Fiji was the top-ranked brand in net favorability rating among every generation except baby boomers (they preferred Aquafina), as well as among respondents in the South and West regions.
Martin Riese, one of only a handful of professional water sommeliers in the world, offered an explanation for this runaway win: “Because Fiji is a naturally filtered water, it features a high level of a mineral called silica, which creates a sweet profile that fits the American palate very well.”
Aquafina, Evian, Nestle Pure Life, CG Roxane LLC's Crystal Geyser and Dasani were also consistently among the top five brands across most demographics. However, Dasani, frequently the subject of online memes over its quality, also earned the highest unfavorability levels of all tested brands.
BlueTriton’s Poland Spring took the top spot in the Northeast, while its Ice Mountain brand tied Fiji for first in the Midwest, likely reflecting the outsized presence of bottling hubs in those respective regions.
Coca-Cola's Vitamin Water and Topo Chico, Primo Water Corp.’s Mountain Valley Spring Water and PepsiCo Inc.'s Lifewtr performed much better with younger consumers than with older ones. Brands best known for sparkling products, such as Nestlé Waters' Perrier, Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino, generally landed in the mid or bottom tiers.
When asked to elaborate on why certain bottled water brands were their favorite and least favorite, respondents cited taste most often, with descriptors like "crisp," "smooth," "fresh" and "pure" frequently used to describe their favorite brands, and "flat," "dirty" and "acidic" used for their least favorite. Consistency of taste experience, cost and bottle quality were also mentioned.
Still, a significant portion of respondents said they did not have a single favorite or least favorite bottled water brand, highlighting the importance of creative differentiation in the space.
The price paradox and the power of branding
So why do consumers have largely positive opinions of premium brands like Fiji and Evian if they also identify price as a primary factor in purchase decisions? Common Good’s Reedy said it comes down to advertising.
"To communicate a distinctive position in a category where there is only an incremental difference in most options, you have to solve for brand identity," Reedy said. "And with bottled water, that typically comes down to product packaging and placement."
Riese echoed this sentiment, noting that most consumers wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between bottled water brands within an average range of minerality in a blind taste test.
The outsized value of packaging is reflected in the category's relatively low traditional ad spend compared with other beverage products like beer and soft drinks. The bottle itself, when viewed on store shelves, needs to do a lot of the talking.
In the sea of pastel blue hues and cylindrical bottles, "any uniqueness goes a long way to creating endearment in consumers' minds," Reedy added.
With its square bottle, Fiji does just that. In emailed comments, Clarence Chia, senior vice president of marketing for Fiji, noted the brand’s container is its "own fashion staple, making it the preferred choice of celebrities and tastemakers."
Fiji and other top water brands have made strategic partnerships a big part of marketing efforts, too. It has a presence on the red carpet for many Hollywood award shows, including the Grammys and the Golden Globes (remember the “Fiji Water girl”?). Evian has been a longtime sponsor of major tennis and golf events. PepsiCo’s water brands also have a history of relationships with major sports organizations, including the NFL and NCAA.
Through these alignments, water brands move beyond the grocery store shelf and "create meaningful connections with the cultural experiences people love," Reedy said.
And while the bottled water industry is dominated by a few beverage giants, one brand has emerged with a roar in recent years by leveraging packaging and placement strategies in a radical way: Liquid Death.
White (or blue) space
Founded in 2019, canned water brand Liquid Death is reportedly already valued around $700 million after its irreverent ads — they frequently feature boundary-pushing and unexpected tropes like hard-partying kids or rockstar grandmas — earned the brand a cult following. The product is available in more than 60,000 retail stores nationwide, and is one of the top-selling drinking waters on Amazon.
Packaged in a tallboy-style can with branding reminiscent of an energy drink or beer, Liquid Death targets a renegade persona previously untapped by the water market, which recently has focused on appealing to more health and wellness-conscious consumers.
In media interviews, Chief Executive Mike Cessario has said he sees Liquid Death as an entertainment brand first and a water brand second, believing that humorous, culturally relevant creative is the key to engendering brand loyalty in a category where functional product differences are limited.
Despite its rapid rise, most adults (65%) said they have not heard of Liquid Death, according to the survey. The brand landed near the bottom of the net favorability rankings among most generations and regions, likely due, in part, to its young age compared with the rest of the bottled water market.
Other brands could look to Liquid Death’s success on Amazon as a way to carve out their own niche in the market.
“Food and beverage has been much slower to adopt direct-to-consumer trends because of freshness and perishability concerns,” Moquin said. “But without those issues, delivery services offer water brands another opportunity to differentiate.”
Putting a cap on things
Though consumers prefer bottled water to tap, the industry likely has some challenges ahead that could tip the balance. Questions surrounding the industry’s environmental impact aren’t going anywhere as consumer concerns about climate change remain high.
More than a quarter of Gen Z adults (26%) and millennials (27%) said they feel "guilty" about drinking bottled water, while 22% of all adults said the same. Reusable water bottles are growing in popularity, and some communities where bottling occurs are pushing back against the nearby water companies. Calls for banning single-use plastics globally are also gaining momentum.
As a result, many water brands are incorporating sustainability into products and marketing materials. According to Chia, Fiji has transitioned nearly 65% of its bottle volume to recycled plastic, and is investing $2.5 million into energy efficiency initiatives on the islands from which it sources. In 2021, Nestlé Waters announced a similar commitment to regenerate the water cycles.
Industry experts expect this push-and-pull dynamic to continue to shape the industry. Ultimately, though, the top water brands have shown resilience amid a rapidly changing global economy.
"One would think brands that put water in a bottle and ship it worldwide would burn out so quickly in this consumer environment," Reedy said. "It's just not happening though. Water truly sits in its own category in consumers’ minds."
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