Ethos, the brainchild of Peter Thum '90, operates on a simple concept: water for water By Stephen Schenkenberg | |||
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"What's the power of a billion dreams?" This question—which is printed on a small square brochure for Ethos Water near the counter of your local Starbucks—was preceded by a more traditional query: "What's the power of one person's dream?" In this story, they spring from the same source. It was November 2000, and Peter Thum '90, had arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, on behalf of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. There to work on a branding study for a South African winery, Thum was hit with an eye-opening view of impoverished children suffering from an alarming lack of clean water. Sewage ran down the middle of their streets, and there was little safe water. "Seeing this kind of poverty had a real effect on me," he remembers. After returning to the UK, Thum began reading seriously about the world water crisis, and working on a new McKinsey project for a water-bottling company that enabled him to learn about the industry from the inside. "I saw an opportunity to create a compelling brand that could connect people in developed countries with people in developing countries who desperately needed water," he says. "This idea started out literally on a cocktail napkin, and ultimately led to Ethos." In March 2002, Thum left McKinsey to work full-time on developing Ethos. By the end of the year, he was joined by Jonathan Greenblatt, his business school classmate, a former online real estate executive who had spent five years in the White House and U.S. Department of Commerce during the Clinton administration. The duo pitched their business plan to nearly 200 potential investors, only three of whom showed interest. Returning to an airport after yet another pitch, the two decided a change was in order. "We came to the conclusion that if we didn't start the company with our own money," Thum says, "it would never happen." Thum and Greenblatt co-founded Ethos Water, www.ethoswater.com, in August 2003. In an effort to increase distribution, the two began conversations with their respective contacts at Starbucks, hoping the coffee giant would agree to be a customer. After six months of meetings, Thum and Greenblatt scored a face-to-face talk with Starbucks founder and chairman Howard Schultz. "We handed him a bottle and explained what the business was about," Thum says, "telling him the story of our company and what we were trying to achieve." Thum's and Greenblatt's goals would soon become Schultz's own, when Starbucks acquired Ethos in April 2005, pledging $10 million to supporting the Ethos mission in the coming five years. As to what drives those who buy Ethos, Thum points to idealism. "I think customers respond to the fact that, in a very simple way, they can help address the world water crisis," he says. "Ethos allows people to empower themselves, just by making a purchase. For every bottle sold, a nickel is donated—and that's actually a very large number in relative terms. A nickel may not be very much for somebody in the United States, but in a country like Ethiopia or Bangladesh, a nickel buys about a month's worth of water." For Thum, Ethos customers have provided special inspiration since the company's first days. He recalls living in New York City, preparing for the company's launch and seeing dauntingly-full coolers of bottled water at a local pizzeria. "I remember talking about how hard it was going to be to for our business to make it," Thum says. But that would change. "The week we launched Ethos in Starbucks stores, I walked through Times Square to do some media interviews, and I saw people carrying our product. They would never know who I was, but they were carrying our product right through the middle of Times Square. It was so exciting to see the city—which seemed like it would conquer Ethos—in a very small way being conquered." Back to Table of Contents |
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CMC Alumni, Faculty, And Students Root Their Success To Environmental Protection And Awareness
