Coke Launches Socially Responsible Water Brand in China

Coca-Cola is launching a socially responsible bottled-water brand in China that will fund projects to bring clean drinking water to schoolchildren in rural China. It's Coke's first initiative of its kind in any market.

The brand is called Ice Dew "Chun Yue," or Pure Joy, and a single serving bottle costs 32 U.S. cents, just slightly more than local products generally sell for.

The brand targets Chinese millennials because they're concerned about societal issues and share their views on social media. For the work in rural areas, Coke paired with prominent local NGO One Foundation.

Socially conscious brands are not as present in China as in some other markets. Coke saw an opening to do something innovative, especially since the water category is "pretty generic" in China, said Pratik Thakar, Coke's VP-Asia Pacific for creative and content excellence.

"This is the right category because water impacts everyone -- you can sell it as a commodity, like 'Water is water, at the end of day,' or you can say, 'Water is so precious, some people call it transparent gold,'" he said.

A major issue

While bottled water may be seen as an eco-unfriendly luxury in the United States, people in China increasingly view it as a necessity for their health because water pollution is constantly in the news.

This month, investigators said China's largest oil company was likely behind a leak that contaminated the tap water of 2.4 million people in northwest China. And last year, 16,000 dead pigs were found floating in the Huangpu River, which supplies drinking water to Shanghai.

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• Consumer Products
• Food & Beverage