Evocus, a black alkaline drink with natural minerals brand, was established in 2017 (and retailing from 2018-19) with a mission to provide ‘more than water’ and redefine hydration by fusing science and nature as hydration solutions. However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the parent company, AV Organics, to entirely revamp its placement strategy with the product going online. Looking back at the growth, milestones and learnings, Sonam Pama, Head of Marketing, Evocus says, “This period saw people starting to focus on health and wellness, and adopting a healthier lifestyle. This led to lifestyle changes and saw the entry of new products and brands. People also started reading package labels and there was a discoverability of products that elevated lifestyles.” She continues, “2020 was the base when Evocus started getting discovered. We were the first brand to have an innovative product like this in the Indian market, and worked on inciting the curiosity of customers.”
Is Black Alkaline Drink, A Fad?
Asked whether the product is a fad, Pama reiterates the health benefits for the body and gut with Evocus crafted to be a premium, mineral-rich drink, with added minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium and a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) level of 290. A key focus for the brand is to push forward communication and information about the product and creating awareness. While the first part of the journey started with curiosity, the next step was to go through the entire funnel to first drive consideration and repeat purchase. The brand also got clinical trials done to clinically prove its benefits. Pama says, “There is a lot of speculation around black alkaline water and we went a step ahead and got clinical trials done. This has added to the credibility about the water that it is healthy. We might be the only water beverage brand which has done so. We also created a CGI video on how the water interacts with the body. So, while step one was curiosity that there was a new product in the market, but now we can actually state that this is clinically proven.”
The Organic Route To Consumption
What helped brand Evocus was the organic uptake and adoption of the product by sportspersons and the film fraternity who were spotted consuming the water, holding the bottle at the airport, at their places of workouts etc. Pama states, “If you look at our communication, we have gone beyond just being a brand and are educating our customers and being transparent about the label. Our advocacy comes from KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) in the industry such as dietitians, fitness experts, nutritionists. Our brand and water association have been in relevant areas, have not gone mass in our communication and have not done any ATL campaigns. We have kept it very targeted towards people who are interested in elevating their lifestyle, are looking for healthier alternatives, or for whom water is just not enough.” Till date, Evocus has had had less paid associations, picking up on the right organic collaborations and associations and focused on connecting with communities interested in the product, trying it and are ready to talk about it. She adds, “We are seen at the right places by the right people and have ensured that even performance marketing, we have been very finicky about the audience we've chosen, and it's been paying off.”
A happy ‘accident’ for the brand has been a presence on OTT shows on Amazon Prime and Netflix shows. While Evocus hasn’t done any brand integrations, on its end, Pama highlights that the bottle was seen prominently in some episodes, even though the front label is not visible. She states, “Blackwater has a perception of being premium. Many characters and personalities on the show have been spotted with blackwater. A lot of my marketing has happened organically, because of the brand personality that we stand for and the product.”
While OTT has happened purely by accident, Evocus has looked at on-ground associations such as the Lakme Fashion Week, Bombay Times Fashion Week, at niche events targeting the HNI customer base where Evocus is seen as the pouring/hydration partner in the fashion and lifestyle segment. Evocus has also been a part of sporting events as hydration partners for the Delhi Golf Club and India Padel events and also engages with running clubs. She explains, “We are the hydration partners at premium sporting events where the consumers know about our brand and are actual consumers. Sports, fashion & lifestyle are the two big associations that we have been doing.”
Building A New Category In The Water Segment
The India premium bottled market size reached USD 1,182.9 Million in 2024. Looking forward, the IMARC Group expects the market to reach USD 2,273.6 Million by 2033, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5% during 2025-2033. Operating in the premium category are natural mineral water brands such as Himalaya, Vedica, and Aava and the high-end international brand, Evian. On its part, Evocus sees itself as the category creators in the blackwater space with the highest top-of-mind recall with a huge potential for growth. Pama explains, “It is not just the water segment but also about beverages. So, the sky's the limit for this category. Many people are converting from an RO category to a bottle beverage category and then into the premium category.”
She continues, “We've seen about a 5x growth in the last one year, with hydration becoming a key factor in today's life. We’ve seen tremendous growth coming from quick commerce which we launched at the end of 2023. 2024 was our first growth spurt on all the three quick commerce platforms, and we are looking at a higher growth spurt coming in this year.” Delving deeper the online sales are split between Evocus’ website, D2C e-commerce platforms, and quick commerce with quick commerce contributing to nearly 70% of the online business.
Going Beyond Metros
The focus for the company last year was scaling up its operations to ensure a last mile deliverability to anybody interested in adopting the product. At the start of 2024, Evocus was present in 16 cities. Now, it is spread in over 70 cities largely led by quick commerce. While metros do lead the charge in terms of the adoption rate, Evocus has seen growth coming in from Tier I and Tier II cities as well as from smaller cities with consumers now shifting entirely to blackwater and placing orders for the entire month. Pama says, “The repeat orders coming in through our website is literally the only place where we can map our repeat orders. Keeping our website in mind, we have a healthy at retention/repeat order rate of over 40%. We have been very robust about maintaining a repeat orders as this will define the lifetime value of the product at the end of the day. From being a digital first company, the company has recently started expanding into offline retail.
Look Ahead
Currently, Evocus’ product range consists of the flagship black alkaline water drink, alkaline mineral water, Hydration IV electrolyte drink, Hydration IV electrolyte powder drink mix and natural mineral water, all crafted to optimize hydration needs.
Looking ahead the strategy is to scale up further, make delivery more efficient, increase the SKU portfolio and focus on hydration products. Pama says, “We are a premium hydration brand and all the products that we launch will be hydrating products. The recurring theme around health and lifestyle is clean hydration and this is the theme that we are going to be sticking with for building our product portfolio. The next product in the pipeline is our ready-to-drink electrolytes and we are very excited for it. We have always prioritized innovation and are looking at different formulations, testing and trying to see what's next.”
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