OUGD501 - Luxury Water Branding

To create the most appropriate link to my research essay I established branding a luxury bottle of water would be the most effective in creating significant links to the theories of lifestyle and positioning the sense of self discussed within my essay. Researching luxury brands of water I found a range of information concluding that these theories an be applied to existing examples within the industry. 

High-end  brands of water emerged in the late 1990s, with brands such as Voss, Ty Nant and Fiji marketing artesian or high-purified water to luxury customers. Since the late 12th century, most bottles used to contain water were made with a neck, but now water is put into all sorts of containers. Bottle shapes and sizes evolved along with this trend, and different types of materials were used. Water is now sold and carried in jugs, cans, multi-gallon-sized plastic and even aluminum bottles. - Source

The table below highlights how the target audience of luxury water (in this example voss) have strong lifestyle values that correlate to projecting the qualities of the brand into themselves to make them appear more successful/important. The psychographics of all three customer types suggest a strong sense of status concluding they are willing to pay more to be use these brand values and attribute them to their own sense of self portraying them as cool, exclusive and important. 

source

Voss prides itself on luxury, researching the brand found their brand values which were as followed: 

Purity: VOSS is bottled at an artesian source in Southern Norway producing a naturally pure water.

Distinction: VOSS, with its iconic design, is served on the tables, in the homes and in the rooms of the most distinctive places worldwide.

Responsibility: VOSS is proud of its ongoing commitment to the Voss Foundation and maintaining 100% carbon neutrality.

Within these values status is highly idealised using terminology such as 'the most distinctive places worldwide' suggesting if you buy VOSS water you will be excepted into this elite supergroup that will make the individual superior. The logo itself is focused soley around the brand, the name is high impact to ensure it can be seen from a distance appealing to this sense of lifestyle as you can easily be associated with the brand. The monotone colour patellate uses a sleek and sophisticated grey to connote luxury and the strap line uses loaded terminology such as 'artisan' to further evoke connotations of luxury and elite separation. 

The main distinct feature of the VOSS brand is the iconic bottle, made from reusable glass instead of plastic it connotes a stronger sense of luxury and quality, the logo takes up a large proportion of the available space to make it easily identifiable, and the unique shape makes an iconic statement that can be applied to anyone seen with the product. 

FIJI Water was founded in 1996 out of the desire to share the earth’s finest water with the world.  Today, it is available in leading hotels, fine restaurants, retail locations. The use of superlative 'finest' quickly establishes the luxury nature of the product.  The FIJI brand works using the luxurious nature of the source to promote a certain lifestyle that its consumers buy into. FIJI is seen as a luxury destination that is associated with upperclass expensive resorts and an the perception of 'paradise'. Consumers buy this water with the expectations they will feel this sense of paradise and can be associated with the types of people who can afford to vacation on the luxury resort.

Similarly to the VOSS logo the FIJI logo is also very bold using strong defined logotype to be easily identified which allows the consumer to be distinctly associated with the brand which is further developed through the use of custom logo type. The bottle itself is less luxurious than the VOSS bottle being produced from plastic however the distinct shape create a desirable aesthetic. The use of palm leaves further connotes the luxury resort of FIJI which is used as the brands USP of exclusive luxury that the consumer buys into as a lifestyle. 

Ty Nant is a brand rooted in heritage, using the Welsh name adds a distinct sound to the brand that makes it easily identifiable. Again the logo uses bold logotype making it identifiable however the main branding factor for the brand is the bottle itself. The award winning, visionary bottle, designed by famed Welsh-born designer Ross Lovegrove appeals to the design conscious with its unique ripple effect packaging, which refracts light and colour, imitating surface reflections on water.

The launch involved the subtle curves of the ripple bottle with those of supermodel Adriana Sklenarikova to inspire a set of stunning photographs - shot by internationally renowned photographer - RANKIN - emphasising purity, fluidity and aesthetic form - winning Tŷ Nant the prestigious Golden "Gramia" Awards for the best PR campaign of 2002. Confirming it's desirability as a designer water - Tŷ Nant's ripple plastic bottle was voted "The 8th Coolest Thing in the World Right Now" by leading consumer style magazine ARENA - October 2003.

This reinforces the idea of status within the luxury water market promoting itself as one of the 'coolest things in the world right now' will attract the type of customer identified as status orientated wanting to project these connotations of cool onto themselves as a result of being associated with the brand. The main selling point for this water is the bottle itself to be seen with this entirely unique bottle adds a sense of exclusively and luxury to the individual. 

This research concluded the aesthetic of the physical bottle is an important factor within the branding and identity of these luxury water brands, another key conclusion is that they use bold distinctive logotype to easily identify the brand as this appeals to the key consumer allowing them to be easily associated with the brand and its list of luxury connotations. I can now apply this research into my initial design directions to ensure my practicla body of work is based on contextual ideas and informed by focused research into exiting examples within this market.