Bon Aqua

PArtner

Headmint Global Strategy

Location

Moscow, Russia

year

2015

―

A very unexpected branding solution came about within this Russian water brand project. Bon Aqua is the Coca-Cola-owned processed water, the ‘Dasani of Russia’ if you will. After diligent background research and numerous conversations with the client, it was understood that most Russians don’t actually drink water, and the assumption that surrounds being seen drinking it is that you must be ill. This goes back to the days of spa tourism for medicinal purposes and is rooted in a therapeutic narrative. In fact, the Russians even have a saying, “water is not like vodka, you can’t drink loads of it”.

So the challenge became abundantly clear: the role of communication was therefore purely an educational one to remind or inform the Russian public that water is indeed good for you, in so many ways! The strategy needed was not about differentiation but about boosting Bon Aqua’s hydration credentials and staking a claim on as much territory as possible in the consumers’ minds – to become the category generic for water. All that was necessary was to list the positive benefits of drinking water (of which there are many!) in different messages, encourage easy new daily regimens and habits, and tie these back to the brand as the thought leader that it is. Thereby, 'owning the truth'.