Advert Analysis: Beautiful Water for Beautiful People

Ever since Bel-Aqua mineral water burst onto the market last year, most of us have been rendered speechless by their billboard and print adverts. I, for one, have many a time entered supermarkets hoping to quench my thirst with the human-sized bottle of Bel-Aqua mineral water I keep seeing in their billboard adverts.

My disappointment at not getting the same deal Van Vicker got – the oversized bottles he is seen with in the adverts – is quickly dissolved when I drink the normal-sized bottle of Bel-Aqua. The pleasant taste of Bel-Aqua is undeniable and just because of that, I will strongly resist anyone that will attempt to say that “all water be water”. 

A visit to the Bel-Aqua website will inform you that Bel-Aqua is currently the only bottled water in Ghana with a pH value between 7.5- 7.8, making it alkaline based and not acidic. Translation: Bel-Aqua is some GOOD water! Now, one would think that something like that would be the single-minded message in their advertising campaigns but it is not. Their ad campaigns rather have the following: “Beautiful Water for Beautiful People” (the image shows a bare-chested Van Vicker who I’m sure is attempting to look beautiful but rather looks like he’s about to seduce the larger-than-life bottle of Bel-Aqua), “A New Life Everyday” (the image shows an appropriately clad Van Vicker this time around albeit, he has his polo shirt not-so-appropriately tucked behind his ‘trade-mark’ huge belt buckle) and “Listen to Your Body, Drink Bel-Aqua” (the image shows a Bel-Aqua bottle with Bel-Aqua customized headphones connected to the bottle). For these adverts (particularly the last one), I want so much to tell you what I think of them but words fail me. These are some comments I however picked up from social media feeds about the advert:

How can the slogan be beautiful water for beautiful people? So if you are not beautiful or have low self-esteem the water is not for you???? Or does the water transform people into beautiful people?? It makes no sense.

I personally hate that advert…it’s just too fake…I don't know what Van was trying to do there…

 The TV advert is even worse than the billboard adverts, if that’s even possible. Horribly unsettling concept.

Both ads are somewhat corny and silly. They make little sense.

These harsh comments notwithstanding, the adverts need to be analysed appropriately. There are many objectives of advertising but in my opinion, the underlying objectives can be grouped as follows:

1. Informative: The advert seeks to develop initial identity by providing knowledge of the brand.

2. Persuasive: The advert attempts to increase demand for the product or service.

3. Memory-jogging: The advert strives to reinforce previous promotion by keeping the name of product in the market.

4. Attention-grabbing: The advert seeks to grab attention and create top-of-mind awareness of the brand.

So now that we’ve got the theory out of the way, let’s practically analyse the adverts by creating a checklist.

Do the adverts inform you of the perks of drinking Bel-Aqua? No, they don’t!

Would you say you are persuaded to drink more of Bel-Aqua once you see the adverts? Well, I can’t speak for everyone here but I wasn’t convinced to always buy Bel-Aqua mineral water.

Do the adverts jog a memory? Being that, they are new entrants in the market, this objective does not apply here.

Do the adverts grab your attention? Yes!! A thousand times yes!! You have got to admit that the adverts grab your attention immediately you see them. The use of the local Ghanaian star and the unrealistically-sized bottle did not make much sense to a lot of people but who cares? The negative comments garnered from the adverts do not dissuade anybody from drinking Bel-Aqua. The adverts have rather created top-of-mind awareness of the brand and have raised the popularity of Bel-Aqua so much that, it was awarded the CIMG Emerging Brand of the Year-2011. 

Now, the begging question remains to be asked; are the creators of the Bel-Aqua adverts fortuitous ironic creatives or sheer geniuses?