Marketing of Packaged Drinking Water Essay Example

Marketing of Packaged Drinking Water Essay Water is the fountain of all life. Even a toddler knows that it is a commodity with utmost importance. Nearly 60% of our body weight comprises of water.Water can also be the cause to a great deal of misery specially in India where contaminated water continues to bring down millions with diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, jaundice and gastro-enteritis. Getting pure drinking water in cities and towns has now become a luxury. At most homes people are forced to either boil water to make it appropriate for drinking or they have to install water purifiers. While travelling or eating at restaurants buying packaged drinking water has become a necessity. This need has seen an explosion of companies marketing â€Å"safe drinking water† in bottles across the country.THE PACKAGED DRINKING WATER INDUSTRY- AN OVERVIEW India is the tenth largest bottled water consumer in the world. The present scenario shows that it is one of the fastest growing industrial sectors. There are nearly 200 brands, 80% of which are local. Most of the small scale producers sell non-branded products and serve small markets. Despite the large number of small sellers, the industry is dominated by big players like Bisleri, Aquafina, Mc Dowells, Parle Bailley and so on. PLANT REVIEW: There are two working units of the factory.One at Dahisar and the other is at Kurla. The unit at Dahisar is the larger of the two units. It has a huge processing and manufaturing plant. The one at Kurla also does the same work of manufacturing and processing but is relatively smaller. For the purpose of accounting, both these units are considered as one factory but they both have individual licenses. The factory is one that produces packaged drinking water and according to the Bureau of Indian Standards, such a factory must necessarily have a micro-biologist and a chemist.Both the plants thus have a microbiologist and a chemist who perform timely tests on sample water in order to maintain the quality and BIS standards with regard to the chemical composition and purity of the water. MANUFACTURING PROCESS: MARKET SEGMENTATION: The packaged drinking water market is segmented according to the type of consumers who generally are: * Foreign tourists * Domestic tourists * Corporate houses * Health conscious people * Restaurants and clubs etc The packaged drinking water market is also segmented on the basis of pack sizes. * 1 litre bottles * 500 ml bottles * 300 ml bottles * 20 litre jars * 200 ml cups etcSWOT ANALYSIS OF THE INDIAN PACKAGED DRINKING WATER INDUSTRY: STRENGHTS: * The industry is gaining momentum at a rapid rate. * The market is huge and untapped * Awareness among the people with regard to pure and safe drinking water * Available in convenient pack sizes 300 ml, 500 ml, 1000ml and 2000 ml for bulk requirements WEAKNESSES: * Too many players entering the market * Any local seller can start manufacturing easily * Lack of demand in the rural area * Not very economical * Quality can be tampered with easily * Lack of brand loyalty due to entrance of MNC brands like evian etc * Lack of advertising to build brand preferenceOPPORTUNITIES: * Sustained market growth increase in the coming years * Growth in literacy rate can increase consumption of packaged drinking water due the health amp; safety reasons * Huge population and untapped market * Unreliable municipal water quality THREATS: * Too many players can dilute the market and also the profit margin. * Fluctuation in sales due to seasonality * Water filters and cold drink industry are a great threat to the water industry MARKET STRUCTURE: The water industry has over hundreds of brands operating in the market. However, the major players in the industry are Bisleri, Mc Dowells and Aquafina.Thus we can conclude that the packaged drinking manufacturing industry forms an oligopoly market structure. THREAT OF COMPETITORS: There are 100s of brands operating under this industry. However, the 2 main competitors for Mc D owells packaged drinking water are Bisleri and Aquafina. Bisleri serves more to the retail sector but Mc. Dowells and Aquafina cater both to retail as well as corporate markets. Thus, the major competition of this brand is more largely with Aquafina since they have the same target market and it faces very little competition from Bisleri since the target market for the two brands are different.Also the industry faces some amount of competition from even the small local brands which are non-branded and can afford to sell their brand at a cheaper rate than Mc. Dowells. DEMAND AND SUPPLY Mc Dowells has a distributor model as well as direct chain model of selling its product. ,ie they sell through distributors like wholesalers and retailers to the ultimate consumers and also sell through direct chains to the ultimate consumer who generally big corporate houses. Mc Dowells Packaged Drinking Water has variations in its demand pattern according to the seasonal conditions.The demand for pack aged drinking water is more is more in the summer season as compared to the winter or monsoon season. Thus summers are considered to be the peak season to mark a larger portion of the profits and sales. Also, during festivals and the marriage season, the product books high profits and sales. The demand for 20 liters jars comes more from corporate houses rather than the retail marker whereas the 1 litre and 500ml bottles cater mainly to the retail markets. Cups caters to the market at a larger extent during festivals and marriages. CLIENT LIST:CLIENT LIST: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS: * Mc Dowells should spend more on sales promotions to reinforce its brand image in the market * Campaign stalls to beat local players and to create awareness * They can tie up with large commercial complex, hotels and airlines industries as they are an emerging sector * Proper distribution channels should be maintained so that the brand reaches to all * They can target the youth segment by promoting the brand in various college festivals and seminars * New and attractive packaging can be launched to attract ustomers * Investing in research and development can be of vital importance in the coming years * Product differentiation should be made so as to increase consumption for Mc Dowells