CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION ON BISLERI MARKETING PROJECT

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Bisleri is originally an Italian brand. It was acquired by India’s reputed soft drinks maker
Parle Group. Parle initially made soda of Bisleri brand. Subsequently, they launched Bisleri
bottled water.
Today, Bisleri is an iconic and formidable brand in the bottled water category n India. It is
almost a generic name for bottled water for many Indians, who call other bottled water also
“Bisleri”.
Bisleri International is an Indian company incorporated in 1984 by Jayantilal Chauhan. It is
best known for its brand of bottled water which was introduced in 1965 as a soda brand by
Felice Bisleri and acquired by Chauhan in 1969. The company sells bottled water and soft
drinks.
Bisleri conducts its major businesses in India, with 135 operational plants and a network of
3,000 distributors & 5,000 distribution trucks. The company conducts business across India
and neighbouring countries.
The journey of a brand that is now synonymous with packaged drinking water in India
Bisleri - a brand that is synonymous with packaged drinking water in India, was originally an
Italian company founded by Felice Bisleri.The story of Bisleri - How 'Ek Bisleri Dena'
became the standard term for buying packaged drinking water in India.Today, Bisleri
operates 122 plants (13 owned), 4500 distributors and 5000 distribution trucks in India and
neighbouring countries.The output? 15 crore bottles a month.
The company aims to triple its 2018-19 revenue of INR 1,500 crores to INR 5,000 crore by
2022.Bisleri operates brands across mineral water, soft drinks and soda.Bisleri has aced the
SKUs as well - they sell in 250ml, 300ml, 500ml, 1L, 2L, 5L and 20L capacities.
The quality of water in Europe around World War II was extremely poor, which created the
bottled water industry there.India faced a similar issue and Chauhan saw this as an
opportunity.As a soft drinks company, Parle did not have a soda brand in the market.Parle
used the name and launched Bisleri Soda with 2 variants - carbonated and non-carbonated
mineral water.During this time, glass bottles were used for soft drinks and soda.The Italian
name added a dash of class to the product.
The first print ad campaign captured the international essence and showed a butler with a
bow tie. The punchline was, "Bisleri is veri veri extraordinari". The spelling was designed to
capture the consumer's attention.
The idea is a success:
Reduces cost :-
Solves the issue of carrying excess water or throwing the bottle away if someone buys a 1L
bottle. Bisleri achieves 400% growth and captures 40% of the INR 300cr bottled water
market that is estimated to grow at 50% annually. The next target was the bulk segment.
Several commercial establishments had no access to piped water. Bisleri taps into this
segment by introducing the 12L container, followed by the 20L can.
This helps bring down the price per litre from INR 10-12 to INR 3 per litre.
But Bisleri does not stop. During wedding receptions, the older guests generally stay away
from ice cream and soft drinks. Bisleri introduces free samples of Bisleri at the tables where
the elderly guests would sit.
The brand name now is so synonymous with packaged drinking water, Bisleri has to launch
an ad campaign to counter other brands being sold as Bisleri and to create awareness among
consumers that not every packaged water bottle is Bisleri.
The estimated market size of the Indian bottled water industry is ~INR 15,000cr with 20%
CAGR. There are 3,000 brands of bottled water, local and regional, across the country.
Among national players, Bisleri competes with Kinley (Coca-Cola India) and Aquafina
(PepsiCo). Bisleri has always managed to innovate to stay ahead of the competition.Today,
China's richest man, Zhong Shanshan, is the founder of bottled water giant Nongfu Spring.