Dasani's Entrance into Bottled Tap Water Market of the United Kingdom - Research Paper Example

How Should Dasani Rebrand Itself to Gain Market Share in the Rising Bottled Tap Water Market in United Kingdom? Date: Contents Introduction The bottled water industry in the United Kingdom remains under stringent watch after reports emerged indicating fraudulent activities in which the various bottled water brands sold tap water to unsuspecting customers. Nonetheless, the bottled water products continue attracting buyers remarkably, with sales increasing annually at a remarkable rate (Bottled Water in Europe, 2014, p 13). Consequently, competition among the brands continues to inflict loss to the once famous brands such as Dasani. Additionally, Dasani as well as other brands are not making considerable sales. The Dasani water is a product of the Coca Cola Company (Suryani, 2000, p 14). The company seeks the option of rebranding with a new name and logo for the product. Thus, from this realization, the proposal to research on rebranding strategy for Dasani gained course. Despite the numerous brands of bottled water in the UK market, the difference in taste is remarkably small. Therefore, the brands largely rely on branding and marketing strategies to sell their products. Thus, the research proposal seeks to establish the factors for consideration as used by the customers in choosing the brand of bottled water of preference (Bottled Water – UK , 2013, p 1). Additionally, the proposal will also establish findings on the perception of the current branding of Dasani in comparison to its competitors. These findings will aid significantly in developing a proposal to establish a successful rebranding for the Dasani product of the Coca Cola Company. Literature review The humble origin of the Dasani product makes the entire difference between Dasani and its competitors. Figures from past findings indicate that in the market, out of every five bottles of water sold, at least two are similar with Dasani. Dasani trades in purified water rather than source water, such as water from springs. The treated water contains elements of chemicals and flavours to add taste to the product. Thus, from these aspects, the market floods with numerous brands of bottled water (Bottled Water Industry Profile: United Kingdom, 2013, p 17). The competition continues to increase with some elements using underhand means such as false branding tags to reach the customer. This revelation led to the suggestion of submitting the brands for quality testing in the UK. Additionally, the UK market for bottled water continues to grow remarkably, with the customers’ preference for bottled water remaining on the rise. The increasing health concerns about the factor of dehydration and vitamins adds remarkably to the demand for blotted water with flavour variants that offer health supplements gaining ground above the competitors (Bottled Water Market Line Industry Profile: Europe, 2013, p 21). Dasani, as a product of a renowned company, blends and contends with other brands in the market whose market share rivals that of Dasani. Thus, from these aspects, Dasani needs to re-establish itself as a product of choice for its customers. Methodology In gathering the findings to base the proposal recommendations, the research methodology entailed gathering relevant data and opinion from sampled populations, as well as, literature review. The sampling incorporated the use of stratified sampling (Yin, 2009, 39). After identifying the population, the research process engaged in classification of the participants into subgroups depending on their profession, age, and race (Fowler, 2009, p 78). The research design entailed qualitative research in which it established the opinions and thoughts of participants about the Dasani product in comparison to competitors. The approach incorporated cross-sectional studies in finding the prevalence of buyers on purchasing the Dasani product. It evaluated attitudes and problems associated with the product that place it under the current situation. The cross-section design integrated variety of populations (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2008, p 65). The study analyzed the gathered data from the study qualitatively, evaluating the basis of the customer preferences on the product. Analysis/Discussion of findings The branding of the Dasani product as featured on the various marketing platforms entailed aspects of consideration such as the quality of product and result intended for the customer. The Coca Cola Company presents a product of quality to the market (Bottled Water Market Line Industry Profile: Europe, 2013, p 27). However, the product is not achieving its maximum potential in sales due to the factors of competition as established from the literature of past findings on the sales of the company product. The past research findings as reviewed in various articles and reports indicate a development in Dasani product in that the company constitutes the factors of concern for the customers in branding its product. For instance, in line with the rising health concerns, the Dasani product capitalized accordingly, including the tagline that the product does not contain sweeteners or artificial flavours. Additionally, they state categorically that it has zero calories (Johnson, 2004, p 22). Thus, the company sales remain relatively high from this strategy of branding as other research results indicated. These findings, established from gathering data from the literature review of records and reports of the product provided for the formulation of the other data gathering sections. The research finding also established form the sampled populations constituting the various participants. The findings based on age groups designated an augment in the use of bottled water as most participants consume the products. The preference for the Dasani water as established in this finding shows that the vast market share of the product is of the young population, constituting people from ages 18 to 40 years (Johnson, 2004, p 22). Thus, establishing from this finding, the company needs to establish a branding logo and message that speaks to this age groups, as they constitute the larger market share for the product. The female gender consumes bottled water more than the males, standing at a 64.15%. Additionally, collecting findings from the professional perspectives, again the study established relevant findings to the research proposal. The findings indicate attitudes and opinions of professionals that participate in physical exercise such as athletes and other physical works constitute the vast customer target for the product (Bottled Water Market Line Industry Profile: Europe, 2010, p 19). The company can explore to its advantage these positive findings in respect to the product. Further, a resounding 50.94% of the sampled participants after statistically analyzing the positive responses given indicate that the bottled water remains their preferred choice over tap water. Majority of the consumers of the Dasani product cited they did not recognize the brand association to its production company as the reason they preferred the product. Coca Cola Company is a household brand name in the country, yet the customers do not identify with the Dasani product of the company (Johnson, 2004, p 22). The company brand name fails to influence the attitudes of the customers of the Dasani product. The findings also established that customers respond remarkably towards the reports published in various articles concerning the products. For instance, recent reports terming the bottled water industry as a scandal in which the brands lie to unsuspecting customers saw a decline in preference of the bottled water products (Bottled Water Industry Profile: United Kingdom, 2013, p 15). With respect to Dasani, it affected the customer loyalty as some considered the product among those exploiting the customers, as 54.90% cited that realizing Dasani is tap water, they will not purchase it. Additionally, the findings also presented the factors of competition as they affect the brand of Dasani. In operation, various sample participants showed their preference for other products. For instance, in recent independent research reports, the leading brand names in bottled water include the Highland Spring and PepsiCo’s Aquafina are top sellers (Johnson, 2004, p 22). These findings help in identifying the competitors to beat in the course of establishing standards for the brand. Additionally, the findings also reviewed views on products such as Asda and Tesco and identified that they include those under scrutiny for scam claims. The customers accused the bottled water industry of not labelling the origin of their water, as exemplified in the cases of Asda and Tesco. The sampled populations cited that the brand tags as used do not reflect the truth of the products (Ward, et al. 2009, p 199). For instance, the tag by Tesco that the water provides everyday value was a lie. These findings helped in establishing the need to connect with the customers accordingly in informing them about the origins of the product and the value it facilitates to them. Conclusion In the analysis of the result from the study, as well as, the literature on the topic, it is evident that the water business evolved remarkably from plain water, mineral and spring water, to a hip commodity that requires banding and endorsing by celebrities (Global Bottled Water Industry Profile, 2014, p 26). The various brands of bottled water continue exploiting the customers it prices for just fancy plastic bottles as most customers stated that pricing is a constraining issue in the sales of the Dasani product. Fifty percent of the customers do not know the current brand image of Dasani. The current branding strategy by Dasani continues to incorporate aspects of environmental friendliness, corporate social responsibility among other features to market its product (Klein, 2008, p 507). However, rebranding is the procedure for undertaking in the context of the rising wars in the bottled water industry. The Dasani product needs to incorporate features that align with the findings on its vast target market as it develops branding strategy. The findings established the age factor and gender as a branding prospect for the product. Thus, the proposed branding from the research is to establish a new message in the logo of the product. The company name, Coca Cola, is a household name in the country. Thus, the branding message should mention coca-cola company in its message to attract the attention of customers accordingly. Additionally, the company needs to incorporate the aspect of the origin of the water product, as well as, message assuring the customers of the health quality of the product (Heath & Heath, 2010, p 72). Additionally, the logo and brand bottle should incorporate features that reflect the target market. The features should include a notation that indicates its preference towards the needs of athletes and people that work out accordingly. Further, it should reflect care and concern for the people between the age brackets of 21 to 35 years, as they constitute its vast market share. These establishments with respect to the Dasani brand will foster the company product towards achieving higher success in the expansively competitive industry of bottled water products. 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