Social impact brand Ocean Bottle has unveiled a striking new identity and strategy designed to reconnect with its roots, inspire global action, and drive systems-level change.
Ocean Bottle, the social impact business fighting ocean plastic, has unveiled a fresh brand identity designed to match its ambitious mission and ever-expanding reach.
The London-based company, known for its reusable bottles that fund the collection of ocean-bound plastic, partnered with Made Thought and Tokyo Calm to rebuild its brand from the ground up, with results that feel both powerful and purpose-driven.
At its heart, the brand refresh is far more than a visual overhaul. It represents what co-founder Will Pearson calls “a strategic, creative and operational shift that really fine tunes how we show up in the world.”
As Ocean Bottle continues to scale – especially in the U.S. market, where its products are now stocked in REI and Nordstrom – the company needed a system that could keep pace with its growth. “More focused, consistent, and emotionally connected to our DNA and why we started in the first place,” as Will describes it.
Since launching in 2018, Ocean Bottle has turned the humble water bottle into a powerful catalyst for change. Each purchase funds the equivalent of 1,000 plastic bottles in collection weight, with local collectors earning not only fair wages but also access to vital social services, such as education, healthcare, and financial security.
Projects across Indonesia, the Philippines, Kenya, Brazil, Egypt, and India have all benefited from Ocean Bottle’s mission. To date, it has stopped over 20 million kilograms of plastic – equivalent to 1.8 billion bottles – from reaching the sea.
Yet, as its ambitions grew, so did the need for a brand identity that could communicate its story clearly, credibly, and consistently. Made Thought stepped in to conduct a thorough brand audit, helping Ocean Bottle define new creative pillars and a refreshed tone of voice rooted in honesty and emotional connection.
According to Millie Allen, head of marketing, “This refresh reconnects us with the emotion and urgency behind our mission and gives us the tools to communicate it clearly, boldly, and consistently.”
From there, Tokyo Calm built a future-proof digital design system engineered for a growing global audience. The new identity feels bold and adaptable, making it easy to scale and share across the full spectrum of channels, which was a vital step for a company whose audience now spans the globe. Internally, Ocean Bottle’s own team led the charge of refining every last element, ensuring the brand felt coherent and true to its purpose.
There’s a deliberate sense of transparency in how the brand shows up that extends beyond the surface. At a time when greenwashing remains a concern in the sustainability space, Ocean Bottle wants its message to be as authentic and data-driven as possible.
Through its impact platform, Ocean Co, customers can precisely trace where their money makes a difference, seeing how their purchase supports local collectors and coastal communities. This unflinching commitment to evidence and openness is reflected in the brand’s new tone of voice and its visual expression.
With updated guidelines, flexible templates, and streamlined assets, Ocean Bottle is well-positioned for its next phase of growth. Beyond its core product, the brand continues to explore ways to scale systems-level impact, aiming to prevent a staggering 7 billion ocean-bound plastic bottles from entering the ocean by 2025. It’s an ambitious target, but one that feels more achievable with a brand identity that matches its scale and urgency.
It’s hard to overstate just how emotionally resonant Ocean Bottle’s mission remains. The new look and language celebrate the people behind the impact: local communities, passionate employees, and engaged customers who want to play a part in solving one of the planet’s most pressing challenges. It feels like a brand built to invite everyone in, removing barriers and sparking change through something as familiar and every day as a water bottle.
By balancing strategic clarity with an unshakable sense of purpose, Ocean Bottle’s latest brand evolution proves that sustainability doesn’t have to be worthy or joyless. It can be dynamic, design-led, and even hopeful.
As the oceans face unprecedented pressures, it’s precisely this blend of creativity, credibility and optimism that could turn the tide.
