How evian and the US Open Keep Bottled Water a Status Symbol

evian is treating its 200th anniversary as a reason to make its water visible in places where status, sport, and culture already intersect.

The brand is marking the milestone alongside the US Open, where it will celebrate 40 years as the tournament's Official Water.

"200 Years Young" signage and limited-edition bottle packaging will appear at evian water carts across the tournament grounds.

"For 200 years, the journey of evian has begun in the French Alps," evian SVP Fran Mulhern said in a press release.

"This anniversary is an opportunity to share that journey more broadly, inviting consumers to experience the culture, hospitality and 'Live Young' spirit that define our brand."

Meanwhile, a one-day celebration on August 27 will bring evian's French Alpine heritage to Brooklyn.

The brand is also running a nationwide sweepstakes at evian200.com.

One grand-prize winner and a guest get the New York party, courtside opening-night seats, and a stay at Hôtel Royal in Évian-les-Bains.

The wider "200 Years Young" campaign includes limited-edition glass bottles designed with Jeff Koons and inspired by his Balloon Dog sculptures.

Brand ambassadors Carlos Alcaraz, Frances Tiafoe, Emma Raducanu, and Céline Boutier front the campaign.

evian is asking consumers to pay for provenance, packaging, and access to elite spaces as much as for the water.

Two centuries of the same premium spring water is what makes this ask viable.

Bottled water became a status symbol the moment the label started doing more work than the liquid.

40 Years as the Official Water

The US Open supplies evian with an audience that's already used to premium pricing.

The tournament comes with associations around wellness, hospitality, and premium design that match what the legacy brand sells.

evian has been the tournament's Official Water for 40 years, and its tennis relationships extend to individual players and event formats.

The anniversary identity appears across the grounds this year through "200 Years Young" branding.

Tailored packaging makes the milestone tangible at the exact point where consumers encounter the product.

The bottle becomes part of the event environment, giving a functional drink a collectible quality.

evian previously created tournament-specific bottles featuring Frances Tiafoe and worked with Studio Posti on the 2025 design.

Forty years of tournament presence is what lets evian treat the grounds as an extension of its own brand identity.

Newer sponsors have to buy this permission, and they still get one tournament at a time.

A $10.8 Billion Premium Water Market

The premium water category and the US Open audience are growing at the same time.

The 2025 US Open drew a record 1,144,562 fans across three weeks, up 9% from 2024.

It was the second straight year that the tournament passed 1 million attendees.

Meanwhile, Grand View Research valued the U.S. premium bottled water market at $10.76 billion in 2024.

The firm projects it will reach $20.75 billion by 2033, a compound annual growth rate of 7.5%.

The report credits luxury consumption, wellness tourism, hospitality, and packaging for the growth.

What marketers can take from evian's anniversary push:

• Scale strengthens status. Brands should choose high-reach properties with strong cultural relevance to increase visibility.
• Provenance justifies price. Origin, packaging, and hospitality give a commodity product the story that supports a premium tier.
• Context reinforces brand power. Brands should place products in sports, dining, and wellness settings to strengthen premium cues.

Any brand can buy the audience, and picking the room where the premium price makes sense is the brand strategy part.

Our Take: Can a Sweepstakes Make Heritage Feel Exclusive?

evian is offering a chance to win a trip to a French village and stay at Hôtel Royal in Évian-les-Bainsas. 

It's the payoff for buying an expensive bottle of water.

We think that the sweepstakes does keep the heritage exclusive, for a reason that evian probably didn't plan for.

One prize means the Alps stay out of reach for nearly everyone who enters, so the scarcity survives while evian collects the email addresses. 

The party grows the audience, and the sweepstakes protects the mystique, and running both at once is the smarter half of this campaign.

What we'd watch is whether the limited-edition bottles hold up after the tournament ends.

Water becomes a status symbol when people still want the bottle away from the tennis court.

For brands looking to position everyday products as premium purchases, these top experiential marketing agencies can help create effective brand strategies.