The Dannon Company in the US is owned by France’s Groupe Danone, the world’s leading marketer of cultured dairy products, including yogurt, cheese and dairy desserts. The company also owns Danone Waters of North America, which distributes Dannon and Naya bottled waters.

Over the years, yogurt has grown in popularity and flavors -- from plain and vanilla to a tempting assortment of fruit flavors. Dannon offers regular, low-fat and nonfat varieties as well as a new creamy version. Danimals, yogurt in kid-friendly packaging offered in such flavors as Rockin’ Raspberry, is Dannon's line for children.

“But the main target user has been middle-aged women,” said Margo MacDonald, a Dannon watcher and founder of Nuclei, a product and brand strategy consulting firm. “Obviously, women have changed a lot in the past 60 years. The average woman today in that target market is trying to cram a million things into her schedule. Dannon emphasized the working woman because yogurt is something that you can easily take to work with you. It’s healthy, so you feel good about yourself.

“Through their advertising and positioning -- even their association with different women’s causes -- Dannon has kept up-to-date with the trends and where women’s heads are,” she said. “In other words, not only having light and low-fat versions and new flavors, but really emphasizing that even though women are doing a million things, they can be healthy, too. Dannon yogurt is an essential part of that.”

The Dannon story began in Europe in the early 20th century. Having witnessed yogurt’s popularity in the Balkans, Isaac Carasso opened a small yogurt stand in Barcelona, Spain, in 1919. He named it “Danone,” meaning “Little Daniel,” after his son.

Carasso was aware of the cutting-edge methods of milk fermentation conducted at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. He decided to merge these advances with traditional practices for making yogurt. The first industrial manufacturer of yogurt was started.

Following success in Europe, Carasso immigrated to the US to expand his market and his vision. He changed the Danone name to Dannon Milk products, Inc., and founded the first American yogurt company in 1942 in New York.

Distribution began on a small scale -- about 648 half-pint jars of plain yogurt a day -- and was limited to the New York City marketplace. When Dannon introduced the “fruit on the bottom” line in 1947, sales soared. The sweet taste of strawberry, blueberry and raspberry blended with the tartness of yogurt appealed to American taste buds. The following year, he sold his company’s interest and returned to Spain to manage the family’s original business.

By 1950, Dannon expanded to other US cities in the northeastern states. It also broadened the line by introducing low-fat yogurt that targeted the health-conscious consumer. Sales continued to rise. Within five years, production had reached 50,000 cups a day. Its purchase by Beatrice Foods in 1959 helped Dannon move into new markets.

Dannon expanded westward in the 1960s by acquiring a manufacturing facility in Minster, Ohio. It then opened a plant in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1979, enabling Dannon to be the first perishable dairy product sold coast to coast in the US.

Meanwhile in Europe, Carasso was succeeding with his original Danone brand. He ultimately merged Danone with BSN (Boussois Souchon Neuvesel), a French company that bought the Dannon company from Beatrice Foods. In 1994, BSN changed its name to the Danone Group.

The parent company in recent years decided to put the brand name on bottled water. Some Dannon watchers question the move, while others applaud the brand extension.

“It makes sense,” says MacDonald. “I can see executives sitting around the boardroom saying, ‘We’re about purity and health, and water is part of that. So let’s have it as part of our positioning.’ As a brand, Dannon has a European flavor to it. And a lot of the major water brands do, as well. So I see all the synergies there. You can only take yogurt in so many directions with upscale versions, different flavors, kids’ varieties, etc. If the company wants to grow, it makes sense from a portfolio standpoint to embrace other products that are pure and healthy.”

Teton, the naming expert, disagrees, saying that Dannon is “diluting” the brand with water. “If they came out with a cheese, that would make sense,” says Teton. “Milk and fermentation make sense. Dannon water is jarring. It’s a leap of faith.”

John Karolefski, formerly the editor-in-chief of Brand Marketing magazine, writes and speaks frequently about marketing issues.