Why didn't I think of selling bottled water?

Why? Why? Why? Why didn’t I think of bottling water and selling it by the megalitre? Perhaps I could go into selling bottles of fresh air, but I believe some canny Welshmen have already cornered this market.

For the vast majority of the Australian population, the water coming out of their taps is perfectly good. So how did bottled water (plus water filters etc) manage to take over large sections of supermarket shelves and fridges in convenience stores?

The fitness and health fanatics, Gen X and Y and new parents etc have all adopted water as a healthier option to soft drinks, juices and cordials. You only have to hear about Cottee’s woes regarding the downward trends of its sales to understand the magnitude of the swing away from sweetened drinks.

But while this is fathomable, you have to wonder why everyone is choosing to buy water when, for most, it is freely available from the tap. Initially I thought it must be fabulous marketing, but I am not so sure anymore. I think it has something to do with our psyches.

Something ‘free’ doesn’t deliver the same level of satisfaction as something bought. Essentially value seems to need to be monetary for it to have credence. Read Six Capitals and Double Entry by Jane Gleeson-White if you are interested in the role economics plays in how we view value — very interesting books.

However, back to bottled water!

Roy Morgan Research has just released some figures on bottled water consumption. The summary of it is “go and buy shares in a bottled water supplier”.

In 2015, some 5.3 million people (or 27.1% of Aussies 14+) drank bottled water in any given seven days — an increase on 2014, when 4.9 million Australians drank it in the same period.  The most popular brand by far is Mount Franklin, consumed by nearly 40% of all bottled-water drinkers in an average seven days. Coles Natural Spring Water is a very distant second (14.0%), just ahead of Pump Pure Water (12.8%).

Despite its fame for being used by supermodels and Hollywood actresses to wash their hair, Evian is only the tenth most popular bottled water in Australia, consumed by 1.6% of the population in an average seven days.

Bottled water consumption in Australia: our 10 most popular brands — Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), January–December 2015 (n=3,662).

Overall, a greater proportion of Australian women (29.7%) than men (24.5%) drink bottled water in an average seven days, and this pattern is evident across most of the top 10 brands. Cool Ridge and Fiji Water have the most pronounced gender skew towards women, while only Peats Ridge is consumed by slightly more men than women.

Australians under 50 are markedly more likely than older Aussies to drink bottled water, with its popularity peaking among the 25- to 34-year-old bracket (a third of whom drink it in an average week).

Around the country, bottled water consumption is most widespread in Western Australia, where 30.2% of residents drink it in an average seven days. NSW is close behind (29.0%), whereas Tasmanians are below average at 22.3%.

Andrew Price, General Manager – Consumer Products, Roy Morgan Research, said:

“A theme emerges pretty quickly when we look at Australia’s 10 most widely consumed bottled waters: brand names that evoke images of nature (Mount Franklin, Cool Ridge, Peats Ridge, Fiji Water) or purity (Aqua Pura, Coles Natural Spring Water). Selling something we can drink for free from the tap is a big ask, but by emphasising the natural and untouched quality of their water, these brands are implying (without stating outright) that they are better for the consumer than tap water.

“This message appears to be resonating with more women than men: not only do they drink more of it, as explained above, but slightly more of them (2.2 million women vs 2 million men) agree that ‘bottled water is better to drink than tap water’. Mind you, Cool Ridge’s particular success with women (who comprise 64% of all Cool Ridge drinkers) may also have something to do with its ultra-cute advertising campaign featuring puppets of native fauna brainstorming ideas to market their brand!

“The challenge for brands in such a crowded market is to stand out on a shelf full of blue plastic bottles with similar labels and virtually indistinguishable contents — to distinguish themselves from a sea of competitors. That’s where Roy Morgan Single Source comes in, providing in-depth consumer data that allows brands to understand who exactly is most likely to drink their water and to tailor their marketing accordingly.”