Chapter 14 Marketing Channels and Retailing

When one thinks of a bottle water he or she never thinks of a bottled water being sold that has its own unique store to sell its bottled water. Recognizably, Fiji Water is mainly sold in convenience stores, supermarkets, and sometimes drugstores. When it comes down to where Fiji Water is sold, this concepts applies to all water bottles. Water bottles in general are sold in the previously listed locations because it is where most are most likely to buy a bottle of water. Convenience stores, supermarkets, and drugstores are the type of retailers that consumers expect to be a quick trip tpo for the most part. Consumers would not go to a Costco, Sam's Club, or a departments store simply for a bottle of water. Bottled water companies want to make their products easy to purchase for their consumers. Looking into Fiji water specifically, the company places its products in all the same places as all other bottled water brands. However, since the company strives to market itself as a “healthy” and “higher-level” water brand, Fiji water’s products are sold in places such as upscale hotels.

Chapter 6- Consumer Decision Making

When consumers are deciding about buying a bottle of Fiji water it's merely not the same as buying a house, or a car as there is a tremendous gap in the amount being spent. However when it comes down to water that is priced at more than five dollars a bottle, consumers consideration of value of price does come into play. When making a purchase of Fiji water consumers are considering the value of money, meaning how much money they are having to give up in order to purchase the water, and if the trade off is worth it. Most consumers end up buying the Fiji water even though they are able to receive free water from their fouscets at home. According to Business Insider Magazine, in 2012, Americans spent 11.8 billion dollars on water bottles. For something that we can get out of our tap at home, that's an astounding amount of money. This placed water at a cost of $1.22/ gallon. However this fact simply shows the amount of value Americans place on water bottles. We are willing to pay such a high amount for something that is offered for free within out society. When consumers purchase a bottle of water, they have a perceived value that the bottled water is of better quality, and can even makes us healthier. However the fact of the matter is water is water. During a test conducted by the Center for Nutrition Diet and Health, it was shown that among four categories: spring water, tap water, mineral water, and distilled water; tap water was the second most prefered taste at 32% while spring water was at 34%.

Chapter 4

When an individual thinks of Fiji water they associate the brand with one that is socially superior to tap water and merely all other bottled water brands. Fiji strategically places its products in order to appeal to a specific demographic of people. The product is shown on its Facebook page as being on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards and VMA's. In addition the water is shown as influencing healthy lifestyles. From this, Fiji waters target demography are the wealthy and those who wish to or already live a healthy lifestyle. Fiji water makes it their mission to place its water in the most media attended events in the world, which in turn appeals to those who crave this fame, and fortune that Fiji waters brand is associated with.

Although this image may seem like an ordinary picture, Fiji Water Posted this image to their Facebook Page For a very Important reason. In the image there are three main components : The Emmy's sign in the background, the red carpet, and the fit and healthy woman holding the Fiji bottle. The image is appealing to those who crave a life of wealth and healthy living.

One of the key reasons why Fiji water is such a uniquely marketed product is because it is water:

a tasteless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain and is the basis of the fluids of living organisms, and best of all it's

the only resource within society that is free. It's a traditional lifestyle component, yet people still pay a ridiculous amount for bottled water such as Fiji water. But why do people buy Fiji water? Some responses may be "It taste's better" or "It's healthier for you." Water is water, it doesn't matter if the water is from the tap in your kitchen, bottled water has no additional nutritional value over the water from a kitchen tap. However since people continue to buy Fiji water for such a high price, it shows that their marketing is paying off even if water is a traditional lifestyle component.

Chapter 18

Over the years Fiji water has developed a consumer demographic that can be described an elite , wealthy and healthy group of consumers. Fiji water has taken this concept to the level of making those consumers feel as if they are part of an elite group. A key tool in creating this environment is Fiji waters use of social networking sites. Simply log on to Fiji Waters Facebook site and all the posts are related to wealth and how Fiji water improves living a healthy lifestyle. The Facebook page has posts from the recent Emmy awards, and New York Fashion week. Why would a bottled water company post such a thing? The common denominator is that in the post about the Emmy awards, Fiji water is being presented on the red carpet and the post on The New York Fashion week shows the designers of Marchesa's 2017 spring collection holding Fiji water. Fiji does this in order to portray its water as being the best of the best. The company wants consumers to see its brand being presented at the most socially recognized award ceremonies and events to further their brand credibility. The company wants its consumers to feel as if "You drink this water, you are part of this elite and healthy community." 

Fiji's Facebook page 

chapter 2

Strengths: From the dawn of its time Fuji water has been viewed as the luxury water bottle brand of the century. The companies main strength is this title of being a luxury water brand. Fiji water has simply marketed its unique volcanically sourced water as being of much higher quality that its competitors, and as a result the company is able to charge absurd amounts for something that simply is free. Since Fiji water has this connation with its brand of being higher quality water, it is able to keep the price of its products much higher than many other competitors, providing the company with great profit.

Weaknesses: Although Fiji water appears to be a clean and guilt free company, the company has gained a lot of criticism over its time. The company has been continually bashed for its over pricing of water. In addition it has been faced with the dilemma of searching form more environmentally friendly options regarding productionand the bottles of water themselves. In addition since the companies main source of revenue is based off of selling water, this in itself is a weakness. Since water is simply free tous consumers, Fiji water can only sell water at such a high price for so long until its consumers switch to an alternative that is lower in price.

External Opportunities: Fiji water is aware of its weaknesses. Because of this, the company has increased its advertising budget from six million to 10 million in 2008. This comes to show that in order to maintain the companies exlusive brand image, and compete directy with other water brands it must invest more in its marketing. In order to respond to the environmental isues that the company faces Fiji water has teamed up with non-profit organizations such as 1% for the planet to assure its market that they too are taking action.

Threats: The companies main threats are other water bottling companies in the industry. Companies such as Voss water, and starbuck's water Ethos are in competition with Fiji as they too are viewed as a luxury water brand.

chapter 1

Product: Fuji Water

Overview of Product: Fuji Water is a company that produces bottled water. According to Fijiwater.com, it claims to have the finest water in the world; and its water is available in the most finest hotels and restaurants of the world. What sets this water apart from other competing brands of bottled water is its source and process of being filtered. The water is claimed to come from a remote pacific island where it is filtered by volcanic rock, which gives it a "soft, smooth taste" (fijiwater.com).

Mission Statement:

FIJI Water was founded in 1996 out of the desire to share the earth’s finest water with the world.