Design creates freedom...

Te Waihou, meaning ‘The New Water’ from the region of Putaruru ‘Home of the Owl’, the guardian of our pure water source The Blue Spring, New Zealand’s most precious spring water.

The Brief:

To create a premium New Zealand Spring Water brand that is distributed alongside fine wines. The product is to be sold into fine dining establishments including restaurants, cafes and hotels in New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom and Europe.

The Result:

There were a few predetermined factors that we had to consider. First was that the bottle and closure styles were both already chosen. The second was a very short timeline to pull it all off and thirdly we had to visually create a clear distinction between still and sparkling water.

The source of the bottled water is the Blue Spring, which lies near Putaruru. The Blue Spring is aptly named, but it didn’t even come close to representing the intense blue and green hues that are experienced first hand at the Blue Spring. The whole area is protected, very picturesque and the epitome of purity. We knew that if we could re-create the preciousness of the area within the brand, we could tell the true and compelling story of where the water comes from.

Precious became our brand essence, and everything we created had to align with this. The name we settled on is named after the nearby Waihou River, which literally means “new water”. We added “Te” to mean “the”, and “reserve” to align with the fine wine market. The Waihou River feeds directly into the Blue Spring via deep underground aquifers. We shot a series of brand images on location as full colour panoramic shots to show the amazing qualities of the water.

The brand logo was developed through combining very refined typography with a hand drawn illustration. The nearby town of Putaruru means home of the owl, and the hand drawn illustration depicts the owl overlooking the pristine Blue Spring, protecting the area. In the background you can see where the water began its journey many years ago – as rain hitting the Mamaku Ranges. The whole treatment of the design throughout was very simple, clean and precious – like the water itself.

To educate customers on the journey the water continually embarks on, (and the range of products available) we developed a set of marketing collateral which included: stationery, a menu inspired product brochure, a precious brand book and a specifically designed folder to house the material. Rain hits the Mamaku Ranges and then travels for years underground to its release at the Blue Spring. We needed to illustrate how Te Waihou carries on the journey, how they retain the preciousness all the way through in the way they care for and bottle the water.

Aquasplash’s state-of-the-art bottling plant is located at the source, giving added credibility to their role as protector of the area and the water.

We had to isolate viable avenues of distribution in order to penetrate the international market. We targeted wine distributors and positioned Te Waihou as a premium drinking water, allowing it to be sold alongside fine wines to hotels, restaurants and cafes. Reaction and feedback has been 100% positive and the result has been an immediate acceptance into the New Zealand market through the premium Wine Distributor Eurowine. There are also several international enquiries that are currently going through the process of market validation to export and numerous direct enquiries from the Te Waihou website.

Visit: www.tewaihouwater.co.nz

Tags: Advertising, Brand Positioning and Strategy, Brochures, Identity, Packaging, Stationery, Website

Leave a Reply