Chi ‘Secure’ Water: Courting Trouble or Driving Innovation? - 2008-10-06

Chi Ltd recently broke the tradition of packaging water products in plain and transparent containers by introducing its new Secured Water in beautiful but opaque tetra pack packages. Ralph Tathagatha considers the prospects and odds against the new entrant.

All bottled and packaged water types are often times generically referred to as table water, but expert opinion says that is not really accurate. The origin and processing of different types of packaged water actually make them quite different in content and taste.

However, there seems to be no established guidelines and standards of identity that classify packaged water in the Nigerian market except what the producers say they are.

Mineral water, according to a source, is a category of bottled or other forms of packaged water that contains not less than 250 parts per million totally dissolved solids and is defined by its constant level and relative proportions of mineral and trace elements at the point of emergence from the source. Ordinarily, no minerals are added to the water except the natural element the water takes from its source. Put simply, it can be described as water drawn from an underground source that contains at least 250 ppm of dissolved salts. Whichever minerals are present are what make mineral water what it is. Some minerals that may appear in mineral water include calcium, iron, and sodium.

Recently, Chi Limited, makers of the popular Chivita fruit drink among other Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) brands, introduced into the Nigerian market, what it described as Africa 's first tetra packaged mineral water.

At the inaugural introduction of Chi Secure mineral water, the Managing Director of Chi limited, Mr. Vipul Beri said “We are proud today that we are the first in Africa to produce water in tetra pack and that brings in more responsibility on us to give to our consumers the best quality and purity. Chi Secure Water, a natural mineral water, comes in totally aseptic tetra pack with zero bacteria in one litre packaging.”

If the above quoted pronouncement is anything to go by, one is tempted to say that an unprecedented seismic shift has just begun  in the world of water packaging in the Nigerian market. The shift from thinking transparently to thinking opaquely; the shift from thinking in pet plastic bottles to thinking in tetra packs; the shift from insecurity to security; the shift from impurity to purity. This shift is being motivated, powered and emphasized by an omnibus brand known for innovation and singularity; Chi limited.

 He also proclaimed Secure Water as a product of painstaking research and a trail blazer with a unique mark of singularity as far as tetra packaged water is concerned in the Nigerian market.

“Chi Limited, in its own humble way, has created a sense of pride amongst millions of its consumers. At Chi, we always wanted to give the best to our consumers. The Research and Development Division of Chi Limited will continue working round the clock to produce what is best and desired by our fellow countrymen. Before launching any product, Chi spends a lot on research and development, and also in the needs and wants at the marketplace,” he said.

The major thrust of this piece is not to question or fault the conviction of purity and quality among others which Chi Secure water promises its prospective customers but to carefully examine the glamorous and, in the main, nebulous tetra pack in which this first mineral water in Nigeria comes and its chances of taking on a leadership responsibility (albeit very slim) in that category. 

This ostensibly novel transition from crystal to obscured tetra pack in the packaged water industry, experts vehemently argue, might alienate consumers rather than attract them. The pivot of the argument being that with transparent containers, consumers would be able to ascertain the quality and purity of the water. Drinking water, many people believe, should be a gloriously guilt-free activity. H20 won't make one fat, give one protein or make one's tongue red or yellow. Why package it like fruit drink?

However, the tetra pack manufacturer (Chi Ltd), from all indications, had braved all known conventions of packaging water in transparent pet bottles and convincingly assured its potential consumers of secured water in seductive but opaque packs citing Europe and America as examples of countries where tetra packaged water sells. “A lot of people thought you cannot put water in tetra packs. If you go to Europe, America and some other parts of the world, they have water in tetra packs,” Mr. Beri said.

Even by conservative estimates, one can reasonably conclude that Nigerians are suckers for upscale things. But a stronger part of the argument opines that despite the fact that packaged water is becoming progressively the preferred choice for drinking purposes (attendant fakery not withstanding) and concludes that shielding it in tetra packs no matter how alluring (outside and secured inside) might not be the best choice for now, at least in the Nigerian market. But innovations-whether borrowed and tinkered with or originally invented - starts from somewhere, another school of thought debunks.

All things being equal, packaged water with transparent appearance even after long-term storage will still evoke a smooth feeling in the throat of a potential consumer upon sight.

The questions go again: what was the packaged water market before Chi Secure water made its debut? Does the Company have any brand credential in transparent water packaging in the Nigerian market before changing to opaque tetra pack for purity and security reasons?

But a brand school of thought states that brand leadership can always be achieved by creating a new category. Therefore opaque tetra packaged water (Secure Water) should be admitted as new and exotic innovation by Chi Ltd in the table water category in Nigeria. Meanwhile, some experts on the other hand, argue the fact that Chi Ltd shouldn't have transferred, uncensored, to water packaging, the colorful approach it uses to package most of its successful products like Chivita, Hollandia milk, Hollandia Yogurt and Caprisone among other fruit drinks. They argue that a portion of Secure Water opaque pack should have been designed to project the content so as to assure customers of what they want to consume.

Could it be that there was no thorough brand experimentation before Secure Water was officially introduced? That is not likely as Beri explains “During our research, we went to Kano, they said if you can give us something which can be secured; in Kaduna , they said the same thing; Onitsha , Ibadan , Abuja , and Lagos , also wanted the best water package, so here we give Nigeria Chi Secure,”

Meanwhile, curious and insatiable market watchers still argue that the above assertion can hardly draw out consumers' conviction with a view to sustaining their loyalty for long. For Mr. Emma Okolie, a marketing analyst, marketing Secure Water could be a bit or very problematic given the dynamics of the Nigerian packaged water market. “Downing the contents of a gorgeously packaged Product like Secure Water and getting the feel of (natural and tasteless) water can be disappointing to many consumers. Millions of Nigerian consumers would rather expect a fruity or juicy flavour upon setting their eyes on the pack. But I can't imagine the sharp deception their (consumers') taste buds would feel by the time they have full knowledge that it's just a natural liquid (water) inside the pack,” Okolie started.

Speaking further, he concluded that such encounter with the above judgment might strip Secure Water of its potential brand power to influence purchasing behaviour in the already saturated and transparently packaged water market in Nigeria. “For now, I cannot assert with much conviction the future of this beautifully packaged water product because it is just a new born baby. But I foresee a divorce between the fledgling product and its consumers unless an expensive and aggressive campaign is launched to create massive awareness,” he stated.

However, for Beri, optimism is the word considering the market potentials for the new product. “We had a test launch of the water with a few hundreds of cartons given out for pilot survey into the market and I can tell you that the response we got from our consumers showed us that the market is ready for us and the product we have on offer for them”. The only snag for the new product as inadvertently pointed out by the CEO is that “we saw that people were not familiar with packaging water in tetra packs in Nigeria and this is one of the reasons why we are going to embark on serious campaign to ensure that we create the necessary awareness”.  

Taking the lead from Beri, the consumer acceptance and eventual market success of this exotic Secure Water is hinged on massive and aggressive campaign. However, how much of this campaign this sales driven organization can muster remains to be seen.