Services Marketing - Australian Bottled Water Industry Essay

Seventy percent of the human body is comprised of water. This makes drinking water quality vital. The EPA estimates the average adult consumes 1.2 liters daily or 115 gallons of community (tap) water daily while the average consumption of bottled water per capita in the U.S. is in excess of 30.8 gallons per year and is expected to continue to increase according to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and the Beverage Marketing Association’s 2013 report. Bottled water costs anywhere from 240 to 10,000 times more per gallon than the average cost of tap, but people’s perception that bottled water is purer, safer or healthier is driven, in part, by strong bottled water marketing campaigns that focus on news reports about crises that involve municipal water supplies. (NRDC, “Bottled Water Pure Drink or Pure Hype”) The sources for both tap and bottled waters as well as additives to either enrich or neutralize contents of water determine the mineral and chemical composition of drinking water. Is bottled water really any purer or healthier than local tap water?

In a remote area of the rainforest, there is an artesian aquifer that produces the water. A state of the art bottling facility is located right on top of the aquifer and draws the water up, protecting its purity and soft taste. In my opinion once the general public becomes more aware of the intricacies affiliated with Fiji water and how it is preserved and bottled further sales will follow. Additionally, the upper and upper middle class feel that the water given its isolation and quality processing add to their success persona. This could be affiliated with Target Marketing. Target Market is a set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. Fiji uses social marketing by highlighting the all natural process. Fiji promotes that the water is good for your overall health to include strengthening your bones, connective tissue, teeth, skin, and hair. Social marketing is the use of commercial marketing concepts and tools in programs designed to influence individual behavior to improve their well being and that of society. The brand name of Fiji is being associated with some of the finer things in life. Some of the more affluent retreats and restaurants are serving Fiji bottled water because of its brand. Branding Equity is utilized in this form of marketing. Brand Equity is the positive differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product or service. The retreats and restaurants

As VOSS products are aiming to young people with middle to high income, and a significant demand of self-expression, the main value created by the brand from the customer's perspective must be the symbolic device that provides customers a self- image when using an iconic water

The thirsty customer who enters a convenience store will be faced with a variety of choices for bottled water. Decorative labels, purity claims, and price points are all carefully calculated to entice the consumer to select a particular brand.

The product ‘Bling H2O’ was developed by Kevin Boyd who aimed to develop a luxury bottled water product that had an ‘exquisite face to match exquisite taste’ (website), stating that the product ‘is strategically positioned to target the expanding super-luxury consumer market’ (website). Bling H2O has adopted micromarketing to target specific consumers through one-on-one marketing based on market segmentation, product positioning, and consumer buying behaviour; this can also be adapted to Australian consumers.

“This is a story about a world obsessed with stuff. It 's a story about a system in crisis. We are trashing the planet, we are trashing each other, and we 're not even having fun”. This quote by writer; Annie Leonard, in her video The Study of Water explains how companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi used manufactured demand to get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles a week (Leonard, 2010). In the late 1970s, giant soft drink companies such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and DANONE used manufactured demand in order to get the general public to drink to their bottled water. However, it was did not do so well in the beginning at all. With the introduction of Perrier in the United States in the late 1960s, bottled was seen as a upper class fad that only middle class to upper class adults would drink instead of their regular tap water. People used to say, “Water is free, what will they sell us next air”? But due to manufactured demand these companies were able to successfully make individuals purchase bottle water with cheap tactics. For example, one of the first marketing tactic to scare people away from tap water was from Fiji Water, in which they placed many ads in Cleveland that announced that its water will taste better than the regular city tap (Leonard, 2010). This placement, like many others, were used to basically give tap water a bad image. That drinking water from the bottle is one of the more pure forms of consuming water then going to

Bottled water, from companies such as Poland Springs, Dasani, and Nestle Pure Life has become one of the largest consumed drinks in America. According to Sean D. Daj, a Stockholm water research prizewinner, there are approximately 475 bottled water plants in the U.S., producing 600 brands of bottled water. It is estimated that bottled water will soon become the nations second most popular beverage after soft drinks (Daj). Bottled water is widely discussed because of its availability elsewhere. Why do we buy bottled water when we have a free supply of tap water? In describing the mass expansion of the drink Brian Howard, a writer from the Environmental Magazine, says, “Bottled water is expected to pass both coffee and milk to become the

Evian, Volvic, Aquafina, Hawaiian Springs, or Fiji, ring a bell? These are the names of famous bottled water brands. Nowadays, bottled water is extremely popular in America. Approximately, 85 million bottles of water are consumed every day in the United States (Gleick IX). The reason being that bottled water is convenient, reasonable, and seems healthy. However, the disadvantages of using bottled water outweigh its benefits; therefore consumers should refrain from buying bottled water.

“We are a 24/7 on-the-go society who wants convenience in our beverage choices”. Kim E. Jeffery, CEO of Nestle Waters North company, made this comment in representation of the largest leader in the bottled water industry. It is no wonder how bottled water became so popular in our society. Healthier than soda, bottled water is conveniently stored in a lightweight, disposable, plastic bottle. Bottled water sales started when Perrier glass bottled water came overseas to America in the late 1970’s and in 1989, water was available in PET plastic bottles (Tapped). Now everywhere, bottled water can even be found in high school cafeterias while there are water fountains located in nearly every hall. However, there is an opposing view to the product with names such as Ice Mountain, Aquafina, Dasani, Sam’s Choice, and Acadia. Through research, bottled water is known to carry human pollutants, exceed other natural resource costs, and take part in a large portion of plastic waste, all in a sixteen ounce plastic bottle. Although bottled water is convenient in only a few cases, public education and legislation are necessary because of the human pollutants, costs, and waste.

The UK public have increasingly been considering health and wellness, partly inspired by the 2012 Olympics and other campaigns to eat better and be more active. This means that health worries and price will potentially lead to an increase in consumers switching to bottled water, and in my opinion Evian’s health claims should help it remain in the market leader position.

While we are always being told to drink our eight glasses of water a day, we are not usually advised about which is the best water to drink. Of course water bottles companies might provide encouragement that their water is superior to tap water, their recommendation is financially biased. As for public water, its levels of purity depend greatly on geographical location. Since it can be a daunting process trying to figure out exactly what the water contaminants are in a particular location, more and more people are either investing in a water filter and/or buying bottled water. In fact, there is a boom of “willingness to pay” for water, whether by filter or bottle, and while bottled water is certainly the less environmentally-friendly option, many people think it is superior to filtered tap water (Johnstone et al.2012).

Many of us mindlessly drink bottled water each day, not thinking about the greater impact of that action. However, whether we know it or not, every drink affects the economy, the environment, and much, much more. Bottled water can be found at just about every supermarket in the U.S., and for good reason. It is the most popular drink in the world, surpassing even soda, and it boosts the economy by $21.3 billion each year. (Fottrell, 22 Sept. 2017) Bottled water companies have created jobs and assisted in rebuilding infrastructure, and they have donated water after natural disasters. However, along with the good created by bottled water, it presents significant environmental challenges. The industry uses 1.5 million tons of plastic each year to package water, thereby releasing carbon emissions into the air. Also, despite the perception that bottled water is healthier than tap water, according to the World Wildlife Fund, it may not be any safer than tap water. (Schriever, 30 Aug. 2013) For these reasons, among others, the viability of the bottled water industry has been questioned, and solutions that allow for the positive economic and ethical effects of bottled water, but negate the negative environmental and ethical effects, are being called for. However, in order for the general public to objectively evaluate solutions to this major issue, it is imperative that they understand the facts concerning the rise of bottled water and the specific environmental impacts of its

The understanding of people choosing bottled water even though tap water is healthier and cheaper can be explained using the symbolic interactionism theory. “Symbolic interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors (source)” These meanings are based on people’s behavior and not always what is true. An American sociologist, George Herbert Mead, was the founder of this theory around 1920s. In 1960, this theory became one of the prominent theories of sociology. In addition to the symbolic interactionism theory, George Herbert Mead was also a founder of American pragmatism and one of the founders of social psychology. Symbolic interactionist often focuses on the micro level of society. It focuses on how the meanings of objects, people, places, etc. constructs the world around us. Interactionist stressed the understanding of social life by taking the places of individuals or groups. “By the 1980s mainstream sociology had accepted much of the core of the symbolic interactionist approach, with its emphases on meaning, agency, and the interpretive analysis of interactional processes, as a legitimate and central part of the discipline (source).”

Water is one aspect of the world that should not be considered a part of a budget because water should fit into every consumer’s price range. Bottled water is a perfect example of a cost efficient resource for water. No one can just build a house and expect clean, running water to be pouring out of their faucets. Whether the homeowner lives in the city or in a rural area it will cost them to provide their house with drinkable water. If they are building in a rural area, they will need to invest in a well, a water softener, and a water filter. If they find a place in the city they will receive a monthly water bill. Fager states, “Bottled water is the most realistically priced water in public use” (2). Instead of worrying about getting the necessities needed to provide clean drinking water, consumers can go to Walmart and buy a twenty-four pack of Nestle Pure Life for 4 dollars, which amounts to each individual bottle being 17 cents.

Worldwide trends of bottled water are increasing in recent years impacting various regions of the globe. Researchers noticed the links made between obesity problem in the West and increased consumption of soft drinks reinforce the growth of bottled water, therefore, Americans are turning towards bottled water to fill their needs. North America, in particular, the United States usage of bottled water continues to accelerate at rapid rates. Millions of Americans prefer bottled water for hydration, which is becoming a substitution instead of tap water.