Deep Rock Water Company: Updating a Million-Year-Old Product for 21st Century Consumers.

DENVER -- You won't find the words "new and improved" or "great new flavor" on any bottle of Deep Rock Water. But, beginning this month, consumers served by the 109-year-old, Denver-based Deep Rock Water Company, will find the pure, age-old product outfitted with a brand-new look.

The re-branding of Deep Rock is part of the company's broad strategy for enhancing market share by tapping the brand preferences of modern bottled-water drinkers. After purchasing Deep Rock in September 2004, owners M2P Capital, LLC and Norwest Equity Partners set in motion a plan to build on the equity in this historic, independent Denver brand in a marketplace literally spilling over with hundreds of competitors.

"In an industry that continues to grow as people drink more and more bottled water in every part of their day, we see tremendous opportunity to compete on what Deep Rock offers: exceptional, pristine water and an understanding that dates back to our company's founding in 1896 -- that drinking great water is a simple pleasure," said Doug Oberhamer, president of Deep Rock Water Company.

Consumers will experience Deep Rock's brand re-invention in a number of ways, including a contemporary new logo; new labels; new signage for the familiar Deep Rock home and office delivery trucks; and even new uniforms for Deep Rock delivery personnel.

Print and outdoor advertisements, created by award-winning, Denver-based Sukle Advertising, will cleverly underscore the "water as a simple pleasure" theme.

With more than 60,000 home and office delivery customers, Deep Rock management understands that a key element of how customers perceive the brand is through the friendly, dedicated customer service they experience first-hand.

A key growth strategy for the company is sourcing and bottling water for custom label distribution -- for organizations ranging from national retailers to college campuses and including such notable names as the historic Brown Palace Hotel and The Denver Botanic Gardens -- in addition to a strong private label business with well-known grocery retailers.

The company was founded in 1896 by a druggist from Leadville, Colo., Stephen Kostitch, who moved to Denver to make a fresh start away from the boom and bust of the mining industry. Because his new property was located just beyond the reach of the city's water company, Kostitch dug his own 850-foot well, tapping into a free-flowing Artesian well that became the source for his successful business, Deep Rock Water.

With 238 employees across its operations in Colorado, Nebraska and Minnesota, Deep Rock bottles Artesian, filtered and distilled water in a wide variety of convenient sizes for home and office delivery and retail distribution. Deep Rock's campus of corporate headquarters and production facilities remains in its original location near the company's Artesian water source just outside of Downtown Denver. More information about Deep Rock Water Company is available at www.deeprockwater.com.