Many people are likely familiar with this image. The 'Mineral Water Acidity Test' that once flooded social media caused widespread panic about 'water quality'. Although many professional media outlets debunked the claim that 'the human body needs alkaline water' as lacking scientific basis, most consumers preferred to believe it, trusting that 'blue water' with alkaline properties was safe and healthy. During this period, Nongfu Spring, which promoted 'weakly alkaline water', stood out and gained widespread consumer recognition, leading to a surge in sales.

Years later, the authenticity of the 'acid-base body constitution theory' has been brought up again due to a recent news story.

The 'Acid-Base Body Constitution Theory' Questioned On November 2, a court in San Diego, USA, ordered Robert O. Young to pay a cancer patient $10.5 million in damages. Why mention this? Because the punished 'Young' is the founder of the famous 'acid-base body constitution theory'. Human bodies are classified as acidic or alkaline, with acidic bodies leading to various diseases including cancer. To stay healthy, one must maintain an alkaline environment in the body. Young wrote four books promoting the concept. Perhaps because the theory was simple and presented as miraculous—acidic bodies cause illness, and correcting acidity and balancing pH can cure diseases—many people became highly interested and even deeply convinced. But a lie is ultimately a lie.

Speaking nonsense without evidence will eventually be exposed. As early as two years ago, during an illegal medical practice accusation, he admitted in court that he was not a microbiologist, hematologist, medical expert, or naturopath, and had no scientific training. He lacked medical qualifications, and his diploma was fake. Additionally, with the recent $10.5 million judgment against him, the pseudoscientific 'acid-base body constitution' theory has been thoroughly debunked and exposed to the public.

Nongfu Spring's Rise with 'Weakly Alkaline Water' As is well known, this theory was also widely applied in the domestic market. The company that took the 'acid-base theory' to the extreme was Nongfu Spring, a leading FMCG giant in China. Nongfu Spring leveraged the 'natural weakly alkaline water' concept to secure the top position in the bottled water market and successfully transitioned from 1-yuan water to 2-yuan water.

I vaguely recall that around 2009, Nongfu Spring's regional offices launched 'all-staff water testing activities', requiring local planning departments to conduct at least four water testing events per month, primarily in communities and supermarkets. Additionally, with part-time promoters, Nongfu Spring extended these activities to university campuses, even promoting the concept of weakly alkaline water in dormitories. Through nationwide water testing campaigns, Nongfu Spring successfully raised the price of its 500ml bottled water from 1.5 yuan to the 2-yuan price band. While other FMCG companies struggled to maintain growth and defend sales, Nongfu Spring's sales continued to grow against the trend.

Nongfu Spring's marketing is undoubtedly impressive. But promoting the 'weakly alkaline water' concept, which is scientifically questionable, raises the question of whether Nongfu Spring's executives know the truth behind the theory.

Packaged Drinking Water Standards Issued, Concept Marketing Halted Nongfu Spring's 'natural weakly alkaline water' was not an isolated case; many companies were misled by the 'acid-base theory', including Evian, Kunlun Mountain, and Hengda Ice Spring, all claiming to be weakly alkaline, and Nestlé's 'Deep Spring' also labeled pH 7.5-8.5 as weakly alkaline. In 2016, People's Daily also reported on the chaos of water concepts. The government introduced the 'New National Standard for Packaged Drinking Water'.

The report stated that various concept waters such as oxygen-rich water, mineral water, distilled water, glacier water, ionized water, small molecule water, and functional water would exit the market. The new 'National Food Safety Standard for Packaged Drinking Water' (GB19298-2014) will unify the naming of packaged water: except for natural mineral water, which has its own national standard, packaged water will only be classified as drinking purified water or other drinking water. Any other names will not be allowed.

With this, the marketing hype around various concept waters ended, and the chaos in the water market was curbed.

Emergence of Tea Water, Maternal and Infant Water, and Rice Cooking Water After the concept water wave was halted by regulation, in recent years, segmented waters targeting different consumption scenarios or specific consumer groups have begun to 'encircle' the market. Common examples include maternal and infant drinking water, rice cooking water, and tea water. Zhang Hua (pseudonym), a former Nongfu Spring executive, told New Distribution that as society shifted from an era of material scarcity to abundance, consumer perception of water has gone through three stages:

First, blind consumption. Water companies introduced various concept waters to meet consumers' so-called 'premium, differentiated, and healthy' demands, such as oxygen-rich water, weakly alkaline water, and small molecule water. Information asymmetry, coupled with consumers' desire for 'premium and healthy' drinking water, led to the proliferation of concept waters.

Second, rational consumption. Returning to the essence of water, good water is natural, with the source as the basic guarantee; everything else is just an ordinary bottle of water. Consumers want quality-assured water. With mainstream media educating about packaged drinking water and government regulations, concept waters ceased, and consumers began to consume rationally.

Third, emotional consumption. Water that meets specific consumer groups, scenarios, or needs is an extension based on consumers' pursuit of quality life and consumption upgrade. It can be seen that water companies are no longer keen on promoting water sources excessively; instead, they focus on emotional and segmented functional aspects of water brands to resonate with consumers, setting functional or emotional labels to influence them.

Zhang Hua further explained that this is not concept hype but real consumer demand, and water companies are simply following the trend. Of course, some water companies have made appropriate adjustments to water composition. For example, maternal and infant drinking water: simply put, infants have limited absorption capacity for mineral water (adult), but if they drink purified water directly, it lacks nutritional value. So it strikes a balance between mineral water and purified water to meet infants' needs.

Future Changes in the Packaged Drinking Water Market Zhang Hua told New Distribution that packaged drinking water can now be broadly divided into three categories based on water source and treatment processes: purified water, drinking water, and natural mineral water.

The current packaged drinking water market has formed three major segments: first, the purified water market, with prices generally ranging from 1-2 yuan, with 2 yuan being the ceiling; second, drinking water, including natural water, commonly priced around 3 yuan; third, natural mineral water, with mainstream prices ranging from 3-5 yuan. This is a broad dimension based on the quality of the water itself.

Another dimension is meeting consumption upgrades and diversified, niche demands. For example, drinking water must not only meet basic needs but also specific scenarios, groups, or functions.

That is, based on demand, further emotional and functional segmentation within the three major segments. It can be seen that the purified water market has little room for further segmentation due to limited basic value. Future segmentation will focus on drinking water and natural mineral water.

Mr. Liu Chunxiang's new marketing theory is also applicable to interpreting changes in the packaged drinking water market. In the future, it is unlikely that giants like Nongfu Spring or C'estbon will emerge. Small and medium-sized water companies must target niche markets, focusing on specific scenarios, consumer groups, age groups, or occupations, and turn niche markets into 'mass' markets. The development strategy for small and medium-sized water companies will be 'first-class packaging, first/second-class taste, and third-class price.'

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