4 Practical Strategies To Sell Water

“Literally raining money”

How can businesses sell something as abundant as water?

Water is 75% of our planet, and yet people sell it and have competition. It’s water! This was my question while studying marketing, and I want to share my findings with you. I have found four practical strategies for selling water.

Strategy #1: Changing the Flavor/texture

A common way to sell water is to alter the flavor or texture of the water. Refreshing as water is, it can also be boring as it doesn't taste like anything. Furthermore, any sensation water gives depends on the temperature. So businesses try to liven up water by adding things like flavoring to have the water taste like something. Dasani and Bai have noted examples of infusing fruit flavors into their bottled waters to encourage people to drink more water. Alternatively, adding carbonation to the water is the standard way to change the texture of the water to give the sensation of drinking soda. Adding the word “sparkling” to the water gives it more appeal. LaCroix and Sparkling ICE are prominent examples of using flavoring and carbonation to turn water into a soda-lite product. 

Recently, Air Up has brought a new way to appeal to the senses to promote more water consumption. Instead of flavoring the water, Air Up has pods in their bottles to emit a scent when you drink, meaning you still are drinking unaltered water, but your nose gives the illusion that you are tasting flavored water. This method can appeal to those who don’t want the added sugars in flavored water but want encouragement to drink more.

Strategy #2: Chemical Modifications

Changing flavor and texture isn’t the only way water is changed to be more marketable. Some use chemical modifications to advertise their brand. After being purified from toxins, water is treated using various chemicals to ensure it is safe for bottling. One well-known change is increasing the alkaline pH levels with the added benefit of neutralizing acid in the bloodstream. Some even claim that alkaline water can help prevent cancer and heart disease. However, those claims are not very solid, encouraging further research.

The second modification is adding electrolytes into the water. To elaborate, Electrolytes are minerals that conduct electricity when dissolved in water. They’re distributed through the fluid in your body and use their electrical energy to facilitate critical bodily functions like controlling fluid balance and blood pressure.

In advertising, these mods would appeal to the athletic demographic by telling them that drinking modified water instead of everyday bottled water would ensure a better performance in their active lifestyles.

Strategy #3 Packaging

Changing or modifying the water is a strong selling point for people to buy water, but these methods can be expensive. 

So how can water be sold by itself? 

Packaging! 

Packaging is a deciding factor if someone picks up one out of many similar products. We buy with our eyes, and the products with the most appealing visuals is the one that likely will get selected. As designers, we put time and effort into ensuring the packaging design is clean, attractive, and fitting for the eyes of the target demographic. 

In the past, bottled water was a simple but effective way to sell water because it brought a sense of trust to the viewer that the water they were drinking was safer than tap water. As many other companies have done the same thing, designing the bottle will become the next step in standing out from competitors. 

Liquid Death

The most outstanding example of great packaging for water is Liquid Death. It’s easy to say that Liquid Death broke the internet by selling water to consumers. Let’s review everything this company has done to pierce the market.

The first aspect to mention is the name Liquid Death. This name appeals so much to the punk, edgy counterculture of Gen Z by speaking to them in their language! It also pierced the market by being radically different from what you usually see in the bottled water industry. Big names like Dasani, Deer Park, Fiji, and Evian have a common theme of drawing docile and calming aspects of water, like a spring in the forest. Liquid Death draws from water's more powerful and dangerous side, like a hurricane or a tidal wave.

The second aspect to mention is the design of the can. Right off the bat, the rebellious nature of Liquid Death shows in the form of choosing an aluminum can over a plastic bottle. Also, the gold-colored accents of the can give the appearance of a tall boy, giving tongue-in-cheek humor for teens when they grab the water because it looks like they are drinking alcohol. Moreover, LD brings confidence to those who choose not to drink alcohol in social gatherings but still want to belong to their friends and peers. On the can itself, the gothic font and the skull illustration project a bold, shocking personality that appeals to Gen Z and beyond.

Mike Cessario, Liquid Death’s co-founder and CEO, attributes much of the brand's success to its marketing:

“At the core of Liquid Death is that we're a brand that wants to make really funny, entertaining stuff on the internet,”

- Mike Cessario

The humor is exemplified by their slogan, “Murder your thirst.”

Strategy 4: Empathy

Sometimes, selling something doesn’t need to involve the product itself. Sustainability is a standard method of selling water using empathy. While plastic is a common and affordable way to contain water, when not disposed of properly, it can cause harm to the environment. Bottled water companies encourage people in their ads to put their plastic bottles in recycling because it draws on the audience's empathy to see our planet as a better place to live in. Companies like Liquid Death, Bubly, and La Croix take a different approach to sustainability by having their water in aluminum cans to make recycling easier. 

Another example of empathetic branding would be Fiji Water. Fiji embraces the belief that their water comes from the purity of nature as it is natural artesian water is bottled at the source in Viti Levu (Fiji islands). This emotional connection resonated with more health-conscious consumers and the idea of water from an island spring instead of tap water that had to be cleaned and treated. Inspired by Fiji’s storytelling, other brands followed suit with images of purity, youthfulness, health, and nature.