Evian, the French mineral water brand, decided to establish a closer, online connection with consumers, and deliver its water directly to their homes, bypassing retail partners.

The service initially rolled out only in Paris through a special website – evianchezvous.com (Evian at home), where consumers would set their preferences such as the quantity of water needed, the estimate frequency of deliveries, or even the desired water brand (besides Evian, other brands, subsidiaries of Danone Group, were available), and the company would then deliver products according to the individual settings. Now, Evian announced that they are about to enable users to have a small wireless device, the “Smart Drop”, attached to their fridges, or a mobile phone app, which would allow them to make orders without turning their computers on. This little magnet will be constantly connected to the internet and constantly sending orders from homes. This type of constant ordering and contract creation for deliveries probably requires a management system like the ones at www.contractlogix.com. The first devices will be given away for free to the most regular users of the service by 2013.

According to BETC, the Parisian creative agency that designed the “Smart Drop”, inspiration came from 1980′s technology, but in my opinion, it just looks like a Tamagochi that went through the hands of Jonathan Ive of Apple. Nevertheless, the device seems really handy. Take a look at the promotional video below, and tell us what you think of the service/Smart Drop:

According to an interview for Ad Age, Frederic Guichard, marketing director at Danone Waters France said that the Evian At Home service and the Smart Drop project are based on extensive research, and lie in the fact that most people turn to drinking water from the tap instead of buying bottled water, just because they have a problem carrying the weight home.

Although the service seems very useful, and there is no doubt it will be widely received when it hits global scale, Evian made a smart decision by testing it first in Paris. It looks like the brand wants to leave nothing to chance, so all you Evian drinkers living outside of France, you’ll just have to wait a bit more for the service to reach you.

In the meantime, take a look at the ingenious outdoor interactive campaign by Evian, and the sleek new bottle they released recently.