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Pump gets drummers to feel the flow

Shot in a single sweeping take, Pump and DDB show that staying hydrated keeps the beat going.

The 60-second spot launched this week shows a group of bucket-drummers performing a synchronised beat. Pausing only to drink water from some strategically placed Pump bottles, the drummers shift and weave through the city streets in a seamless procession, capturing the idea that staying hydrated will put you in a clearer frame of mind. 

Leigh Moss, head of marketing and design at Pump, says the latest campaign aims to provide a visual illustration of the company’s new brand positioning. 

“When you’re properly hydrated you feel alive and fluid. Everything just clicks and feels great,” she says.

“For this campaign, we wanted to capture this state of flow in a new, creative way while still incorporating our iconic imagery.”

Damon Stapleton, DDB chief creative officer, says the new spot showcases Pump in a “fun, energetic light while connecting with the Pump brand everybody knows and loves”.

“We’ve done something a bit different with this film in shooting it in one continuous take, which presented interesting technical challenges, but when you see how well that one 60-second shot looks, it was absolutely worth it,” he says.

Earlier this month, Pump also announced a partnership with social enterprise Eat My Lunch. The three-year deal will see the water bottle company provide just under 70,000 Pump minis every year to every child who receives an Eat My Lunch meal. 

While plenty lauded the initiative as a way to keep children hydrated healthily, not everyone was pleased with the idea of having thousands of disposable plastic bottles distributed to Kiwi kids.

As some Eat My Lunch customers argued there was plenty of “good, free water” available in schools, Eat My Lunch responded by stating that many of these children “don’t have the means to access water conveniently throughout the day”.

The response goes on to say: “While there are taps at schools, the feedback we get from schools is that it is never enough and a lot of children also don’t have drink bottles. Each child will receive a mini Pump water bottle with their Eat My Lunch once a week to reuse and refill during the week. This encourages kids to drink more water and stay hydrated throughout the day.”

But the response failed to appease some, attracting comments like: “There is no requirement for kids to drink continuously throughout the day,” and “If it’s about ‘reusing and refilling’ why give them a new pump bottle to throw out each week? Surely what they need is one sturdy drink bottle that can last a long time.”


Bottled water, after all, is an industry increasingly attracting criticism from around the world. It’s an industry that’s become the fastest-growing drinks market in the world with the global market valued at $157 billion in 2013, and expected to reach $280 billion by 2020. As a recent feature in The Guardian said last year, it’s “capitalism at its most hyperactive and brazenly inventive”.

Despite this criticism, it’s important to note the initiative has done little to damage either brand with the majority of opinion—judging by social media at least—proving to be positive. But if the sustainability trend is anything to go by, we could be seeing bottled water companies like Pump come increasingly, well, under the pump.​

CREDITS (‘Feel the Flow’)

Client credits:
GM Strategy & Brand: Wendy Rayner
Head of Marketing and Design: Leigh Moss
Brand Manager: Laura Knight

Agency credits:
Chief Creative Officer: Damon Stapleton
Executive Creative Director: Shane Bradnick
Digital Creative Director: Haydn Kerr
Art Director: Nicole Sykes
Copywriter: Rory McKechnie / Tammy Keegan
Lead Business Partner: Nikki McKelvie
Senior Business Director: Crystal Clark
Business Manager: Bella Macdonald
Planning Director: Lucinda Sherborne
Senior TV Producer: Rosie Grayson
Content Producer: Alana Stretton
Social creative team – Jacob Newton & Josep Jover
Interactive Designer / Animation – David Kirschberg
Interactive Designer / Animation – David Woon
Print Producer: Andy Robilliard
Animator: Nick White
Mac Operators: Barry Cumming, Paul Edwards & Kathryn Hollis

Production credits:
Production Company: Scoundrel
Executive Producer: Adrian Shapiro
Producer: Nikki Smith
Director: James Dive
DOP: Crighton Bone
Post Production Company: Blockhead
Editor: Tim Mauger
Grade: Pete Richie

Soundtrack/composer/Music: Cam Ballantyne – Beatworms

Illustrator: Jo Tronc @ Watermark

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