The Secret Employee Perk in the Office

January 29, 2025

The days of the old-school water coolers are over. New technology water coolers especially Bevi’s high-tech dispenser are taking hydration to the next level, and they’re a hit in office spaces.  At our new Lee & Associates Arizona office, we just secured the large size—and let me tell you, it’s become a favorite. Whether it’s sparkling lime water or caffeine-boosted drinks, there’s something for everyone. 

— Bevi Machines Are a Game-Changer: These dispensers deliver hot or cold water, sparkling or still, with 14 natural flavors and options like caffeine or electrolytes. Plus, each machine saves around 50,000 plastic bottles a year.

— Hybrid Workers Love It: Perks like Bevi are helping bring employees back to the office. It’s a simple way to make the workday better—and at our office, it’s been a huge hit.

— Bevi is a Social Media Star: TikTok, Instagram, word-of-mouth—Bevi is everywhere. People love sharing their Bevi experience, and it’s turning this water cooler into a workplace status

Bevi isn’t just a water cooler—it’s actually a reason to look forward to coming into the office. Between the sustainability, the customization, and the buzz it creates, it’s no surprise everyone loves it. If you haven’t tried a Bevi yet, and you want your employees back in the office, it might be time…  Check out my highlights in the article below from Inc.

 

Andrew Cheney, CCIM, CRE, SIOR
602.954.3769
acheney@leearizona.com 

 

This Company Is Giving Office Water Coolers a High-Tech Makeover. Hybrid Workers Are Big Fans 
Bevi’s sustainable water dispensers have seen less use post-pandemic–yet the company is hitting new revenue highs, thanks to hybrid employees’ enthusiasm. 
BY ANNABEL BURBA, EDITORIAL FELLOW @ANNIEBURBA
SEP 18, 2024

A Bevi countertop water cooler.. Photo: Courtesy Company

Imagine an office water cooler. You’re probably picturing a plastic machine with an upside-down jug of water that makes a “glug, glug, glug” sound as you use it.

Bevi‘s smart water dispensers break all the office water stereotypes. With a sleek white exterior, a smart screen, and no jug in sight, they look more like an Apple product than an office water cooler.

On a Bevi machine, users tap a blue “Pour” button to get water. Tap another button to make the temperature cold, hot, or ambient; to add one of 14 natural flavors; to add bubbles. Tap again to top it all off with caffeine, electrolytes, or vitamins.

They’re environmentally friendly, too. The machines dispense filtered tap water and save 50,000 12-ounce bottles a year on average, according to a company analysis.

All in all, Bevi dispensers are undeniably cooler than their old-school competitors. And that’s because, according to co-founders Eliza Becton, Frank Lee, and Sean Grundy, the machines are designed for the end user–the office worker.

Traditional water cooler companies “often have essentially no customer-facing brand because they’ve designed their products to sort of blend into the background and quietly fit in,” says Grundy, now Bevi’s CEO. When Bevi launched in 2013, it didn’t blend in. Water cooler conversations turned into water dispenser conversations, and word spread quickly among office managers. Big names like Microsoft, Netflix, and Lyft bought in.

Eventually, Bevi machines became something of a status symbol for startups–in fact, their presence became so ubiquitous in the Bay Area tech scene that HBO featured a Bevi dispenser on a 2018 episode of Silicon Valley after visiting offices in the area for set design inspiration.

By early 2020, the Boston-based company had raised $90 million in venture capital funding, according to Fortune. But when the pandemic hit, Grundy says the company’s entire sales pipeline evaporated overnight. More than 90 percent of Bevi’s customers closed their offices indefinitely, per Fortune.

“Nobody would have wanted my life in 2020,” Grundy says.

Bevi hung on, though. And eventually, workers began trickling back to the office. The return-to-office trend picked up steam, and companies settled into a hybrid schedule. Now, Bevi machine usage data shows, their clients’ employees come in about three days a week on average–still far less than in 2019, when most employees came in Monday through Friday.

And yet, demand for their dispensers is higher than ever: Bevi had a 50 percent bump in sales this year, is making more than three times its 2019 revenue, and has expanded its client base to include Dell, Best Buy, Pfizer, and Kraft Heinz, according to a company spokesperson.

bevi co-foundersWater cooler conversations

Erin Gunnuscio, who joined the company in March as vice president of marketing, says she first used a Bevi dispenser over a decade ago while working for Tripadvisor, one of Bevi’s first clients. When she left that role to join cybersecurity company Cybereason, she told her new office manager about it. Before long, the Cybereason office had purchased a Bevi machine, too.

At the time, Gunnuscio says, she didn’t think of herself as a brand advocate for Bevi. But in a way, she was already marketing for the company.

Many of Bevi’s clients get introduced to the brand through this kind of word-of-mouth, according to Gunnuscio: “People move from one company to the other, and when they leave a company having loved Bevi, they then introduce it to their new company.”

Bevi’s early growth was due to this word-of-mouth marketing, as well as a “more traditional B2B strategy” on social media, Gunnuscio says. But when she joined the company, she saw an opportunity to amplify it further.

“Regular office workers are producing and consuming more content on Tiktok and Instagram than ever before,” Gunnuscio says. “Often, in-office amenities and perks are one of the things they talk about–free lunch, free coffee. And we started seeing content creators organically talking about the Bevi machine in their office being a draw to get them to go in.”

Her team now targets young professionals by paying influencers and micro influencers–those with about 1,000 followers–to make content for Instagram Reels and Tiktok, which is where they see the most engagement. They aim for two to four paid videos per month, according to Gunnuscio. But many mention Bevi organically.

Graphic designer Cierra Miller, for example, regularly posts “day in the life” videos showing her working at Italian fashion brand Max Mara’s New York City office. In almost every video, she features a shot of herself using the office Bevi machine, filling up her large Stanley tumbler with lemon-flavored water or adding hot water to matcha powder.

Max Mara purchased the Bevi machine about six months ago, and Miller says it’s now an “added bonus” of coming into the office three times a week: “When I’m home, I literally wish I had a Bevi machine because I just drink so much more water with it.”

Bevi’s marketing team is quick to capitalize on unpaid social media shoutouts. On one of Miller’s TikTok videos, the brand commented, “So glad Bevi is a part of your day!”

Miller says Bevi also sent her a water-themed box of merch, which included a hat, socks, straws, and scented stickers that smell like their flavor options. This is another part of Bevi’s social media strategy: They send about 50 to 100 of these boxes to influencers each month, Gunnuscio says. 

It seems to work, because Miller’s followers are interested in the water dispenser, too. One TikTok commenter wrote, “[O]kay but that water machine looks like heaven.” Another comment said, “Brb sending fancy water dispenser to my boss.”

A perk with pull

Bevi is far from the only workplace perk employers are using to tempt workers back to the office–companies with RTO policies are leveraging free lunches, revamped office spaces, private Lizzo concerts, and group fitness classes.

In and of themselves, Grundy says, these perks usually aren’t enough: “I would be, I think, overconfident if I said that Bevi alone could make someone go back to the office. But I think as part of a broader return to office effort … Bevi is a valuable product.”

In its own headquarters, Bevi has fully embraced this new way of working. The company operates on a hybrid schedule; employees are required to come in two days a week. The headquarters is a “modern workspace,” Gunnuscio says, featuring small meeting rooms, collaboration areas, and open desk spaces.

Free lunches are offered twice a week, and of course, the space has more water coolers than most–Gunnuscio estimates their team of around 180 uses about 10 different Bevi machines. Their office also features a museum-like lineup of all the different models created throughout the years.

In this so-called modern workspace, the office manager’s job has evolved. It’s no longer enough to stock the space efficiently and cheaply. Now that companies are competing against employees’ homes for their time, the office manager has to make the space appealing and inviting, too.

Bevi is winning because it does both. Its machines provide an easy alternative to buying water, seltzer, and soda, while also doubling as an office perk cool enough to post about on Tiktok. 

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