09 Update : Waters
International - Evian roller babies rock the world
Eleven years after Evian's "Baby Ballet" campaign became a French favorite, the brand has taken its youth concept global. Launched last July 3, Evian's "Roller Babies" clip made the Guinness Book of World Records as the most widely viewed advertisement on the Internet, with a current total of 94,000,000 views. This enormously popular ad has given the brand's image a powerful boost, lifting sales dramatically in every country and on every screen. Live young!
7 billion liters!
Aqua is Indonesia's leading water company, with more than 50% of the market. In 2009 Aqua sold 7 billion liters of water, making it the world's topselling brand of packaged water by volume.
Portable water plants - Staying close to consumers
The Mexican market for home and office water delivery is one of the world's biggest by volume. Already one of the top players, our Waters division has stepped up growth in Mexico's
20-liter returnable segment by using an innovative portable water plant. The concept is simple: two containers equipped with water processing and production equipment pump water from below ground and are then transported by truck to areas where new markets are emerging. Small, economical and easy to transport, these portable water plants enable Bonafont to reach 70,000 consumers a week. Fifteen units should be available by 2011.
R-PET - The drive for 100% R-PET bottles
Despite different regulatory environments, both Evian/Volvic and Bonafont have found new ways to increase the quantity of recycled PET (R-PET) in their bottles-with the ultimate goal of reaching 100%.
• As early as 2008, Evian and Volvic were pioneering use of R-PET. Today their 1.5-liter bottles-the most popular size-contain 35% R-PET, and their goal is to reach 50% by late 2010. Danone Eaux France is also working to develop bottles with 100% R-PET, beginning with its large three- and eight-liter sizes. To further these ambitions, Danone Eaux France is helping to improve recycling networks and collection rates, while Evian and Volvic have secured reliable supplies of R-PET by partnering with producer France Plastiques Recyclage.
• Our Mexican business unit has already taken the next step. In 2009, after two years of research and development, Bonafont launched the first bottle manufactured from 100% R-PET. The breakthrough came in a country where an entire community- including children known locally as rag-pickers-now earns its living collecting plastic bottles. As the 100% R-PET project has expanded, Danone has worked not only to recycle bottles and reduce our environmental impact, but also to help local bottle collectors regain their dignity by getting street children into school. To achieve our goals, we've partnered with an NGO and PETstar, a local producer of R-PET bottles based in Toluca. Bonafont now sells two million 100% R-PET bottles every month.
18 billion liters of packaged water
That's the rough total for Danone water sales in 2009, making the group the world's number-two producer by volume, with market share of around 8.5%.
Brazil - Making a splash
Bonafont-the water market leader in Mexico-has now launched in Brazil, bottling natural mineral water from a spring near São Paulo. Drawing on lessons learned from Bonafont's success in Mexico and the experience of our Fresh Dairy Products division, Waters made a highly successful debut in Brazil's biggest city. And mineral water consumption has already shot up in São Paolo State, where per capita consumption of bottled water is among the lowest in the world, at five liters a year.
Asie - Mizone: beyond China
With 30% growth in 2008 and 38.8% in 2009, Mizone has continued its spectacular performance in China, where it is undisputed market leader in fortified water. Improving penetration in big cities and expanding the brand's geographic coverage should sustain double-digit growth well into the future. But China isn't Mizone's only success story in Asia. The brand also has an extremely promising record in Indonesia, where it posted nearly 40% sales growth in 2009, only three years after launching an improved formula.
Pologne - A place at the table
In 2009 Zywiec Zdrój flavored waters expanded its customer base, posting a 30% increase in sales by volume and a 17.5% rise in market penetration. The key to this extraordinary performance was offering consumers a whole new way to enjoy water-with a meal. Poles generally see water as having too little flavor, and prefer to pair food with fruit juice. So Danone launched a 360° ad campaign positioning light, delicately flavored Zywiec Zdrój water as the ideal table beverage. The entire campaign is geared around a new concept: "At mealtime you think about what you eat, but not enough about what you drink. Think Zywiec Zdrój flavored water-the perfect companion for all your meals." This appeal, the first of its kind in the flavored water segment, has persuaded many consumers to make the switch. Analysis shows that almost 60% of the brand's additional sales volume has come from fruit juice drinkers and nearly one-third from soda drinkers.
video of Thomas Kunz