How Chilly’s Became the King of Reusables – Thanks to Creativity

So, what’s the secret to Chilly’s success? The timing was definitely important, as was entering the market just as awareness about the climate issue and plastic pollution was about to erupt. However, according to Phil Jacobson, head of design and marketing, an emphasis on craft and creativity helped the brand distinguish out from the sanctimonious preaching and sludgy look that was prevalent in sustainable products at the time. It also produces a lightness of touch, which keeps the brand focused and avoids its messaging from devolving into extravagant promises.

“It all goes back to the founders, who were instrumental in developing the brand and product, as well as making the lifestyle popular.” “The items must be beautiful; we have so many beautiful products in our daily lives; why can’t reusables be appealing and not boring?” Phil explains. “They were quick to embrace the bottle specifically as a canvas for creativity and design, and some of our most passionate conversations revolve around design and graphic design and what appeals to different audiences, as well as how we can bring new audiences into reusables by making it desirable, appealing, and attractive.”

The Chilly’s team has thoughtfully and strategically employed design to foster varied consumers as the brand and its product range have developed. There’s something for everyone, from worried Gen Zers to modest yet design-conscious professionals to community-minded, litter-hating elderly. Chilly’s most recent collaboration was with Liberty, a historical luxury brand and retailer famed for its retro prints – a collection that resonated well with what Phil’s team refers to as the ‘head of household’ demographic. If elaborate flower designs aren’t your style, Alternative Aesthetics has created a black design adorned with cartoon skulls.

With such a wide group of individuals invested in the brand, Chilly’s team has a broad vision of platforms and a very particular concept of how it needs to appear in different locations and speak to different consumers.

Ambitiously Collaborate

Chilly’s takes a step further with the relationship with Liberty. They’ve never done cooperation of this size before, and it exposes both businesses to new consumers while also perfectly embodying one of Chilly’s internal mantras: ‘ambitiously cooperate.’ Internally, they want to foster active and open cooperation within departments as well as with external partners such as agencies and filmmakers.

In the case of Liberty, the alliance had to do homage to a brand that is so well-established and innovative, with its own design heritage. Without such ambitious collaboration, it would be impossible to create anything that honoured both the spirit and style of both.

“With collaborations around the product, like the Liberty’s collaboration, getting to that result and kind of quality takes a lot of great relationship building and trust between teams, as well as an understanding of what the mission is,” says Phil, who is excited about the prospect of collaborating with other types of brands that could take Chilly’s to unexpected places. “Ambitiously cooperate” is something we believe is truly unique to Chilly’s and has been placed at the core of the brand since it will foster tremendous innovation and a beautiful brand on all levels.

How B2B – Yes B2B – Made Chilly’s Cool

The brand has reached out to its various consumers in surprising ways. Students and devoted activists were the primary markets in the early 2010s, but those students would display their bottles to their parents, who would subsequently take upon them. Similarly, and maybe strangely, Chilly’s consumer market is owed to the B2B side of the firm. Companies, organisations, schools, sports groups, and others can develop their own Chilly’s co-branded items. Before the brand could advertise on such a large scale, the B2B side of the business practically acted as a marketing channel in and of itself, placing the product in people’s hands.

“I’ve met so many people who were exposed to the brand through a co-brand product they got on their first day at work or at an offsite at their employer or school!” chuckles Phil. “On the one hand, it’s a responsible present from the firm to us as citizens of those communities, demonstrating their principles around reducing environmental impact and urging people not to use single-use plastic.” And yet, from our perspective, it’s a terrific means of normalising reusables with a wide range of customers who might not have encountered our brand otherwise.”

Why Storytelling is Chilly’s Bottle Rocket

Phil had a solid basis to build on when he joined the Chilly’s squad less than a year ago. He claims that any marketer who promised to be “the Hoover of the reusable space” would have been laughed out of the building, yet that’s precisely what the team accomplished with outstanding design and sharply art-directed, funny advertising. Phil, on the other hand, has been brought in to take Chilly’s marketing to the next level, particularly in terms of viewpoint and narrative. Phil had spent several years at Nike, where he headed brand communication, and had the experience that the creatively-minded founders were searching for.

“There was a lot to work with and an incredible cause,” Phil adds. “I believe one of the first things I noticed was that the point of view wasn’t really crisp enough.” There was a chance to be much more explicit about our goal and point of view without succumbing to what I call “guilt communications,” which is what many environmental businesses rely on. That’s not how we want to persuade people to live a healthy lifestyle; the product, the design, and the relationships, but also the communication, should be fun, uplifting, and inspirational. Something you desire to be a member of as opposed to something you’re forced or guilted into.”

Chilly’s released a massive new ad outlining its future ambition in November of last year. ‘A reusable way of living,’ set in 2025, illustrates what would happen if we start using reusable cups and meal pots at bars, cafés, and takeaways – and as the spot progresses, we begin to see the ‘ghosts’ of all the single-use plastics that would never need to be made, least alone utilised. It’s an upbeat and cheerful approach, and the staff is careful not to overpromise. Rather than putting the weight of the world and its salvation on people’s behaviour and choices, it positions reusables as simple and easy.

“It’s precisely that conflict that we intended to depict in our picture of the United Kingdom in 2025.” “It’s not some big assertion that ‘Chilly’s has rescued the world,’ but rather a modest shift in many different contexts that are really natural and can be extremely achievable and accessible to everyone,” Phil continues. “We brought reusables into places that aren’t renowned for it, whether it’s a football club, a hamlet chippy, or a small cafe.” While the bottle is pretty far along the adoption curve, cups and meal pots are considerably further ahead. It’s still uncommon for someone at a coffee shop to take out their reusable cup and hand it over to the barista.”

Chilly’s had a good year in 2021. With a massive TV campaign and a fresh new Tiktok channel, both of which debuted in November, the firm has been working hard to get its products out there and normalise reusables. According to Phil, the last quarter of the year witnessed good sales, putting them in a solid position to meet their targets in 2022. With a rising presence outside of the UK – 50 percent of Chilly’s sales originate from the European Union – Chilly’s plans to expand its footprint across several platforms and regions.

It’s been a wild ride for the brand, and Phil is looking forward to the next partnerships and the next phase of the campaign, which he hints will build on the concept but will be more focused on actions.

“Our ambitions are to be the global authority in reusables, and we believe that we have the same right as anyone else to make that leap globally,” Phil says.