Effie Awards 2017 has brought two Gold trophies for AQUA Scanner, a campaign we developed for Aqua Carpatica, at the Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Brand Experience categories. The AQUA Scanner campaign was one of the finalists for Grand Effie, also.
Since the beginning, AQUA Carpatica, the water with the lowest content of nitrates in Romania fights for the consumers’ education and information about the benefits and the importance of mineral water. The Purity Test, a small piece of paper, has given the Romanians the power to test the water they drink: it have been tested more than 1600 tap waters, 127 rivers and 687 fountains.
But, even today, there are bottled waters that contain more than the maximum limit of nitrites recommended for babies and infants. Although, the law in the European Union allows a maximum limit of nitrites of 50mg/L, the doctors from the entire world find this limit two permissive. They consider the value way too high and a risk especially for infants and little babies. Their recommendation is of maximum 10 mg nitrites for 1 liter of water.
Because the law doesn’t compelled the brands to disclose the nitrites content on their label, the parents can’t be aware of what they are buying and they don’t even imagine that bottled water could be otherwise than suitable for the kids.
In 2012, AQUA Carpatica set for itself to change the water law and to impose the introduction of nitrates content on the labels of all waters in Romania. Although the initiative had great support from the public, the authorities chose to ignore it.
Our AQUA Scanner campaign continues the fight for purity and hands the power to find the truth about the waters in Romania to the consumers, again. Case study:
The consumers have received a simple instrument to verify the water purity: AQUA Scanner – an app that offers you detailed information about any water brand on the shelf, no matter what is written on the label. By scanning the label, the consumers receive all the necessary information for taking a decision: the nitrites concentration, but also other factors – the water PH, the sodium and other minerals concentration. The analysis of all the waters on the market at the moment was made by a certified laboratory. More than this, the app makes the waters comparison very easy.
The new app was promoted with a TV and digital campaign. The TV spot can be watched here:
The initial purpose of the campaign was to make the app available for as many Romanians as possible and, for this, there were chosen the channels with a high reach, that offer an important visibility: the digital and national TV channels, with a focus on mobile, the medium with the highest growth in Romania in 2016. AQUA Scanner was downloaded more than 150.000 times, with more than 4.500 sessions daily during the campaign. The campaign made more visible the bottled waters nitrates problem, generating an organic reach of 1.3 million views.
More than that, shortly after the AQUA Scanner campaign has been launch, the Mineral Waters Association has started an education campaign about the bottled waters purity, which generated a higher exposure of the subject.
And concerning the position in top 3 of the category, AQUA Carpatica has managed to overpass both competitors (Borsec – a brand with more than 200 years of tradition and Dorna Izvorul Alb – a very active brand on the parents’ target, as well as AQUA).
In 2016, AQUA Carpatica has become the bottled water market leader, with significant sales and market share increase.
AQUA Carpatica is the water brand that aims to bring innovation in its category through all the means (packaging, marketing, communication) and the AQUA Scanner project is in line with these objectives. Throughout all that we enterprise we want to get closer to the consumer and to change the relation between them and our products. With this communication philosophy and the transparency that we have shown since the beginning, we are building a relationship based on trust and loyalty with our consumers and we redefine the pure and healthy water concept. (Valentina VESLER – Communication & PR Director AQUA Carpatica)