From Strategy to Shelf: Inside Brand Management at Owala
Key Takeaways
Brand management blends analytical and creative work
Cross-functional collaboration is essential to success
Understanding your consumer drives product innovation
Speed and adaptability keep brands relevant
Networking early opens doors to brand opportunities
We had the privilege of hearing from two BYU Marketing Lab alumni, Ava and Blaine, who returned to share their experiences in brand management at Owala (stylized as Owala). Their insights revealed the dynamic reality of building a brand in the competitive consumer packaged goods (CPG) space, where water bottles have transformed from purely functional items into fashion accessories.
The Path to Brand Management
Ava's journey to Owala took an interesting route through corporate social responsibility (CSR). After working with companies like doTERRA, Verizon, and Cotopaxi on ethical sourcing and CSR initiatives, she discovered that entry-level CSR roles were difficult to find. More importantly, she realized CSR was so broad that she needed to choose her niche, and marketing was it.
Her advice for undergrads interested in brand management was direct: "If you are interested in that, find out now where you want to work, as far as location. If you do want to stay in Utah, find those companies in Utah that do offer this." Brand management roles at the undergraduate level are rare, so she emphasized the importance of networking early with the specific companies that offer these opportunities.
Blaine took a completely different path. Starting with a degree in geoscience and working as an environmental consultant in oil and gas, he saw the business side of his consulting firm and became fascinated by management. He pursued his MBA at BYU, deliberately seeking marketing experiences through Marketing Lab, projects with Once Upon a Farm and Traeger, and an internship with Dell in product marketing management. Though he spent two years at Dell after graduation, his heart was always in brand management, and he eventually found his way to Owala.
What Brand Management Actually Looks Like
The most illuminating part of their presentation was the day-to-day reality of brand management. As their boss describes it, "your job is being ankle deep in everybody else's jobs." This means constant collaboration with supply chain, forecasting, design, sales, creative, logistics, legal, finance, and HR teams.
Ava walked us through a recent partnership project with Wicked, the major Universal Pictures film. The process included:
Strategic framework development for deciding which partnerships fit the brand
Product selection from the entire portfolio
Pricing adjustments to account for licensing royalties
Placement strategy across different retailers
Creative development, including Pinterest research and design concepts
Supply chain coordination to ensure timely delivery
Photo shoot creative direction
"The biggest challenge when working with CSVs is processing headers correctly," she noted about one of the more technical aspects of her retail work. But then she gets to be on set with Ariana Grande's crown for a product shoot. "That's the fun part," she said. "You get to have the analytical and the creative."
For target specifically, Ava focuses on shelf optimization, color strategy, pricing, trend forecasting, and overall brand positioning. A significant part of retail brand management is understanding how to stand out when you're not the only product on the shelf. "It's not your own website where you're the only thing people are looking at. You have a lot of competitors around."
Building the Product Pipeline
Blaine's role focuses on the upstream side: new product development. His team owns the product roadmap strategy, determining where Owala should show up from a product perspective. This involves deep market research to understand unmet consumer needs, white space opportunities, and areas ripe for disruption.
They work closely with the consumer insights team, sometimes conducting ethnographic research by going to people's homes to see how they actually use products. "We do a lot of quantum qual stuff," Blaine explained, referring to quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Once his team builds a business case and gets executive approval, the product hands off to engineering. But Blaine's role continues as a product manager, ensuring alignment with brand needs and consumer expectations, making adjustments to color, material, and design elements. Then it morphs into product marketing management for go-to-market strategy, distribution, pricing, SKUs, colors, and packaging.
The launch activations have become a signature part of Owala's strategy. When they launched their coffee cup in downtown LA, the line stretched over a mile long. Their recent launch in San Antonio, Texas brought similar enthusiasm. "Having a great product isn't just enough. You have to be able to communicate that value," Blaine emphasized.
The Strategy Behind the Colors
One student asked about Owala's distinctive multi-color approach, which stands out in a market that traditionally offered purely functional, single-color bottles. Blaine explained that Owala saw a white space opportunity where water bottles could showcase personality. "We saw an opportunity to introduce personality and use the water bottle as a canvas to let our consumers showcase who they are."
Drawing inspiration from brands like Stance socks, Owala recognized that consumers didn't want another black, blue, or white water bottle. They wanted to show who they are. This positioning has been central to transforming water bottles from purely functional items into fashion accessories.
Staying Relevant in a Crowded Market
When asked about long-term strategy in a region where water bottle brands rise and fall quickly, Ava laughed and referenced something their brand director says: "You kind of have to Taylor Swift it and like, reinvent yourself a little bit if you want to stay relevant."
She emphasized that staying comfortable when you're the hot brand is dangerous in CPG. "Even if you are doing well, you can't stay the same." The key is being willing to change your strategy when that's what people want, or when there are new audiences to pursue. "Stay true to who you are, but not so true that you stay the same."
The Partnership Framework
For partnerships, Ava uses a detailed framework to evaluate potential collaborations. While big names and social media reach matter, the real priority is resonance with their customer personas. "Is this a sales play? If so, we need to make sure that it fits who we're going after. But ideally it's just a brand that really naturally fits with those people."
Some partnerships offer incremental shelf space at retailers. Others provide massive awareness through social media reach. But the best partnerships authentically connect with Owala's target audience first, then branch into sales strategy. Recent collaborations with Disney, Wicked, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Made by Mary jewelry demonstrate this approach.
Principles That Guide Product Innovation
Blaine shared the core principles his team follows when developing new products:
Sharp brand positioning – Knowing what the brand stands for and what it doesn't is critical. This is set by their brand director and governs where they play from a product perspective.
Deep consumer understanding – Identifying pain points, observing how people use products incorrectly or correctly, and understanding substitutes reveals where to innovate.
Meaningful differentiation – As Blaine noted, "There's a difference that people care about." Not all innovation matters to consumers.
Strong storytelling – Understanding the ladder from features to benefits to value helps communicate why a product matters.
Data-informed decisions – Avoiding the "golden gut" and bias is essential. "We're all consumers of water bottles, so it can be tricky to let that bias creep in."
Speed and agility – In CPG, product development times range from six months to three years. Rapid prototyping and MVPs help teams stay responsive to consumer feedback.
The Reality of Cross-Functional Work
Both speakers emphasized that brand management requires constant collaboration. Ava works with sales teams on data analysis, design teams on trend forecasting and creative strategy, and even joins meetings at Target headquarters to help buyers decide inventory levels by color.
Blaine's team coordinates with product development, operations, logistics, sales, customer service, HR, finance, and legal. They fly out to meet with buyers to understand their needs and what they see as gaps in the portfolio. They attend trade shows and conventions to keep a pulse on culture and competitor activity.
"We are very cross-functional, but we are the ones who kind of set the tone," Blaine explained. "We are the ones who write the creative brief. We're the ones giving the direction."
A Growing Opportunity
The brand team at Owala has grown rapidly from just two brand managers when Ava started to six now. This growth has allowed for more specialization, with Ava now focusing specifically on Target after previously managing Amazon, partnerships, and new product launches.
Ava mentioned they're currently hiring for a brand management intern for summer 2026, a full-time, in-person role in Lehi, Utah open to both MBA and undergraduate students. For anyone interested in breaking into brand management, this represents the kind of opportunity worth pursuing early.
Final Thoughts
Ava and Blaine's presentation revealed that brand management is equal parts strategy and creativity, analysis and intuition, planning and adaptability. It requires being comfortable working across functions, diving into sales data one moment and selecting colors for a fashion-forward product line the next.
Their journeys also remind us that paths to brand management vary widely. Whether coming from CSR, geology, or traditional marketing roles, what matters is developing both analytical rigor and creative thinking, building cross-functional collaboration skills, and understanding how to translate consumer insights into brand strategy.
As the CPG landscape continues evolving and brands rise and fall with increasing speed, the ability to stay curious, data-informed, and willing to reinvent while staying true to core values will determine which brands endure. For those interested in this dynamic field, the message is clear: start networking now, seek out the specific companies that align with your goals, and be ready to be ankle deep in everyone else's work.