Marketing analysis of nestlé's bottled water brands

Marketing Analysis of Nestlé’s Bottled Water Brands
National University
Abstract

The bottled water industry has become in the past years one of the most lucrative businesses in the beverage industry. Who would have thought 50 years ago that bottling drinking water would become such a successful business? Water is water, right? It is good for us and as long as it serves its purpose andquenches our thirsts, the mission is served. Bottling companies have us believe that drinking
bottled water is a healthier and safer than drinking tap water. This is certainly questionable, but the reality today is there are many companies making billions of dollars out of bottling and selling drinking water. How do they sell the water? By using clever marketing strategies that entice the consumer topurchase their products. In this paper, we will compare the different marketing strategies for to mayor selling brands of Nestle Waters, Arrowhead and Perrier.
Marketing Analysis of Nestlé’s Bottled Water Brands
Arrowhead and Perrier
To understand how bottled water is marketed we must first understand were does the water actually come from and also why people prefer to buy it instead ofdrinking tap water. According to Mehta, Lemley and Schwartz (1999), “A bottler’s choice of water source is influenced by regulations, consumer preference in the market place, and availability or proximity of the preferred source. In general, water bottler’s will first seek a natural source in an effort to position their water as a premium product”. The source of the water will determine how theproduct is defined or labeled. There is a variety of different bottled water types available to consumers: Drinking water, mineral water, well water, artisan water, spring water, purified water an sparkling water. Arrowhead water is labeled as mountain spring water. Spring water as defined by Mehta et al. (1999), as “water that is collected directly from an underground formation from which water flowsnaturally to the ground or from a bored hole that taps the source of the spring. It requires minimal treatment before it is bottled and must retain the same physical properties and composition of the natural spring water”. On the other hand Perrier water is defined as sparkling mineral water. According to Mehta et al. (1999), Sparkling water is defined as “Water that contains natural or addedcarbon dioxide in the same amount that it had at the point of emergence from its source”.
Not only do we have to understand what does a natural water source mean, but we have to know were does each brand has its source and most importantly where it is sold to see what market segments they are targeting. Arrowhead bottled water was originally bottled directly from its source in the San BernardinoMountains in California. An arrowhead rock formation several acres in size points towards these natural spring and that’s how the brand got its name. Today, the sources for this brand include more natural springs in Northern California all the way up to the Canadian Rockies. This brand is sold by Nestle Waters only in the Western part of the United States. And it is considered by its parentcompany to be the leading selling brand in the western region with a 26% share of the market (www.nestle-watersna.com). The target segment for this brand is very wide and we can understand this by the large variety of presentations of the product, ranging from 11 oz. version to 5-gallon version for water coolers, with a total of 13 size varieties. It is mainly targeted to health conscious consumersthat are preoccupied with the quality of the drinking water they use. Their labels include a picture of the snowy San Bernardino Mountains on a clear blue-sky day with trees and clear, fresh flowing water. On their web page they have images of people of all ages and ethnicities, most often smiling because surely they are happy to be consuming this healthy product. Perrier on the other hand is...