BITE Insight

Water is big business. The total volume of bottle water consumed in the United Kingdom has increased steadily since 2010. At the start of the decade, bottled water consumption sat at 1.9 billion litres, a figure that increased to 2.56 billion litres by 2015.

Consumption levels in the UK are but a drop in the ocean of bottled water consumption around the globe. Annually, the world consumes 53 billion gallons of bottled water, which generates $61 billion.

With an exponentially increasing number of brands, how does a new player in this crowded space stand out?

Smartwater has a unique selling point – it’s vapour distilled. Their agency Recipe wanted to find a way of tying this into a human truth to help increase brand recognition in the UK.

Identifying their target audience as ‘curious 20-somethings’, they knew the message had to fit into their busy lives. Thinking Distilled is the philosophy that by simplifying everyday tasks people will have more time to focus on the important things. Smartwater aimed to get all those 20-somethings that think distilled, to drink distilled.

Geo-targeted ads across digital, social and OOH focused on the seasons: ‘Spring Distilled’ and ‘Summer Distilled’ with contextual communications around local activities and events including the Rugby World Cup.

This is a great example of a brand using contextual data to create a more targeted campaign. It prompted a 64% awareness increase in 9 months, doubled volume sales from 2015 to 2016 and helped Smartwater go from a new entrant to no. 2 water brand in 2 years.