Can it!
Is bottled water drying up?
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Once a status symbol or fashion accessory, bottled water has faced eco-concerns, health headlines, and increased competition in recent years. With the rollout of self-serve water fountains and dispense machines, we ask, is there is a future for bottled water?
At one time, we camped outside stores to buy the first copies of the latest Harry Potter. Now, we do it for cans of water. Last week fans queued through the night outside the Iceland Food Warehouse store in Trafford Park, Manchester to be the first to buy SYPS, the new fizzy water brand from rapper Aitch.
The 'zero sugar, zero calorie' drink, heavily promoted on social media, and the platinum-selling artist attracted a mammoth line of mostly teenagers keen to buy into its strawberry, peach, lemon and lime flavours. Following after other celebs including Tyson Fury (Wow Hydrate – a sugar-free protein water), martial artist Paddy Pimblett (Body Fuel – electrolyte water), and social media phenom KSI (Prime – made with a filtered water and coconut water base), Aitch is the latest celeb to launch a water brand. And frankly, it’s an interesting time to choose to do so.
Bad news
Packaged water has been making headlines recently, and not many of them have been good. A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, and subsequently picked up by global news outlets, found that the average litre of bottled water contains almost a quarter of a million nanoplastic fragments.
Even Times columnist Caitlin Moran joined the conversation. Her column starkly asked: “Is drinking bottled water going to be the new smoking?” She concluded that “Buying mineral water used to be a sign you were a bit fancy. Turns out you might be guzzling nanoplastic.” And that “Once people know what the health risks are, being offered bottled water instead of tap water starts to look like someone offering you a cigarette instead of oxygen.” It was an extraordinary column, especially considering Moran’s usual topics include “Men are intimidated by sexy lingerie. Just ask my husband.” And “Smile! Kanye’s titanium teeth make him a human tin opener”.
Bottled water has become a hot topic. Inherently linked to single use plastic, it’s embroiled in the related eco, as well the above health concerns. As Moran states, the social cache of carrying a disposable water bottle has deeply shifted. So, is there a future for the category? Brands have a lot of headwinds to work against.
A rebellious breath of fresh air
And so we come back to Aitch, and a shift from bottled to canned products. Indeed, it is in canned water that we see the birth of a new sub-category. And what’s more, its products are gaining not only a new audience, but a cult-like status.
Disruptive brand Liquid Death is perhaps the most notable. While still offering packaged water, it has managed to shift the conversation by changing packaging materials and using artwork more evocative of a beer. While its branding denounces other formats and presents itself as something both eco-friendly and edgy – “Don't be scared. It's just water. Murder your thirst. Death to plastic” – consumers, especially younger ones have gathered under its subversive rallying cry. It currently has 2.9 million Instagram followers. For context, Coca-Cola has 3 million.
Eco-friendly and edgy?
It's not just the ‘we’re better than plastic’ cues, nor in SYPS case its celebrity credentials, that’s working. Navigating a narrow channel between existing products, these new entrants are positioning themselves as something better, something greener, more interesting, nay more rebellious, than water, while also being ‘less bad’ than sugary alternatives.
To let Aitch tell it: “I started SYPS because I needed to drink more water but was addicted to fizzy drinks. Water just wasn’t hitting the spot in the same way. So, I thought, why not make the best fizzy flavoured water in the world and here it is: 0 sugar, 0 calories, maximum flavour and loads of fizz.” In short, these new entrants are targeting an entirely different consumer than the established bottled market. For parents, they’re a better option than soda. For teens and young adults, they’re way cooler, and more interesting liquid-wise than plain old bottled water.
Despite the marked shift by many consumers to reusable bottles, packaged water is earning a growing space in the repertoire of younger consumers. And there’s plenty more potential left for new brands to tap.s are ready to interact with wine differently. But is the wine industry?