Page 34 - Sphere No.17 (Sep 2006)

32 SPHERE
Thirst
quenchers
THE A.S. WATSON Group has been quenching
thirsts for more than 170 years. Its forerunner,
the Canton Dispensary, established the first
soda water factory in China in 1832, making it one of
the world’s pioneers in soda-water manufacturing.
Then... In 1875, the Group erected the first facto-
ry in Hong Kong at 1-3 Stanley Street, producing six
flavours of beverages. Orange squash, cream soda,
lemonade and the like were served in glass bottles.
With the A.S. Watson company name clearly seen on
the poster, the two-dimensional advertisement was
very direct and the message was loud and clear.
Now... Today, the Group’s Manufacturing Divi-
sion is a well-established producer of beverages and
drinking water products in Asia. Its portfolio of bev-
erages includes long-established household brands
Mr. Juicy, Sunkist, Sarsae, Crystal Spring Tea and
Watson’s Mixers, with each featuring a wide range
of flavours. At affordable prices for the Hong Kong
and Mainland mass markets, the beverages are also
available in different forms (cans, plastic bottles
or tetra pak/paper-carton). Marketing of brands,
rather than the company name, is now the name of
the game and television commercials promote the
drinks’ unique identity.
T H E N . . . A N D N O W