The Bottled Water Market

If any reader doubts the value of marketing for a beverage, all she or he has to do is catch a view--or, more realistically, read this article--which highlights, albeit superficially of course, how the seemingly ludicrous proposition of a bottled-water market grew from an aberration to "one of the biggest success stories in the modern food and beverage industry":

By branding and marketing water, it has been transformed from something that many of us took for granted into a product that now makes billions for global multinational companies.
But like all products, its success is driven by consumer demand.
"Some people… want to consider the bottled water industry as a marketing trick foisted upon consumers," says Kim Jeffery, chief executive of Nestle Waters in North America.
"I wish I was that good or had that much money.

 If you have access to the BBC, it's on BBC2 at 2100 GMT tonight (4 PM EST).