As consumers increasingly seek healthier lifestyles, the flavored sparkling water category has been on the rise over the last few years.
The category is dominated by giants PepsiCo and Coca Cola, so Kathy Maurella, chief marketing officer of challenger brand Waterloo Sparkling Water, is on a mission to compete on flavor in what she calls the “better-for-you sparkling water category.”
“You’d be surprised at the number of people that say, oh, I love you guys. I’ve known you forever versus the ones that said, I tried you for the first time last week,” says Maurella.
“It just reiterates there’s so much upside. That’s the exciting part about being an emerging brand in a $7 billion sparkling water category. Sixty-seven percent of households in this country buy some form of seltzer, club soda or sparkling water. We don’t have 67% household penetration.”
Founded in 2017, Waterloo Sparkling Water is focused on the breaking through on flavor and showing up culturally. “How do I get a full flavor better-for-you sparkling water?,” explains Maurella. “The vision is really this whole concept of, we’re encouraging healthy living, but creating these multi-sensorial moments of wow.”
“When you pop a can of Waterloo and it says peach on the front, you smell the peach, you taste the peach,” says Maurella. “Consumers repeatedly tell us that everything we brought to the market tastes like it is supposed to. And they use it as a break in their day, a treat in the afternoon, a drink with their dinner – a replacement to something else. Waterloo is about driving healthy living, but bringing multi-sensorial wows throughout the day.”
Brand Innovators caught up with Maurella from her office in Austin, Texas to talk about how the challenger brand is breaking through and.. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
