A Quirky Flavored-Water Brand Tries to Grow Up
“It wasn’t meant to live beyond that.”
“They were one of the bigger winners in the Super Bowl,” said Ted Marzilli, the chief executive of YouGov BrandIndex, which found
that Bai’s ranking in two out of three perception categories it measures rose significantly after the commercial aired.
“To say ‘bye-bye’ to sugar is very functional and very focused on our core Bai
product,” Mr. Portas said, a focus experts say could serve the brand well
For the 2017 Super Bowl, Bai’s in-house creative team developed a commercial featuring Mr. Walken
reciting lines from the hit NSync song “Bye, Bye, Bye” as Mr. Timberlake looked on quizzically.
“We have a funny, irreverent, silly personality, but we also have a serious side.”
A niche player in the flavored-water beverage category, Bai caught the attention
of the singer Justin Timberlake and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group last year.
After the studied zaniness of a campaign with the tag line “None of this makes sense” — a reference to how a five-calorie antioxidant
drink could still manage to taste good — Bai Brands is looking to cast itself in a mature, inspirational image.