One point made by the programme was that, with water natural and sourced at minimal cost, the real value to the industry lay in how the product was marketed and branded. After all, why else would you pay money for something that you can otherwise get for free? In a sense the market now has 20 or 30 varieties of something that actually has no variety.
The latest addition to the market – and with its own branding twist – is Aquapax, from Just Drinking Water, which makes a big play of its packaging in a 500ml carton mostly made of wood, which as they helpfully point out is a natural and renewable resource.
The Engage team road-tested Aquapax and wondered what impact – if any – drinking water from a carton in a sector dominated by bottles there would be. Our findings were split between the practical and the emotional.
The first point to make, of course, is that consumers are already used to getting drinks (albeit not water) from cartons, so there should not be a major educational job to be done in convincing the consumer to embrace a carton.
However, those in the team who drank water particularly when exercising were concerned that shape of the Aquapax was just not as ergonomical to hold as a water bottle, whilst some of the ladies in the team were worried about the durability of the carton versus a bottle if they chose to carry one in their bag.
On the more emotional side, clearly the carton appears more sustainable than a plastic bottle. At present, at least, it is achieving some stand-out for the brand in what is a crowded sector and, for those so-inclined, it enables you, the buyer, the chance (in the short term) to stand out from the crowd.
The bottom line, we guess, is that the brand is asking you, the consumer, to buy into an ethos not just a drink. But, when push comes to shove, and with sales of bottled water falling as more people turn on the tap at home and when eating out, we’re not sure that it’s ever going to be anything more than just another drink on the shelf.
Dear Engage Team,
ReplyDeleteAs the founder of the Aquapax brand, I have google alerts set which flagged your ‘water in a box’ article today. It’s nice to read an objective research piece…
FYI, my original motivator for Aquapax was not to develop a ‘bottled water brand’ but to produce a sealed carton of water for emergency aid use, more efficacious than plastic, suitable for long term storage and capable of being burned post use to reduce the reverse logistics burden after hydrating people in emergency scenarios.
Alas the agencies in question wouldn’t work with my then ‘new unproven business’, which led me to develop Aquapax into a retail consumer product. In so doing, the (my) ethos you describe is very important, as we’re setting an example to the big brand owners, with all their refined environmental statements, that there’s a simple and proven lower carbon footprint package option for their products...
The facts are that consumers have embraced Aquapax beyond our initial expectations and we’re now retailing our brand across 4 countries including the UK where we partner with both Tesco and Waitrose. There’s revolution in the air (as it says on top of our carton) and as always, it’s led by the public!
The ergonomics of our package are about as good as a cardboard box can get right now, while the durability of plastic which your researchers allude to is Aquapax very reason for existing. Interestingly you didn’t point out the fact that an empty Aquapax carton is refillable and re-usable, with a message urging consumers to do so on its side. At the same time, many of the more durable plastic bottles (estimated 400 years to degrade in a landfill) literally carry warnings to the public not to refill or re-use them.
Thanks again for your objectivity.
Neil Tomlinson (aka @neiltwaterguy)