Al Ain adopts new strategy to woo more customers

Dubai : The bottled water business in the UAE is one of the toughest, said Fasahat Beg, General Manager of Al Ain Mineral Water Company, especially when you're marketing in a country that has one of the world's highest water consumptions per capita.

"Just in the bottled water business alone there are 160 brands," Beg said.

While Al Ain is a government-owned company based in Abu Dhabi that has been in business for 20 years, 160 brands definitely make for a lot of competition. That's been a good enough reason for Al Ain to reconsider its marketing and advertising strategy.

The company has recently launched "Refresh Your Moments", an advertising campaign that uses television ads and the social media platform for the first time.

"From a marketing perspective, we were quite conservative in the past," Beg said.

What prompted these new ways of advertising were the findings of a market research project that the company conducted this year.

"We wanted to understand what consumers are looking for — not just when it comes to the brand but understanding the personality of our consumers," he said.

It turned out that consumers are looking for a fun and lively brand, he said. So the company decided to use social media by setting up a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a YouTube channel.

Trend

"[Social Media] is a trend that you have to recognise," he said. It moves the company away from the traditional media which is very cluttered and exposes it in a way that hasn't been done in the past, he said.

Al Ain's Facebook page has more than 1,400 fans at the time of writing. They can share their thoughts as well as make comments on photos and videos posted.

"So far it's been very positive. We get direct feedback as the general public are making their own comments on the brand," he said.

"You find out what your competition is doing. You get an understanding on why they buy your product, and what improvements they are looking for."

Although Beg did not reveal how much the company has increased its advertising spending, he said it has increased significantly to meet its 2010 objectives.

By 2010, the company aims to grow by double digits.

"Our objective is to become the number one water brand in the UAE and we're well on the road to do that."

Al Ain, which is the official supplier for Etihad Airways and Emirates airline, currently has 40 per cent share in the Abu Dhabi market and a 24 per cent share nationally, according to Beg.

The company currently has a presence in all the GCC countries except Saudi Arabia and is looking at expanding its export market. "We want to expand our export market in Bahrain and Kuwait," he said.

"People are saying this is a great move for Al Ain and we will continue in this format," he said. "It's a recognition of what our consumers like."