Spindrift sparkling water taps 'superfan' Kristen Bell for first national campaign

Dive Brief:

Sparkling water brand Spindrift is launching its first national advertising campaign, which stars actress and "superfan" Kristen Bell, the company announced via a news release.
The campaign, created with the ad agency Mistress, focuses on the beverage's simplicity and natural ingredients. The multimillion-dollar push includes print, out-of-home, digital and social media posts featuring Bell and the hashtags #yupthatsit and #realfruittastesbetter, as well as humorous 60-, 30- and 15-second video ads on digital channels.
Spindrift claims to be the first sparkling water brand made with only real fruit. In one video, Bell walks out onto a set with flashing lights and lots of activity, before stopping and clearing out everything and telling people to leave. A table then rolls out with a bowl of fruit and cans of Spindrift, with Bell shown against a simpler background before delivering the tagline, "Just sparkling water and real squeezed fruit."

Dive Insight:

Spindrift launching its first national ad campaign now comes as the brand is performing well but also likely feeling pressure to market its product as distinctive in an increasingly crowded sparkling water category. The beverage brand announced in March that it had secured $20 million in funding from investors to ramp up its advertising efforts, per Food Dive. A celebrity endorser with a large social media following like Bell, who Spindrift described as having a "tell it like it is" persona, could help the relatively young brand draw interest from newcomers.

The campaign also appears to jab at some of Spindrift's competitors by focusing on the simplicity of its product and eschewing tech-focused trends, like emojis and selfies, per examples cited in the release. The emojis could be a reference to PepsiCo's bubly sparkling water brand, which launched earlier this year and features colorful cartoon smiles on its packaging.

The selfie reference might also be a shot across the bow at competitor La Croix's heavy use of Instagram micro-influencers to promote its product. By plugging real fruit as an ingredient, Spindrift could also be dinging La Croix, which hasn't been forthcoming about what the "natural essence oils" that flavor its drinks are actually made of.

Spindrift opting for a more traditional advertising campaign with a big-name brand ambassador is interesting, as millennials and Gen Zers — who have helped spur the surge in sales of better-for-you drinks like sparkling water — aren't always receptive to celebrity endorsements, and often favor mobile-minded marketing tactics like emojis and influencers.