Packaged Drinking Water Product

The product category I have chosen is Packaged Drinking Water. At one point of time water was a basic necessity and was free of cost but now marketing strategies have become so advanced that people are ready to buy this basic commodity for a price .It is believed that in the next current fiscal year 2012-2013 this industry will become 10,000crore worth. The main two reasons for its success has been shortage of water and health consciousness.

The main five competitors of this industry are

1. BISLERI INDIA PVT.LTD

2. PEPSI CO INDIA (AQUAFINA)

3. COCA-COLA INDIA PVT.LTD (KINLEY)

4. MOUNT EVEREST MINERAL WATER LTD

5. PARLE AGRO PVT.LTD

BISLERI INDIA PVT.LTD

HISTORY

Undoubtedly Bisleri is synonymous to water. You go to a shop to buy water you almost always ask for “BISLERI” . BIsleri had started its journey way back in 1965 and was originally an ITALIAN company created by FELICE BISLERI. It had started with two glass bottles -bubbly and still in 1965. Then PARLE bought over Bisleri India Ltd in 1969 and started manufacturing bottled water. The owner,chairman and MD of the company currently is Mr. Ramesh J Chauhan. He and his family own all the shares of the company.

VISION

As given on its official website its vision is “The Aqua Green Revolution began with an ambitious dream:

An India in which every person has uninterrupted access to scientifically purified and fortified drinking water, irrespective of geographical barriers or economic limitations.”

PRODUCTS

Initially Bisleri was available in 7 packs namely 250ml cups,250 ml bottles,500ml,1litre,1.5litre,2litres and 5litres. Later in 1991 Bisleri introduced 20ltr home and office economical pack for large consumption. Launch of “bada bisleri”,a 1.2 ltr pack was done in 2000.Bisleri launched a stay protected campaign with Bissi spreading the message of Protect the ones you love and launched a 1.5 ltr package for home consumption.

The Mineral water being their basic product a new Vedica natural spring water was also introduced.The Vedica spring water comes from the Himalayas and is naturally purified.It is their own branded mountain water which was launched to compete with Kinley a Coca-Cola product. The water purifier is based in Uttaranchal and has medicinal properties.It is priced at Rs.20.

SEGMENTATION AND UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

The market was segmented into three categories-premium,popular and bulk. Premium were those segments which used water minimally .For eg: small cup orders for occasions such as family functions or marriages. The popular segments were the normal day to day consumption of water . Bulk segment as the name suggests was for bulk consumption .For eg:Bulk consumption for cooking purposes at marriages or household purposes.

Every new entrant in the market used the purity factor to sell Mineral water so a shift was necessary.Hence Bisleri positioned itself by changing its ad-campaign from “pure and safe” to “play safe”. They urged the customers to buy their product because it focused on the safety provided by the “breakaway” seal, by illustrating the ease with which conventionally sealed bottles could be refilled and recycled. Said Ashok Kurien, CEO, Ambience D’Arcy, Bisleri’s ad agency, “Our objective with the campaign was to highlight the tamper-proof seal and create doubt in the consumer’s mind of the purity of the other brands. That is, Bisleri is the only one that guarantees purity.” Bisleri also introduced trendy packaging.

DISTRIBUTION (As quoted by Ex-Sales Manager: MANI GOPALAKRISHNAN)

The distribution system in the 90’s was very obsolete .It had the “VAN SALES SYSTEM”. Each sales person was assigned to a particular van and was given the responsibility to finish his respective targets. In most of the cases the salesman was not able to complete his targets due to lack of seriousness or procrastination even though incentives were introduced for people completing their targets. So the whole distribution system was revamped for 20 ltr jars especially. The sales manager had the responsibility to make distributors in different areas who would invest a certain amount by buying Bisleri products. Now it became a prerogative for the distributors to sell within the expiry date because he needed the return on investment. This whole system increased the sales four-fold in 2000(from 18000 jars per month to 60000 jars per month).

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS

In late 1990’s the ad campaign brand image was “There is just one bisleri”. The print and TV campaign had the tag line “pure and safe”. Currently it is “play safe”. It had an intelligent advertisement in which it had shown the earth with 29%land and 71%Bisleri.

2. PEPSICO INDIA (AQUAFINA)

HISTORY

“Aquafina” was first launched by PEPSICO INDIA in the US in 1994. With its best taste it became the best selling brand in the country. In India it was launched in MUMBAI in 1999 and it was made available nationally in 2000. Its strengths being the brand appeal and distribution it became one of the leading brands of bottled water in india.

VISION

As given on its official website its vision is “PepsiCo’s responsibility is to continually improve all aspects of the world in which we operate – environmental, social, economic – creating a better tomorrow than today.

Our vision is put into action through programmes and a focus on environmental stewardship, activities to benefit society and a commitment to build shareholder value by making PepsiCo a truly sustainable company.”

PRODUCTS

Aquafina is available in individual sizes and multi-packs. In individual sizes it is available in 20 oz bottles,24 oz bottles,1litre bottle,1.5litre bottle and in multi packs it is available in 12oz(12 pack),16.9oz(6,12,24,32 pack) and 24 oz(6 ,12 pack).

Aquafina then introduced a unique flavoured water product named FlavorSplash which purifies water with added flavours.There are 6 flavors -grape, raspberry, wild berry, strawberry kiwi, lemon and peach mango.

And then they introduced carbonated water beverage SPARKLING with 0 calories,0 carbs

And 0 sugar which was available in 20 oz bottles and 16.9 oz 6 packs.It is available in two flavours -Berry burst and Citrus twist.

SEGMENTATION AND UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITIONS

Here the segmentation was based on taste. It had three segments-normal mineral water, flavoured water and carbonated flavoured water. Under the normal mineral water category there were subsegments bulk ,premium and popular.

Their unique selling proposition has been their flavoured water in which the leading players like Bisleri have not touched upon They are the main leaders in the mineral water industry when flavoured water comes into consideration.

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION

Aquafina has entered into the Mineral water with refreshing and sharp advertising.It has a “What a Body campaign” which has given it a premium and youthful image . The brand differentiation for this product had come due its affiliation with the established Pepsico. Aquafina regularly offers promotions in the form of contests and giveaways. It is also the legal sponsor for major league baseball.

3. COCA-COLA INDIA PVT.LTD (KINLEY)

HISTORY

Coca cola india pvt.ltd introduced KINLEY its first packaged mineral water in India on 1st Aug,2000. The Kinley brand was actually introduced in March 1998 when it launched Kinley soda. Then it introduced its mineral water in Bangalore and Kinley packaged mineral water was rolled out in other parts of the country in phased manner..

VISION

As mentioned in the official website its vision is “Kinley water understands the importance and value of this life giving force. Kinley water thus promises water that is as pure as it is meant to be”.

PRODUCTS

Its mineral water comes in 5 packs namely 500ml,1000ml,2ltr,20ltr and 25ltr. It also has carbonated brands which are used for mixers and available in a variety of flavours like apple, bitter grapefruit, bitter lemon, bitter orange, vanilla cream and ginger ale.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

Apart from using the traditional distribution network , Kinley has approached chemists which will target on large scale distribution. It also gives an assurance of safety by purifying the water using reverse -osmosis techniques to ensure purity. The company had approached various medical associations for doctor’s recommendation to give it a health related positioning. The Federation of Family Practitioner’s Association of India has recommended it.

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS

Its tagline for advertisement was to emotionally appeal the audience – “Boond boond mai vishwas”. The advertisement was really received well and it was mainly to create confidence in the minds of the customer regarding the purity of the water . They promoted their product as being recommended by family practitioners association so that there was no doubt about its safety.

4. MOUNT EVEREST MINERAL WATER LTD ( HIMALAYAN NATURAL MINERAL WATER)

HISTORY

Foraying into the branded mineral water segment Tata enterprises launched Himalayan natural mineral water on 24th sept, 2008 under the name MOUNT EVEREST MINERAL WATER LTD.It is bottled at Himachal Pradesh .The water is untouched and unprocessed and comes from the Himalayan ground which has a very unique taste.

VISION

Their vision as stated by Pradeep Poddar ,CEO “This launch would be our first transformative step in actualising our vision of creating ‘next generation’ beverages with water on the platform of wellness, starting with natural mineral water. In future, we would be straddling the entire consumer pyramid with breakthrough, functional and nutritionally enhanced offerings, making this an exhilarating journey – in our quest to make water truly the elixir of life”

PRODUCTS

Himalayan natural mineral water is available in six pack sizes namely, 2 ltr, 1.5 ltr, 1 ltr, 750 ml, 500 ml, and 200 ml.

The water is being sourced from a large pristine and protected acquifer , which flows well below the earth’s surface. The water is collected in the catchment area and travels through rocks, clay and soil, thereby collecting the minerals available and then it is packaged and distributed.

SEGMENTATION AND UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

The segments first of all have defined on the basis if the type of bottled water category and on this basis this category has been divided into two parts: –

Natural Mineral Water category: – the water is packaged naturally from the source.No chemicals or processing done.

Ordinary Bottles water category: – It is processes in the using the chemicals and then packed .

They also targeted their customer based on a unique segmentation scheme. The institutional customer segment and consumer segment.The institutional customer segment included airlines,hotels,theatres,etc. Consumer segment included those customers who were willing to pay a high price for naturally sourced water.

The unique selling proposition was its natural and unprocessed water which had natural minerals in it.

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS

The television commercials that were used strengthened the positioning with the statement in the ad using : ” Go Back to the nature with untouched, unprocessed pristine water from the Himalayas that took 20 years gathering nature’s good ness for you. Himalayan Natural mineral water.” The ad ends with the new bottle design being displayed along with the slogan “Live Natural” and the name of TATA appearing at the bottom saying “A TATA product”.

The TATA brand name brought them trust. This message is strengthened through the statement on the label: -“I spent my youth never questioning destiny that led me from the top of the Sivalik range of the foothills of the Himalayas. Nor the decades I spent gathering the natural goodness of minerals like sodium, calcium and potassium. Where I come from, destiny is a good thing. And now that yours has led you to me, don’t hesitate to drink up.”

The bottle was also relaunched with a new design structured by Rediffusion DYR and designed a Rs. 1 Crore promotional campaign which included numerous advertisements.

5. PARLE AGRO PVT.LTD (BAILLEY)

HISTORY

The origin of Parle group dates back to the 1950’s and later it split into Parle agro ,Parle bisleri and Parle products. Bottled water BAILLEY was launched in 1993.It was launched to compete with the Mineral water indystry giant BISLERI.

VISION

Their vision as stated in their official website is “Our vision is to be a leader in the business and to stand apart from the competition by being first in the market to innovate and introduce new products and new categories.

To maintain the position we decide to maintain high quality,introduce new and innovative products ,reach every part of India ,remaining customer centred ,constantly upgrading their knowledge and skill.”

PRODUCTS

Bailley is available in 200ml,300ml,500ml,1ltr,and 2ltr PET and 5 ltr,20 ltr,25 ltr jars. It is the first brand which has ISI certification.The first to launch four sided 200ml bottles catering to premium airlines like Jet Airways and British Airways.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

The unique selling proposition for this product has been the establishment under a Brand name PARLE. They had kickstarted due to the trust that consumers have in the name.Their USP was also their 200ml bottles which was served in airlines where even the leaders of packaged drinking water had not ventured into.

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS

Apart from advertisements in newspapers BAILLEY has not been aggressive in its promotions and television advertisements. . It has a lethargic approach towards market. It has minimal TV commercials and in due course will go into oblivion if not promoted .

PRICING COMPARISON OF ALL THE COMPETITORS

BISLERI

MARKET SHARE

The industry is growing at the rate of 40%. In india tha market is huge and untapped. There is growing awareness among people related to importance of mineral water.

The only weakness is that the rural population is not using the packaged drinking water. Since two decades many players have entered in the race.

Total bottled water has a size of Rs.11-12 bn of this 7bn is in the hands of organized sector and rest is with unorganized sector. In the organized sector Bisleri is the market leader with 60% market share.Pepsico and coca cola have 8-9% individually. Himlaya has 4% market share and the rest is with other regional players.

The double digit growth rate has attracted many foreign players. The bottles water growth rate is expected to stabilize with 25-30% for next 4-5 years.

The Rs.1200 crore maket share which was with Bisleri has been now shared among other players.