Seryab for Kids

Introducing the kids range of Seryab - a premium natural mineral water of Russian origin.

Following successful launch of award-winning PET and glass package range in 2010, Seryab is introducing a special range for the kids. In contrast to the crystal-like design of the ‘adult’ Seryab which showcases the silver-pure nature of the water (Seryab is a derivative of ‘silver’ in Russian), the kids range aims to make drinking water more fun and reclaim ‘share of stomach’ from other impulse categories such as soft drinks and candy.

The kids range is bottled in matrioshka-shaped 250ml bottles decorated with folk fairy tale characters. The archetypal shape of the Russian nesting doll is perfect for kids hands and instantly turns the bottle into a collectable toy which unlocks children’s creativity. Commercial branding is reserved for the back of the label to minimize interference; the package is highly distinctive even in the absence of prominent logos.

Initially 5 characters will be released to cater to different tastes and preferences, namely the Swan-Princess, Ilya of Murom, the Firebird,.the Mermaid and Sadko the Seafarer. The set will be subsequently extended with additional themes and characters, including special series that feature numbers and alphabet to make first steps in learning fun. All artwork is commissioned specifically for Seryab.

Seryab’s mission is to build value of high-quality, locally sourced natural mineral water. Remarkable package aesthetics and serving innovations are a means to elevate the perception of locally sourced water in relation to premium imports. Seryab is preparing for a launch in England under the trademark Aqua Argenta, and is in discussion of licensing deals with natural mineral water source owners in numerous other geographies.

Seryab is bottled in Russia by Mineral Technologies Ltd and its intellectual property is marketed worldwide by R2H (UK) Ltd.

Comments

[Brian Everett]

While I applaud the design of the package and the illustrations are fantastic, it pains me to see yet another bottled water released onto the market. Why does this product even exist? It's like going to the store and buying a bag of shredded lettuce; lazy, expensive & pointless.

Everyone do everyone a favor: go to your hardware store and buy an inline water filter at the very least. Or at the most a whole house filter. Then drink all the filtered water you want, for not much money, and without the waste of plastic.

[49th Floor]

These illustrations are pretty incredible and they look like they wouldn't be out of place on an ornate water display in a picturesque garden. I wonder how much these cost to buy though, because fundamentally - you'd have to look hard to find a commodity which is more of a necessity than water and it's not something with much inherent value in terms of taste - It's either cool or warm, but that's at the discretion of the retailer. My point being a 250ml drink at £1.50 would be a fail for me - no matter how pretty.

And a bit like a really beautiful wedding cake - which is more often than not just a real shame to cut into - would it be worth keeping once the thirst is quenched or would it just be well considered junk? I can't see this being the kind of thing that a child would want to collect - in my experience they'd rather go after something neon and gaudy. I might though.

[Amanda]

These are beautiful, do we know who the illustrator is? I'd love to view their other work.

Thanks

[Amanda]

Children have better taste than you give them credit for :D My two are 6yrs and 9yrs, a boy and a girl, and both of them would definitely happily keep such beautiful bottles.

Still, I do agree, bottled water is pretty evil in terms of environment. I very rarely buy it myself, only when I absolutely have to when have accidentally got caught out without a drink when travelling.

Having said that, most of us buy SOMETHING wasteful that we don't really need, simply because of what it looks like. I doubt many of us can claim that we never do that.

[Andrei Petrov]

Hi, thanks for your comments. I am the founder of this business. We are very pleased with the way the kids' range has turned out - all thanks to the illustrations by Ilya Orlov, a young Russian artist. By the way, you can see our 'adult' range here: http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/7/6/seryab-water.html

The kids range is obviously designed to be a kind of treat, a special occasion (mostly away from home - as most single-serve packaging is) - and we are trying to accomplish this without adding a whole lot of sugar (none, actually), which has been the traditional recipe for kids' treats, hasn't it?

The graphics do add to the cost, but not prohibitively, so the bottle retails for about 80 cent (US) in Russia. This is a premium to the more generic domestic offerings, but substantially cheaper than any imported water.

Not all kids will collect these bottles - or any of the future series (we will be doing 1-2 new series per year), but they certainly enjoy playing with them and get very imaginative. We are still looking for a way to make a proper self-color version, which would be pretty cool. I am taking clues from my own kids.

I don't like waste any more than any other reasonable person. I will not be defending the mineral water industry, beverage industry or any other industry for that matter - we all have much to improve as businesses and consumers (or, rather, human beings). It is somewhat misguided to single out a category and call it pointless - the whole consumer society is. But I refuse to believe that a joyless society is the better alternative.

Our business does not do long-range haulage (rather, we set up a new bottling facility in a new geography), we are migrating to biodegradeable plastic, our glass bottles are returnable and we will be experimenting with serving restaurants from bulk containers (like beer companies do). This is not greenwash, but rather fundamentals of our business model.

And hey, 'candy does not need to have a point' - was that Willy Wonka who said that? Or am I imagining things already?))