The Dasani brand and its positioning - A case study to improve the brand image

Résumé du document

portfolio. Successful in the United States and other parts of the world, the company has both positive and negative points. Even though Dasani is a successful brand, it is currently undergoing a difficult time with its marketing strategy and communication mix with respect to its target market. Due to the high content of bromine in the water and rather negative image of "tap water", consumers in the United Kingdom refused the brand's products. It has been reiterated many times that it will be impossible for Dasani to enter the UK market once more. However, as it is crucial for the brand to introduce its products to the European market, the only logical way was to improve its image in the eyes of the English consumers.

With the 2004 UK scandal, how could Dasani successfully re-launch its products in 2008 on the UK market? What were the brand values that were portrayed and how was it communicated?

To answer these questions, we will first analyze the brand's current situation and then understand the importance of brand management in value creation for Dasani. After presenting the brand, we will try to understand the communication mix implemented by the brand on an International level, which leads us to the UK scandal. We will then try to foresee a communication mix and media plan that can easily adapt to the UK market and hopefully be successful in the long run. In addition, with a new type of media plan, we will need to measure its current brand equity and the budget needed for the launch. Dasani, with a new marketing mix and its communication strategies, can enter the UK market.

We will first define the current brand situation by briefly describing the bottled water market with various marketing utilities such as mapping, a SWOT analysis and Porter's five competitive forces. Then, to understand Dasani's situation, we will describe the brand and its marketing mix.

is successful in certain places but it is failing in European countries due to the UK scandal. As for their target market, the brand is mainly focusing on the middle age women and men who are trying to have a well balanced life by having a career, building a family and being content with what they have. However, for a brand to do well in a country, it is important that Dasani target the market in the right way and at the right time and focus on its marketing mix and communication strategies. The target market and the values have to be clear so that the brand is clearly identified. To comprehend this, we have decided to examine its communication mix internationally.

The name of the brand is well-known and the brand name illustrates certain "exotic" and "healthy" values. In addition, the blue logo is easily recognized, which is always a positive element. The color used has a strong impact compared to the packaging of the other competitors which make the products more visible on the shelves (black color is not usually used for bottled water).

Dasani is missing out on special features and competitive advantages that differentiate the brand from its competitors. The brand is reliable because it belongs to a strong group (Coca Cola).

Tags: Dasani marketing strategy, bottled water market, Dasani UK scandal

Extraits

[...] We will also communicate more that the brand is environmental friendly with its recyclable bottles Communication This will be developed later on with the media planning B - Our choice: keeping Dasani name We must take into consideration the risk in terms of image and name: Dasani was a big failure emphasized by the media. In consequence, the name Dasani can still be associated with this scandal. So what about the current brand image and awareness? Should we change the brand's name? A marketing study is strongly recommended in order to know if the scandal is still recent in consumer's minds. [...]

[...] The bottles are lighter and lighter because Dasani is using less and less plastic in order to protect the environment. Moreover, their products are recyclable which is nowadays a crucial and positive criteria. However, with criterias such as a mass market product, a simple packaging (simple and only in plastic) and a marketing communication focusing more on the young (advertisements of young women in bikinis.); the water does not seem to portray values that fully correspond to the target market. [...]

[...] I IMC Coverage With its marketing communication, Dasani has an important media coverage since many individuals are aware of their advertisements and other communication utilities. However, they are not focusing well on the target market that they established beforehand. They are covering a great deal of aspects but are not covering the right targets. Overlap: All the supports are not complementary Nowadays, Internet is a very important tool to increase the target audience. But Dasani focused its campaigns TV, Sponsorship and Print. [...]

[...] It reminds them that the water tastes better because it is not natural water but filtered municipal water which has minerals reintroduced - fake water. Moreover, the closer the link that a bottle of water is natural water, the stronger the brand. So when Dasani points out that natural water can taste fishy (in the 2005 spot) or sandy, it argues with consumer beliefs. Coca-Cola needs to find a better way to make a claim for Dasani. Another difficulty is that these animals scare most children. [...]

[...] D Sponsorship Dasani is using Sponsorship as a major medium in order to promote the brand. We can notice Dasani is mainly sponsoring sports events such as: The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LiveStrong.) The brand participates by giving free bottles to every event of the foundation. This sponsorship is used to promote the brand to all ages and types of people interested in biking (those who practice and those who simply watch it on television). The biking event seems to attract a great number of individuals in the United States and it is progressively spreading worldwide. [...]