Biborteni relies on tradition to make its brand stronger

The producer of Biborteni mineral water, acquired by shareholders of the winemaker Murfatlar last year, has rethought the positioning of the brand and is relying on Biborteni’s tradition on the domestic market. Madalin Simion, the brand manager of Biborteni, says the strategy of his company on medium and long term is to consolidate the brand. Investments provided for in the budget amount to over 3 million euros (rate card), for the first year since the start of the new communication campaign. “Early last year when we commissioned several market surveys to assess its segmentation and consumer behaviour, we had two options: either make cheap water bottled in 2 litre containers or build a strong brand to ensure a top position on the market. We went for the second option,” Simion says. Market surveys conducted by the company over the past year have revealed that the tradition of a particular brand of mineral water on the market matters a great deal when consumers make their choice. On the other hand, unlike more developed countries in Western Europe, the mineral content or the healthy characteristics of the mineral water are not the things that make Romanians drink it. “Most Romanians drink mineral water for the simple reason that they hate the drinking water supplied by the Regies Autonomes,” Simion adds. Romanian mineral waters have been really successful on the export market in the more developed countries, with educated consumers. Hungary, for one, has already become the export target of several domestic producers.