How S’well Designed Its way Into 3,300 Starbucks retailers

someone who makes a product needs to get it in entrance of the eyes of as many people as imaginable. it’s why product makers cozy as much as retailers, hoping to stable only some inches of precious shelf space to show their wares in entrance of the shop’s foot traffic. outlets, in flip, are looking for products that stand out, that scream “decide me up! buy me!” On lately’s cabinets type and design subject more than ever. on condition that, you can imagine how exhausting it is usually for a product like the humble water bottle to attract attention.

That’s simply the problem Sarah Kauss used to be facing in 2010 when she founded S’smartly, maker of the fashionable utilitarian water bottle that is due to the fact captivated the minds of fashionistas, the eco-conscious, and massive manufacturers across the world.

“Design has been vital for S’well as a result of it has set us apart from different water bottles available on the market,” says Kauss. “earlier than S’smartly used to be created, I used to carry any other bottle with me and that i looked foolish bringing it into the boardroom. I knew i needed to create something that used to be sleeker, but nonetheless had the performance I was searching for.”

but Kauss, who founded the company with $30,000 of her own cash, didn’t create S’smartly simply to make prettier water bottles. The genesis of S’smartly lay in her want to do something to assist deal with the disastrous effects of plastic bottled water on the setting. It was once a lead to she first was considering after attending a panel concerning the world easy-water situation at her alma mater, Harvard business college, in 2009.

“the usage of plastic bottles just isn’t simplest dangerous for the planet, but the water consumed in plastic bottles is normally not as pure as municipal tap,” says Kauss. “Bottled water within the U.S. is regulated by using the FDA, the place tap water is regulated via the EPA, which has better requirements for guaranteeing that bacterial and poisonous chemical compounds aren’t in the water source. So it seems peculiar to suppose that we pay 2,000 times more for bottled water than tap, when the water isn’t as pure as tap and the plastic bottles it is available in is unhealthy for us and our planet.”

Kauss knew that to be able to get folks to count less on bottled water you might wish to persuade them to hold round a reusable bottle. but how do you get individuals to wish to carry a humdrum and cumbersome item round with them? you’re making it gorgeous through design.

The S’smartly bottle easiest resembles a milk bottle constituted of 18/eight double-walled chrome steel with an identical cap. Its mouth is large enough to suit ice cubes thru and its base is slender enough to slot in usual cupholders—issues plastic bottles or most traditional reusable bottles do not allow for. S’neatly’s unique form is not its only promoting level. type can also be its USP. S’well bottles have come in over 93 totally different colours, textures, and patterns to date. The variety of types is enough to attraction to the differing tastes of a growing crew of people whose concept of private type encompasses not just the clothes on their body, but the accessories they carry with them.

“with the aid of using a S’smartly, you’re choosing an alternative to a single-use plastic bottle. They’re non-leaching, non-poisonous, and double insulated, which retains drinks cold for twenty-four hours and hot for 12 hours. and naturally,” provides Kauss, “they’re no longer simplest functional, but trendy.”

It was that first trendy design—the authentic S’smartly bottle got here in only one shade, Ocean Blue—that was once enough to seize the fascination of O, the Oprah magazine, which put it on its elegant “O listing.” After that, other brands and retailers came calling.

and then came Starbucks. This earlier August the arena’s largest coffee chain, which also sells kitchenware and coffee makers, introduced that it would be carrying an exclusive line of S’smartly bottles in its 3,300 retail places throughout the united states.

Having your product in 3,300 of any firm’s outlets would be enough to make anyone happy, but when that retailer is Starbucks it’s even better. not only do Starbucks stores feature some of the easiest foot traffic of any retailers, their customers continuously return two or thrice in a single day. that implies the same individual is doubtlessly exposed to the merchandise Starbucks chooses to carry multiple occasions a day. that amount of publicity creates a model consciousness and acceptance unmatched by using other big box outlets, whose shoppers on a regular basis simplest consult with once or twice a month.

S’smartly’s Starbucks coup isn’t one thing that happened in a single day. It was several years in the making, says Kauss.

“We received a call from Starbucks back in 2012 they usually advised us that they noticed S’well in a magazine, liked the look, and wanted us to come back to Seattle to share our story,” remembers Kauss. She traveled to Seattle and met with one of the chain’s buyers. “I take into account that feeling truly excited that whilst a small company S’neatly used to be being noticed, however nonetheless somewhat anxious about working with a worldwide model.”

As for what attracted Starbucks to S’well, Kauss says that in addition to the bottle’s functionality and model attraction, the espresso chain recognized with S’neatly’s message to rid the arena of plastic bottles. As water is likely one of the coffee chain’s main ingredients in its drinks, Starbucks has taken a rising pastime in water conservation efforts in up to date years—saying in 2008 that’s was once working to reduce water consumption in its shops via 25% through the end of this yr.

Following Kauss’ first assembly with Starbucks, in 2013 the coffee massive agreed to position S’neatly bottles in one hundred twenty of its stores in Atlanta and Austin. All areas offered out without any advertising.

After the success in Georgia and Texas Starbucks came to S’smartly again to work on creating an exclusive design for its Hawaii stores. That used to be followed via a S’well signature new york occasions square collection unique to the Starbucks store in times sq. past this 12 months. And now, each corporations have decided to go all-in, working collectively on designing three 17-ounce bottles in unique colors on the way to be in each Starbucks in the us of a.

“The Starbucks team is extremely engaged and inspired and it was once a collaborative effort between each of our creative groups to land on the designs,” says Kauss when I ask her what it was like designing the bottles hand in hand with the coffee large. “We worked collectively to create the colored caps and explicit design components for the bottles, discovering what stands out as the most adored or amassed by means of our fanatics.”

“It used to be exhilarating working with a group of such visionaries,” says Kauss.

while it’s glaring the Starbucks deal is a giant win for S’neatly, it’s important to notice that Kauss simply won’t take any deal that comes her means. previously she’s grew to become down a big food chain that didn’t sync with the values S’well holds pricey.

“S’neatly’s mission is unassuming, giving again and taking care of our planet,” says Kauss. “With that stated, we look to align with other brands that share identical philosophies.”

And that mission—one who used to be born from conservation and carried out through design—has paid off. Kauss says that because of the Starbucks deal and the opposite manufacturers S’neatly has chosen to work with the corporate is anticipated to develop 400% in 2015.

With the success of S’well’s water bottle firmly dependent, would possibly Kauss now take her increasing fortunes and design bravado and tackle other “boring” merchandise short of a classy makeover?

“we now have new colors, designs, collaborations, and further products in the pipeline,” is all Kauss will supply for now. “stay tuned!”