Nirvana Water Sciences hired me as Chief Marketing Officer to launch a functional water. The announcement is public record, and so is the hardest part of the job: bottled water is a habit purchase, and a functional benefit only sells once the shopper has been taught what it does.
Launching a functional water means selling a benefit consumers have never been taught to look for — in the most commoditised aisle in the store.
Water is bought on habit and price; a functional claim has to interrupt that without sounding like a supplement.
The category had no shared consumer vocabulary for the benefit, so education had to come before persuasion.
A launch budget has to fund both awareness and explanation at the same time.
Built messaging that explained the functional benefit in plain consumer language before asking for the purchase.
Framed the choice as an upgrade to an existing daily habit rather than a fight with the water brands beside it.
Owned the marketing line for the launch — brand, channel mix, content and trade-facing story.
Founder and athlete association gave the functional claim a human proof point the category lacked.
Brand launched with an education-led marketing approach, and NBA All-Star Kyle Lowry joined as a founding investor during this tenure.
Functional water brand launched with an education-first marketing approach.
Public CMO appointment documented by PR Newswire.
Kyle Lowry came on as a founding investor during the tenure — documented publicly.
Role, dates and context on this page trace to the sources below.