Austrian drinks brand Waterdrop is looking to tap into the growing trend of ‘status water bottles’ through a collaboration with world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic was the only athlete at the 2023 Australian Open to use Waterdrop’s reusable stainless steel tumbler, but a year later, more players have backed the bottle, which has been designated as the tournament’s official on-court player bottle. The collaboration is the latest example of
le of the surprising level of demand for the humble reusable water bottle, with brands such as Australian label Frank Green and US label Stanley becoming status symbols, thanks to their savvy social media marketing.
With the growing interest in water bottles as fashion accessories, new players, such as Waterdrop, are seeking to leverage this trend.
Global trends in Australian retail
Australian lifestyle retailer Stylerunner has positioned itself to bring these global trends and ‘must-have’ products to a local audience. As marketing manager at Stylerunner Lucy Howe told Inside Retail, “The Australian woman is clearly now looking to us for these items.”
The Stanley cup and Adidas Samba shoe are examples of viral trends within the US and European markets, respectively, that Stylerunner is continuously selling out across in-store and online. “When we first launched the Samba OG in September, the demand was so high that we sold out of the white within six hours,” Howe said.
Demand for products made popular through social channels has been credited to celebrity endorsements, and macro and micro-influencers.
Repositioning and ingenuity success
Former Crocs CMO Terence Reilly started at Stanley in 2020, shortly after the brand introduced its newly sculpted 1.1-litre silhouette with a handle, straw and tapered bottom to conveniently fit in most cup holders.
That is a design characteristic that the 2-liter Frank Green bottle did not, though the problem was soon solved by the social media ecosystem with customers creating a DIY Frank Green cup holder, using pipe pieces from hardware stores as a solution.
Hardware retailer Bunnings enthusiastically joined in on the trend advertising these items as “cup holders” after an influx of Frank Green owners headed in-store. Frank Green now retails their own purpose-built car cup holder.
Stanley introduced two new colours, cream and desert sage, in 2020. The brand engaged marketing consultants to promote the drop and has continued to add new colours and limited drops that have created hysteria with its growing cult following.
Reilly credits marketing efforts on TikTok as being instrumental in Stanley’s growth, with the hashtag #stanleytumbler amassing 665 million views and growing on TikTok every day.
A collaboration with Lainey Wilson sold out in 11 minutes and is a great example of how social media, celebrity and the creator have the power to drive record sales.
Athlete endorsed
Meanwhile, with Waterdrop, Djokovic has set the trend for tennis tournaments worldwide to replace plastic and convert to more sustainable stainless steel options.
Beyond the bottle itself, Waterdrop sells the Microdrink, which is a plastic and sugar-free hydration solution.
Australians purchase billions of plastic bottles every year and 53 per cent end up in landfill, with 12 per cent ending up in the environment where they contribute to the 130,000 tonnes of plastic leaked into the Australian marine environment each year according to the WWF, Plastic Revolution to Reality 2020.
Waterdrop said it is proud to be a part of reducing the impact of single-use plastic water bottles in professional sport globally, Australia director, Catherine Dix told Inside Retail.
“We’re proud to be part of reducing the impact of single-use plastic water bottles during the summer of sports by providing reusable on-court water bottles for the Australian Open.”