility to a business that chose to adopt and distribute individual units as part of a customer service package. It would also provide many more opportunities for a company seeking new, inexpensive platforms for advertising. Social media groups such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and LinkedIn all advertise the LifeStraw®, and would provide ready forums for any associated business [9].

Even more advantages associated with the maintaining and expansion of credibility of businesses embarking upon the distribution of the LifeStraw as part of a customer service package are:

• a recognized reputation (a) for going the extra mile for your clients, and b) as a proponent of global and environmental concerns.

• a positive, ongoing social awareness that will help alleviate the guilt of the client over spending all that money on themselves. They know that at least part of their investment is being used for the greater good.

• a sense of benevolence, however removed, will in turn translate into an increasingly positive attitude toward the perceived beneficiary.

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Conclusions . The hospitality industry relies heavily on three factors for success: reputation, competitive credibility, and the fiscal bottom line. Specific businesses do have, for the most part, control over how effectively they manipulate those factors, but there are always certain elements (e.g. geography and the local peculiarities of the physical environment) that can make the provision of any kind of guarantee of a positive experience more difficult than not.

Vestergaard Frandsen’s LifeStraw is not just a tool to help prevent unpleasant ill-health, but a tangible and concrete symbol of a business’ willingness to go the extra, unanticipated mile for their clients. In adopting the LifeStraw® as part of their customer services packages, the business in question would provide a concrete measure of reassurance - a practical and positive visual cue that will last much longer than the duration of any trip - and would gain, in return, an invaluable reputation for demonstrated social consciousness and global credibility. The newly associated business would, too, gain extended marketing platforms via the LifeStraw®’s related social media sites, and the prospective clientele that would very likely come with them. Any fiscal losses sustained by the business owner would more than likely be recovered as a result.

The LifeStraw® is available for shipping throughout Canada and the United States, in both single and multiple units. For consumer purchases, visit www.buylifestraw.com to find a local retailer. For large quantities purchased for public health settings, contact the manufacturer directly at http://www.vestergaard.com/contact-us.

Testimonials Just got back from a trip to Nepal and Cambodia. I used life straw dozens of times. Most notably while I was in the jungles of Cambodia, I found myself dangerously dehydrated and my two water bottles were already empty. There was NO SAFE WATER for me to drink. I did eventually stumble onto an abandoned well. After figuring out how to prime and pump up the water, I used the LifeStraw to drink my fill. I was so relieved, I was miles from the nearest bottle of water and I managed to get my drink on. I didn't have to take a risk that would have put me in an awful situation (severe diarrhea), and it only cost me $25 and the weight of the straw is negligible. In fact, I've decided that whenever I'm leaving the country to take this guy with me. Why not? JD Philipson: July 18, 2012 When I was putting together 72-hour bags for our family, I had all the bases covered except for drinking water. I researched for a long time before deciding to get these LifeStraws, but we are very happy with them… I like knowing our family won't have to worry about safe drinking water if we're faced with an emergency. Lisa Stearns: September 19, 2013

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Does EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS IT DOES… There is no substitute. Jason Francis: August 8, 2013 I bought two of the LifeStraws. My son is a soldier serving in Afghanistan and asked me to get him some. They are lightweight and can be used anywhere in an emergency. J. Dean: March 9, 2013 I’ve used a lot of water filters in actual field conditions; this seems way too cheap and simple, but it delivers on what it promises. I tested it in a bucket of stagnant water with algae and I’ve seen dead birds in it before, and it worked perfectly! Tasted as good as water from a home water pitcher filter. I’m seriously impressed! Why can’t everything be this simple and good?! A serious must-have emergency item…This filter is no joke. Flintpaper66: September 24, 2013

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References

[1].Vestergaard Frandsen: Disease Control Textiles [Online]. Available:

http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com [Accessed: 3 Oct 2013]

[2] M. Barksdale and K. Kershner, “How Lifestraw Works” How Stuff Works [Online]. Available: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/remediation/lifestraw1.htm [Accessed: 6 Oct 2013]

[3] eartheasy: Solutions for Sustainable Living. [Online]. Available: http://eartheasy.com/lifestraw [Accessed: 4 Oct 2013]

[4].Green Prophet: Sustainable News for the Middle East [Online]. Available:

http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/02/lifestraw-potable-water-filter/ [Accessed: 4 Oct

2013]

[5] T. Erich, “LifeStraw Personal Water Filter Review” Tactical Intelligence [Online]. Available: http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/lifestraw-personal-water-filter-review.htm [Accessed: 10 Nov 2013]

[6] Vestergaard Frandsen: Disease Control Textiles [Online]. Available: http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com [Accessed: 3 Oct 2013]

[7] Aquamira Water Treatment Products: Caring Aquamira Style [Online]. Available: www.aquamira.com [accessed 11 Nov 2013]

[8] Seychelle Water Filtration [Online]. Available: www.seychelle.com [accessed 9 Nov 2013].

[9] R. Terreo, “Top Ten Digital Marketing Strategies for Travel Agents” Travel Agent Central. [Online]. Available: http://www.travelagentcentral.com/social-media/top-10-digital-marketing-strategy-tips-travel-agents-40740 [accessed 4 Nov 2013]

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