Latest / Brand Storytelling with Fexingo: Narrative, Mission, and Stories That Sell / How a Seltzer Brand Turned Packaging Into a Story
Transcript
- Lucas: You ever pick up a can of seltzer and feel like you're being shouted at by the design? Luna: All the time. Neon colors, bold fonts, some ridiculous flavor name like 'Hibiscus Agave Fizz'. Lucas: Right. Most beverage brands treat the can like a billboard. But there's one brand that did the exact opposite — stripped everything back, put a single piece of fruit on the label, and built a quarter billion dollar business on that choice. Luna: You're talking about Spindrift. Lucas: Spindrift. The seltzer that looks like it belongs in a farmer's market, not a convenience store cooler. And they barely spent on advertising. The packaging was the ad. Luna: If today's conversation sparks something you actually use — maybe a new way you think about your own brand's packaging — honestly, if it was worth a coffee to you, that's the link: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: And listener support is what keeps this show ad-free, so we appreciate that. Now, back to Spindrift. The founder, Bill Creelman, started the company in 2010. He wasn't a beverage industry guy — he was a dairy farmer. Luna: Wait, a dairy farmer who made seltzer? Lucas: Yeah. He had a farm in Massachusetts, and he wanted to create a better alternative to the sugary sodas his kids were drinking. So he started squeezing fruit into carbonated water. The first batches were literally made in his barn. Luna: That origin story is almost too perfect — it's basically the brand's entire narrative right there. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what they leaned into. The packaging shows a single slice of grapefruit or a wedge of lemon, and that's it. The ingredient list is like four words: carbonated water, fruit. No natural flavors, no artificial sweeteners, no 'essence'. Luna: Which is a huge differentiator, because most seltzers use 'natural flavors' — which is a pretty vague term. Spindrift uses actual fruit puree, so the flavor comes from real fruit. Lucas: Right. And they made that difference visual. The can doesn't say 'all natural' in big letters — it shows you a fruit with the word 'sparkling water' in small type. It's minimalist, but it's also a trust signal. Luna: So the packaging is doing the work that a traditional marketing campaign would do. But how much did they actually spend on advertising? Lucas: Virtually nothing in the early years. According to interviews, in 2018 their entire marketing budget was something like $200,000. Compare that to LaCroix, which was spending tens of millions. Spindrift grew almost entirely through word of mouth and shelf presence. Luna: But shelf presence in a crowded cooler is tough. How did they get retailers to stock them? Lucas: Part of it was the packaging itself — it stood out in a sea of bright, busy cans. Buyers saw it and thought it looked premium. And once it was on the shelf, consumers picked it up because it looked different, tried it, and the taste was noticeably better because of the real fruit. Luna: So the product did the selling. But there's a risk here: if your packaging is your only marketing, and you scale up, can you maintain that authenticity? Lucas: That's the tension. Spindrift has grown massively — they were valued at around $250 million in 2021, and they're in most major grocery chains now. But they've been careful not to change the formula or the packaging too much. They added more flavors, but the design language stayed consistent. Luna: And they started doing some advertising eventually, right? Lucas: They did. But even their ads are low-key. They ran a campaign called 'Rethink Your Seltzer' that basically just explained the difference between real fruit and natural flavors. It was educational, not flashy. Luna: That's smart because they're not selling a lifestyle — they're selling clarity. And the packaging is the clearest expression of that. Lucas: Yeah. Compare that to LaCroix, which had a massive branding overhaul in 2019 with bright, illustrated cans. LaCroix's packaging is more fun, but it doesn't tell you anything about what's inside. Spindrift's packaging is almost pedagogical. Luna: And that's a storytelling choice. Most brands think story means a hero's journey or a founder's tale. Spindrift's story is literally on the can: 'We use real fruit. That's it.' It's a product truth turned into a narrative. Lucas: Exactly. And they've extended that narrative into their limited editions. For instance, they did a seasonal 'Blackberry' flavor that sold out quickly. The scarcity created buzz, but the story was still the same: real fruit, simple ingredients. Luna: So what's the lesson for other brands? Especially ones in categories where packaging is often an afterthought? Lucas: I think the lesson is that the packaging itself is a form of content. It's the first thing a customer sees, and it should communicate your core value proposition without any extra words. Spindrift's can communicates 'real' in a split second. Luna: And that's harder than it sounds. Most brands try to cram too much information onto the package. Spindrift showed that restraint can be more powerful. Lucas: The other lesson is about consistency. They haven't changed their can design in over a decade. That's rare in consumer goods, where brands refresh every few years. But for Spindrift, the can is the brand. Luna: Do you think this approach could work for a brand that doesn't have a naturally simple product? Like, what if your product has a complex ingredient list? Lucas: You'd have to find a different visual shorthand. But the principle still applies: find one truth about your product that matters to customers, and make that the centerpiece of your packaging. For Spindrift, it's 'real fruit.' For Method soap, it was 'clean ingredients' with a minimalist bottle. For RXBAR, it was the ingredient list on the front. Luna: RXBAR is a great parallel. Their packaging literally lists the ingredients like '3 egg whites, 6 almonds, 4 cashews.' No claims, no logos, just facts. Lucas: And that became their identity. Both brands proved that in a noisy market, clarity and honesty are the most disarming stories you can tell. Luna: So where does Spindrift go from here? They've got the cult following, the distribution, the valuation. Do they need to evolve their story? Lucas: They might need to evolve, but I think they should be careful. The risk is that as they expand into new categories — they have a line of iced teas now — the simplicity becomes diluted. If the iced tea can looks too different, it breaks the spell. Luna: So the challenge is scaling without losing the narrative thread. Lucas: Exactly. But if anyone can do it, it's a brand that turned a lemon wedge into a billion-dollar story. Luna: That's the power of a package that's more than a container — it's a manifesto.