Danone to increase spend on bottled water brands

Danone, owner of water brands Volvic and Evian, is set to boost its marketing spend by more than 40 per cent in 2006 to combat increasing competition from rivals.

Volvic and Evian are the UK bottled water market’s top two brands respectively, accounts for 29.1 per cent of the market by volume share, compared with 27.4 per cent two years ago (Mintel).

However, new launches in 2006 from Britvic and Nestlé Waters threaten to eat into the pair’s share. Danone plans to spend about &£10m across the two brands next year, compared with just over &£7m in 2005. The spend is understood to include a national television campaign for one or both of the brands.

Britvic is to launch premium water called Drench later this month (MW September 29). It is aimed at the youth market and will take on Evian.

Nestlé Waters will also launch Aquarel in 2006 to join its high-selling Buxton and Vittel brands (See below).

An industry source says: “Danone will be looking over its shoulder and feeling the pressure of an increasingly competitive market. It is the leading supplier in the UK and is also the number one when it comes to spending on advertising.”