Lowe picks up £7m Coca-Cola water launch

Lowe & Partners has been handed the task of launching Coca-Cola’s water brand Dasani in the UK bottled water market.

The brand will be launched in the UK in February next year with a &£7m marketing spend. Dasani launched in the US in 1999 and is a purified non-carbonated water enhanced with minerals.

Dasani does not trade on provenance like rivals such as Buxton or Highland Spring but is positioned as a lifestyle product for 20- to 35-year-olds.

Coca-Cola Great Britain owns Malvern English Natural Water and distributes Vittel, Perrier and Buxton on behalf of Nestlé Waters. Nestlé has announced it will create its own distribution team next year.

Lowe already works on Malvern and developed a press campaign as part of a relaunch of the brand in December. It carried the strapline: “Not quite middle England”. Malvern’s packaging and labelling were also overhauled.

A recent US advertising campaign for Dasani, devised by Berlin Cameron/Red Cell, carried the strapline: “Treat yourself well. Every day” and used sexy images not normally associated with bottled water advertising.

The brand is the second-best selling bottled water brand in the US. PepsiCo’s Aquafina holds the top spot. In November last year, Coca-Cola launched four vitamin-enhanced and flavoured Dasani variants.

GlaxoSmithKline launched a Lucozade-branded low-calorie water drink, called Hydroactive, in May.