Table of Contents

Declaration............................................................................... 1
Company Background and History..............................................3
Rationale for New Positioning....................................................4
Competitors.............................................................................. 6
Danone Waters...............................................................................6
Tipperary........................................................................................6
Deep RiverRock...............................................................................6
Ballygowan.....................................................................................6

Target Market...........................................................................8
Marketing Communications Strategy..........................................9
Marketing Communications Activities.......................................10
Advertising...................................................................................10
Consumer-Orientated Promotions..................................................10
Competitions................................................................................11
Events..........................................................................................11
Affiliations/ Sponsorships..............................................................11

Budget...................................................................................12
Measurement and Evaluation...................................................14
Appendices.............................................................................15
Bibliography...........................................................................24

Company Background and History

For Uisce is an Irish bottled water brand operating out of County
Mayo in the West of Ireland. The company was set up in 2001 by
brother and sister Paddy Freeney and Charlotte Assaf, who have a
controlling interest in the shares of the company and are also the
companys two directors.
The source of the water that For Uisce bottles is an artesian well in
the hills of Tourmakeady, set in some of the most beautiful
landscapes in Western Europe. Rainfall from the North Atlantic
percolates through the mountains of West Mayo and is naturally rock
filtered through volcanic strata and limestone, which not only
purifies the water but infuses it with a unique balance of minerals,
giving it its functional properties. Chief amongst these is the fact
that it contains zero nitrates, which few other mineral waters across
the globe can claim. (Fior Uisce, 2016)
The company produces both still and sparkling mineral water in
glass bottles in either a 250ml or 750ml
capacity. They mainly supply to hotels,
spas, resorts, restaurants and venues.
However, the company website also
offers 18.9ltr water bottles via free
standing water coolers, available for the
workplace. (Fior Uisce, 2016)

Rationale for New Positioning

For Uisce is currently positioned as a premium standard mineral
water that is competing in a mature market with established brand
players. The company currently sells their product to a large
selection of restaurants, hotels, spas and resorts but the product is
not available to consumers in national supermarkets.
There is a remarkable opportunity for growth
by enhancing the appeal to a health-conscious
demographic, based on the fact that For Uisce
is one of the purist waters in Europe, as it
contains no nitrate.
Currently, the brand has no marketing, and is
struggling in its current market.
In 2015, bottled water saw the fastest growth
in terms of volume sales in Ireland within the
Soft Drinks category. The health and wellness
trend we see emerging in Ireland in recent
years has helped to drive the growth of the bottled water industry.
This trend, coupled with the countrys improving economy and the
prevalence of on-the-go lifestyles is creating an environment for
bottled water manufacturers to seize and capitalise upon. Another
reason for this growth is owing to the potential health issues relating
to the national supply of tap water that came under scrutiny in
recent years. Large numbers of people developed an awareness of
the potentially harmful effects of fluoridation and the channeling of
drinking water through lead pipes. (Euromonitor International,
2016)
According to their Financial Statement, as of the 31/12/14 the
company had fixed assets of 44,544, cash of 998 and total
creditors of 1,037,809 with accumulated losses on the balance
sheet of 1,975,618.
The company has been effectively trading insolvently on the basis
that it is a Section 9 investment funds company, and is being funded
by the shareholders who guarantee to pay the creditors.
The business returned a trading loss in 2014 of 127,422 and had
accumulated outstanding loans to directors of 624,368 at the year
end.
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The company has an annual turnover in the order of 400k and

produces the equivalent of 35,000 9 litre cases of sparkling water
and mineral water per annum in four different sizes. Customers are
mainly high end restaurants and hotels who buy directly from the
company by the case.
According to the companys Financial Statements, it can be
estimated that a 250ml bottle of mineral water costs approximately
0.17 to produce (excluding labour and overheads), and sells to the
retailer at approximately 0.28, yielding a gross margin of around
0.11. When labour and overheads are accounted for the net margin
is reduced to 0.06/bottle. With such small volumes passing through
the plant a simple breakdown of a machine could cost 3000 to
repair, and therefore wipe out the profit on a 50k bottle run in one
day. The small sizes (250ml) typically sell to high end hotels who use
them in the in-room minibars.
The larger sizes (750ml) are estimated to cost approximately 0.66
to produce before labour and overhead, are sold to the on trade at
approximately 0.70 and retail at the restaurant tables for between
5 and 7. These are typically restaurants in which customers are
typically spending a minimum of 50 per person, and in many cases
up to 200 per person so the price of the water is almost immaterial.
(Four Seasons, 2015)

Competitors
Danone Waters
Danone Waters UK & Ireland represents the brand Evian, the worlds
most popular natural mineral water. Its portfolio of bottled waters
also includes Volvic, another household brand in Ireland. Evian is a
French water brand but has been sold in Ireland since 1980. The
company bought over the Volvic brand in 1993. (Danone, 2016)

Tipperary
Tipperary Mineral Water belongs to the C&C Gleeson Group. The
water is sourced at Borrisisoleigh in County Tipperary. Tipperary was
the first Irish mineral water ever to be granted Natural Mineral Water
Status by the EU. Their range includes Tipperary mineral water in a
variety of sizes, sparkling water, Tipperary Active and Tipperary
Kids. (Aqua Maestro, 2005)

Deep RiverRock
Deep RiverRock is a local market-leading bottled-water brand
sourced from deep beneath a glacial valley in Co Antrim, rich in
natural minerals. It was introduced to the Irish market in 1994 and
currently belongs to the Coca-Cola Group. It is the Number One
branded water in Ireland in terms of value and volume and it
continues to drive market growth in the water category. The brand
also has a sponsorship platform with the four rugby provinces,
Belfast City Marathon and Tyrone GAA. Their recent packaging
refresh ensures on-shelf stand-out for the bottles with their crisp,
modern and clean new graphics, giving the glass packs in particular
a premium look and feel in trade. (Coca-Cola HBC, 2016)

Ballygowan
Ballygowan Natural Mineral Water is Irelands original and most
popular water brand. All Ballygowan water is bottled in a dedicated
bottling facility near the town of Newcastle West in County Limerick,
drawing on an exclusive source of pure Natural Mineral Water. The
Ballygowan brand is currently owned and distributed by Britvic
Ireland Limited. Ballygowan is a founding member of the Love Irish
Food campaign which champions locally-sourced goods, supporting

Irish jobs. It also holds the title of the official water to the Irish Open
and was recently announced as Official Hydration Partners of Dublin
GAA. (Ballygowan, 2012)
Brand

Nitrate Level (mg/lt)

The

Evian
Volvic

3.7
6.3

Tipperary
Deep RiverRock

0.5
8

Ballygowan
For Uisce

9
0

above table shows the Nitrate levels in competitors products. For

Uisces USP of having absolutely no Nitrate in their water will appeal
to a health-conscious demographic. Nitrate is an inorganic
compound that occurs under a variety of conditions in the
environment, both naturally and synthetically. Having excess levels
of Nitrate in a water source can cause methemoglobinemia, a blood
disorder whereby oxygen is not effectively released to the body
tissues, causing headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, lack of
energy, a bluish colouring of the skin and in severe cases shock,
seizures and death. (MedlinePlus, 2014)

Target Market
For Uisces current target market is consumers that frequent highend restaurants, spas, hotels and resorts and are willing to pay on
average 5-7 for a 750ml bottle of water. Many of their current
stockists are located within the Mayo, Galway and Dublin areas.
The proposed repositioning strategy will target health conscious
consumers, using the products Unique Selling Point of a zero Nitrate
content. The target market will consist of both male and female
consumers, of the age 25 and over. In order to sell directly to the
consumer, the company will also need to target national retailers,
such as supermarkets and caf chain restaurants, offering the
product in plastic 500ml and 1 litre bottles. Bars, restaurants, cafs,
spas, golf clubs, resorts and hotels in other counties across the
countries will also need to be targeted.
Once the brand has built up recognition and customer loyalty in
Ireland, the company can look at exporting their product to other
markets. However, one limitation for export will be the product
name. The company may wish to consider selling the product under
a different brand name outside of the Republic of Ireland, as the Irish
name For Uisce will face language barriers.
For the repositioning project, offices or workplaces will be a target
market but the products targeted at this group of consumers will be
the smaller glass bottles of both still and sparkling water for use in
conference rooms or to offer clients. The 18.9ltr water coolers will no
longer be produced as they do not fit in with the overall brand
image. They are not suitable for carbonated water, contain re-used
water bottles that do not reflect the brands high-end positioning and
belong to a limited market.

Marketing Communications Strategy

The integrated marketing communications strategy to reposition For
Uisce in the Irish market will span over 3 years. This is to ensure that
the company has enough time to make all the necessary changes,
and carry out the necessary marketing communications activities.
The end goals of this strategy will be as follows;
To reposition For Uisce as a high end healthier water,
appealing to a health conscious demographic
To establish brand recognition within the Irish market
To increase sales and return a profit year on year
To have the production plant operating at full production
capacity
To have the product more widely distributed nationwide, with
availability of the product in Irish supermarkets, cafs, bars,
restaurants, hotels
A combination of push and pull strategies will be implemented in
order to make this repositioning campaign a success. Push
strategies will involve the use of marketing communications
techniques aimed at For Uisces distribution channels; wholesalers,
retailers and other organisations that buy directly from the company
such as hotels and resorts, to persuade them to accept and actively
promote For Uisces products. Pull strategies implemented will aim
to create demand among the end users, or consumers. This will be
done through brand advertising, sponsorship, events and consumerorientated sales promotions.

Marketing Communications Activities

The marketing communications activities will focus on how the
strategy will be implemented, and how the objectives will be
obtained. They will be used initially to create an awareness of and
interest in the product amongst the target market Following this, the
marketing communications activities will aim to create brand loyalty
amongst its consumers and build a relationship with them.

Advertising
In order to build brand awareness of the product, an advertising
campaign will be introduced through various platforms such as TV,
social media, online and outdoor advertisements. In the first year of
the strategy consumers exposure to the product will be crucial in
building brand awareness. TV advertisements will be aired on
popular TV stations such as RTE. In order to reach the bulk of the
target audience, the advertisements should be aired in the evening
time, when the majority of consumers have returned home from
work.
Advertising on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and
Facebook will again be crucial in reaching the target audience. The
company can advertise directly to its target market through the use
of hashtags. Any health-conscious consumers using such hashtags
on social media will be easily able to find the product. Social media
platforms are also imperative for building a relationship with
consumers in this day and age. It gives the opportunity for
consumers to interact with the brand, and benefits the brand
through immediate customer feedback, which they can then use to
improve the product.
Online advertisements can again be used to directly get across the
companys message to its target audience. This might include
banner advertisements on selected relevant websites. The company
may also produce an advertisement to be aired on YouTube, perhaps
before selected videos in the health and wellbeing category. Search
engine optimisation should also be considered as this will have a
substantial impact on the number of hits the For Uisce website gets,
and will impact directly on sales.
Outdoor advertisements such as billboards will be used, again to
build brand awareness and get the consumer thinking about the
product. Advertisements at LUAS stops or indeed on the LUAS itself
will target employees within the target market group that commute
to and from work using public transport. This type of advertising will
only appeal to the Dublin market, but the company may wish to look
8

at introducing it in other counties via public transport networks in

the coming years.

Consumer-Orientated Promotions
In order to really increase sales, For Uisce needs to start selling
their products to retailers so that consumers can buy them directly
from a supermarket. The 5-7 price range that currently exists in
restaurants is due to the markup the establishment itself is putting
on the product. For Uisce will be able to sell to retail outlets at a
much lower price, resulting in a more competitive price for
consumers, in exchange for a premium standard product. For Uisce
will set up tasting stalls in national supermarkets, so that consumers
can be exposed to the product. Following that, in-store promotions
will be implemented in order to increase sales and build consumer
loyalty. This should be undertaken in the first year of the campaign.

Competitions
Competitions will be held in order to build a relationship with the
consumer. These competitions will involve collecting unique codes
from the inside of the bottle lids that will result in a small prize. The
aim of this communication is to increase sales and to make the
consumer feel as though the brand is giving something back.

Events
Events are a good way of increasing transactional sales and building
consumer-brand relationships. Rather than watching a TV
advertisement,
consumers
can
actually
interact
with
a
representative from the brand. Such events may include music
festivals, street markets and trade shows. For Uisce should aim to
take part in such events in the first and second years of the strategy.
Once they have an affiliation with a certain event, for example
Electric Picnic, it is likely that they will be able to return to that event
year after year.

Affiliations/ Sponsorships
This differs from events because the strategy here is to build an
affiliation with a brand or event and to be the sole affiliate or
sponsor. At events, as mentioned above, other brands or
competitors will also be selling their product alongside For Uisce.
However, with an affiliation or sponsorship, For Uisce products will
be the sole supplier. Keeping in line with the brand image and target
9

market, For Uisce should aim to create an affiliation within the

health and wellbeing category. For example, they might wish to
sponsor a marathon. This will be mutually beneficial and will
contribute to the companys image and corporate social
responsibility. The benefits for For Uisce may include but are not
limited to; being listed as a sponsor on the events website and all
promotional materials, having the For Uisce brand name and logo
printed on the marathon t-shirts, being prominently acknowledged in
all marathon publications and interviews. For Uisce should also
consider an affiliation with a national gym or chain of gyms. This
would include having their product for sale within the gym and some
leaflet advertising and/or poster advertising in the gym. This part of
the strategy should be implemented in the third year of the
campaign, when the brand has already built a strong brand image
and is widely recognised.

Budget
The budget for this campaign is 850,000 and will be spread over a
3 year period.
Communication

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Website Design

5,000

5,000

5,000

TV Advertising

312,000

28,000

28,000

Social
Media 40,000
Campaigns
&
Online
Advertising
Outdoor
16,000
Advertising
Promotions
30,000

40,000

40,000

16,000

16,000

30,000

30,000

Sponsorship

200,000

Affiliations

3,000

3,000

3,000

Total

406,000

122,000

322,000

In order to get a top quality website design, that works across a

variety of devices, For Uisce will need to hire an experienced sole
trader that will have access to a professional within a larger agency.
10

The website should be updated every year to remain relevant, as it

will be instrumental in creating sales. This new website design is
estimated to cost approximately, 5,000 per year, based on an
industry average. (Waterford Web Design, 2013)
A 30 second advertisement during the 6 O Clock news on RTE costs
on average 6,000. (RTE, 2016) Coupled with the other advertising
costs, the budget only allows for approximately 61 of these 30
second advertisements. Unless the budget can be increased for
years 2 and 3, the advertisement should be aired once a week for
the first year, at a cost of 312,000.
In order to manage social media and online advertisements, it would
be suggested to For Uisce to hire a college graduate at a salary of
28,000 per year, with an additional 12,000 budget allocated for
sponsored advertisements on Instagram and such.
Outdoor advertising at LUAS stops costs on average 600 per
fortnightly cycle. For a year of outdoor advertising, the cost is
approximately 16,000. (JCDecaux, 2016)
Depending on the type and frequency of promotions, this figure can
vary substantially. A budget of 30,000 has been allocated to
promotions each year.
The cost of sponsoring The Dublin Marathon, is estimated at about
200,000 including a TV highlights package. For Uisce and The
Dublin Marathon would go hand in hand from a brand relationship
perspective and would significantly increase brand awareness.
(O'Riordan, 2013)
For Uisce can print leaflets to be available in gyms nationwide. The
cost of this is approximately 10,000 leaflets for 600. The budget
allows for 50,000 leaflets to be distributed annually. (Capital Leaflets
Dublin, 2010)
Overall, For Uisce will be spending nearly half of their total budget
within the first year of the strategy. Theoretically, it is more
expensive to get new customers than to retain existing customers,
so this is not an issue. The first year will focus on building
recognition and awareness, and introducing the brand to new
customers.

11

Measurement and Evaluation

In order to measure the effectiveness of the IMC campaign and
evaluate whether or not the company is reaching its targets and
therefore fulfilling its objectives, quantitative research needs to be
carried out. Quantitative research will result in statistical data that
can then be analysed and measured. For example, the company will
be able to see if there has been an increase in sales, or if they have
gained market share.
Evaluation of the campaign should be carried out on a quarterly
basis for the duration of the repositioning project. Key Performance
Indicators will be used to evaluate the success of the campaign.
Sales Growth: A positive sales growth percentage over the specified
time period will indicate the success of the campaign.
Incremental Sales: This KPI will measure the relationship between
marketing efforts and sales. It will also demonstrate any new
revenue that can be directly attributed to the communications
campaign.
Profitability: Analysis of the companys financial statements will
indicate their level of profitabilty. Currently the company is operating
at a loss. Ideally, over the course of the campaign, the company will
begin to generate profit and increase its assets.
Production Efficiency: Currently the company is operating at
approximately 8% production efficiency. The plant has a production
capacity of 35,000 9 litre cases per month, but is only producing
35,000 cases per year. The company should be producing
approximately 420,000 cases per year, and has the production
capacity to do so. Production capacity should increase by
approximately 60% over the course of the campaign.

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Appendices
Appendix 1: Financial Statements

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

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