Ocean Bottle’s Secret to Scaling Impact With 2 Billion Plastic Bottles

In this episode of Scratch, Eric chats with Will Pearson, Co-Founder of Ocean Bottle, the brand turning reusable bottles into vehicles for global impact. One of the biggest takeaways from Will’s story is how Ocean Bottle has made impact completely non-negotiable in its business model; every purchase is tied directly to measurable change. Rather than chasing the traditional direct-to-consumer routes, the brand leaned into B2B partnerships as its true growth engine, scaling faster through collaborations like Ed Sheeran’s tour than through paid ads. Will also highlights that in a purpose-driven category, the goal isn’t to outcompete others but to grow the category as a whole. Ocean Bottle’s marketing reflects this mindset, relying on storytelling backed by proof, from the Change Collective initiative to transparent reporting on every kilo of plastic collected. Ultimately, the key learning for marketers is clear: purpose isn’t dead; it is evolving. And partnerships are how purpose-led brands grow.Watch the video version of this podcast on Youtube ▶️: [https://youtu.be/OQrmbdzNkg8]📚 Chapters:00:00 – Intro & Will’s background03:25 – Challenger brand shoutout: Freaks of Nature04:13 – Ocean Bottle’s mission & impact05:11 – Balancing purpose and profit07:22 – Competition (and why it doesn’t matter)11:12 - Mobilising community for impact12:48 – Launching B+ for leading B Corp brands19:09 – Marketing evolution: from DTC to partnerships22.05 – B2B growth channel (Ed Sheeran & others)23:25 – Lessons learned from 6 years of marketing25:13 – The next stage: scaling from 1M to 10M bottles26:48 – Differentiating through product innovation28:25 – Ocean Bottle’s culture of innovation31:47 – Lightning round (pizza, campaigns, pet peeves)🖊️Mentioned in the show:Freaks of Nature – reef-safe sunscreen brand co-founded by Kelly SlaterThe North Face – Ocean Bottle brand partnershipEd Sheeran – Ocean Bottle bottles featured on his tourNike - purpose-led brand referencePatagonia – purpose-led brand referenceScratch is a production of Rival, a marketing innovation consultancy that develops strategies and capabilities that help businesses grow faster. Scratch is hosted by Eric Fulwiler, and he’s joined by Will Pearson, Co-Founder of Ocean Bottle, in this episode.Find Rival online at www.wearerival.com & LinkedInFind Eric on LinkedInFind Will on LinkedIn. Say hi at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you. Rival is a marketing consultancy for brands that want to challenge convention in their category. We’re on a mission to understand what challenger brands do differently to grow in categories that are being disrupted, and use a challenger playbook to deliver outsized impact through an integrated, tech-enabled approach. Past guests include CMOs from Mastercard, GE, Shell, Hyperloop, Adobe, PepsiCo, and Papa Johns.If you’re interested in learning more about marketing from successful CMOs, we compiled a list of the top 5 CMO podcasts to listen to in 2024; check it out here 🔗  https://www.wearerival.com/content-hub-articles/cmo-podcasts-you-cannot-afford-to-miss-in-2024