A woman known as “The Chi Junky” has been selected as the face of Flow after the water brand asked the public to choose a spokesperson in the #FindYourFlow contest.
Rachelle Wintzen (pictured), who also owns a Toronto yoga studio called The Chi Junky and is a certified holistic nutritionist, beat nine other finalists in a vote on Flow’s Facebook page that garnered more than 1,000 participants. She’s slated to appear in a campaign for Flow later this year.
Launched earlier this year, Flow bills itself as naturally alkaline spring water with high pH. Flow is now available in more than 230 stores in Ontario, Quebec and Eastern Canada including Metro, Loblaw, Shoppers Drug Mart, IGA, Whole Foods and a variety of organic and health and wellness stores.
The brand “is all about people finding their flow,” says brand founder and CEO Nicholas Reichenbach. “We thought, let’s go out and showcase really amazing people who are doing extraordinary things,” he says of the campaign, which was developed internally.
The idea was to find “real people” and push the campaign across social channels “to amplify and engage with our users,” says Reichenbach, who also runs several digital companies.
Using Instagram and Twitter, people were asked to take a photo of themselves “in their flow” – whether it was doing yoga, skydiving or driving their cars. Flow also asked an influencer network ranging from musicians to nutritionists to participate. “That was the spark that allowed us to get critical mass.”
After entrants were narrowed down to ten finalists based on proximity to brand and social media popularity, the public was asked to weigh in on Facebook, with one vote per email address.
Wintzen “totally personifies where we are as a company and brand,” Reichenbach says. “We can work with her to get the message of why Flow is so special, why our water is better for you.”
Water has been in Reichenbach’s family for decades. In fact, Flow’s water is sourced from a sustainable spring on family-owned property in Mildmay in Southwestern Ontario. “We’ve always known it was super high-quality mineral water.”
But the family didn’t want to launch a water company until an alternative could be found to plastic packaging because of its negative effects on the environment and health, he says. Instead, the company uses Tetra-Pak packaging, which is comprised of two-thirds paperboard with a lower carbon footprint than plastic.
Reichenbach says the water industry was ripe for a “disruptive company,” noting that several of his competitors “put out plastic bottles of reverse osmosis tap water that costs them nothing and don’t give back to anybody.”
A 500 ml package of Flow sells from $2.29 to $2.49. “We’re on the premium side of pricing, but it’s a premium product.”
Flow also operates a free delivery service to homes and offices in the Toronto area using electric SUVs and plans to expand delivery to Montreal, Vancouver and other areas.
NKPR handles public relations, events and strategic partnerships for Flow and supports its social media efforts.
