Bottled Water And Bottled Water Delivery In Washington, D.C. And Northern Virginia: A Marketing Phenomenon

Bottled water and bottled water delivery has grown incontamination free water that tastes good. Purified
popularity in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area inwater based on a distillation/oxygenation process is
recent years.considered by many experts to be the highest quality
This popularity is due to a number of factors like poorbest tasting water on the market today. The water is
municipal water quality and a growing awareness of99.9% pure and, because of the addition of oxygen, it
the role of good health in modern living. In addition therehas a fresh, light taste.
are a small number of high quality water suppliers whoÂ- Product features - Customers in the market
have adjusted their product and service offering to theare interested in product features that make the
unique needs of the marketplace.product safe and easy to use. Features such as spill
But marketing has come under attack by municipalproof caps, carrying handles and bottles made of safe
water suppliers and other groups who have a vestedmaterials are required to be successful in the
interest in supplying lower grade municipal water.Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia market.
Claims are made that bottled water is unregulated (notÂ- Quality customer service - Many large
true for bottled water companies that engage insuppliers in the market give only lip service to the
interstate commerce) or that bottled water is oftencustomer service needs of the customers and
nothing more than repackaged bottled water (partiallyrespond slowly or not at all to customer requests and
true for even some large bottled water suppliers).complaints. However, there are good companies with
Criticism is also levied against spring water in bottlesa culture of customer satisfaction that meets the
because of contaminated spring water due to industrialneeds of the market place.
and organic pollution.Â- Supplier integrity - Some suppliers in the
These critical statements about the use and misuse ofmarket offer low loss leader pricing coupled with a
bottled water marketing however are superficial andlong term contract and penalties for cancellation. At
do not examine the real role of proper bottled waterbest this unfair to the consumer and at worst this
marketing. In essence marketing is nothing more thatpractice is unethical. Consumers are urged to choose
identifying and segmenting consumers with shareda water supplier with fair prices and without hidden
desires and needs and preparing strategies to meetcharges.
those shared desires. Done right, marketing is moreÂ-Community support- Look for a company that
than spin, hype or puffing and true marketing benefitsincludes giving back to the community as part of its
all involved.culture. Many companies are interested in selling
Proper marketing of bottled water products must, at aproducts only to the community and do not support
minimum address the following needs in the marketcommunity events or charities. Some suppliers,
place.however, participate in supporting the Washington and
Â- Water quality - Since municipal water isNorthern Virginia community events as a matter pf
terrible in both level of contaminants and odor andpolicy.
taste, bottled water suppliers must produce