Danone Waters to market Volvic line as single brand

Danone Waters will bring all three of its Volvic brands under one umbrella for the first time when marketing the drinks line. As part of the changes it has also begun restructuring its marketing department.

Its water brand Volvic, flavoured water Volvic Touch of Fruit and functional water Volvic Revive have all previously been marketed separately, but Patrick Kalotis, marketing director for Danone Waters UK and Ireland, says it will look to bring all three brands together and develop advertising behind “brand Volvic”.

“At the heart of the idea is pulling every aspect of the brand under one benefit which is likely to be the hydration element. That way we’ll be getting much better return for our money,” he says.

This is likely to mean a more joint brand approach in its above-the line advertising, while it will try to convince retailers to display all three of its Volvic brands together.

However, Kalotis says it will continue investing in marketing initiatives behind the individual brands where appropriate.

He adds that the marketing budget for the overall brand will increase “three-fold”, though he will not reveal the total spend.

Kalotis says Danone has slowly begun restructuring its marketing department around the new strategy. It will see brand managers currently working separately across the three Volvic brands take on more integrated roles overseeing “brand Volvic”.

He claims, however, there will be no redundancies and some staff will be redeployed elsewhere in the company, which also makes baby food and dairy.