At SxSW this year, there is branding as far as the eye can see. If it’s not a sponsored panel or a sidewalk branded by Whrrl, it’s free Zone bars or Tungle coffee-cup holders for your Starbucks coffee.

But there’s one item launching here that isn’t pushing its brand on people. And the unique but simple design of this product actually provides better branding than a logo. Your probably haven’t seen a bobble self-filtering water bottle yet, but that should change soon. 

Available in various colors, The bobble is meant to replace the countless bottles of water that consumers purchase in their daily lives. It utilizes a replaceable carbon
filter, much like the now ubiquitous Brita filters that many people have in their homes. But unlike other filtering water bottles that have slowly entered the marketplace, the bobble is as much about form as function.

According to Richard Smiedt, founder of parent Move Collective LLC: “We set out to design
a bottle that would improve the taste of tap water to the point where
consumers could turn on their faucet rather than open their wallet. Our
patented filtered water bottle achieves that goal.”

Designed by industrial designer Karim Rashid, who helped create the Method line of
cleaning products, the plastic bottle is as light as most regular water bottles and has a barbell design that makes it easier to squeeze, run with and hold.

And that’s part of the thinking behind its production. A spokesman informed me that there’s deliberately no branding on the bottle. “Move really wants to focused on the design. It’s done in a specifc way to show off the bottle and the shape. There are no bottles shaped like this.”

Eventually, the goal is to replace disposable one time use water bottles with the more environmentally friendly design. That’s an ambitious goal, considering Americans buy about $15 billion dollars worth of bottled water a year. But a big part of that spending is out of convenience. For travellers, athletes and concertgoers, if you can’t drink tap water, water bottles have become the back up plan. And slowly they’ve become the standard for many.

The bobble is BPA free and filters normal
tap water. It’s reusable for up to two months and costs far less than the
number of water bottles that many people purchase in that time. More
than that, it’s cheap enough that replacing lost bobbles isn’t going to
hurt your wallet.

Retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond, JC Penney, Barnes & Noble,
Wegmans and Whole Foods either carry the bottles now or will soon. Bobble will also soon be available in airports, health stores and gyms.

The bottle retails for $9.95 and can also be purchased at www.waterbobble.com and ships in sustainable, material saving, recycled packaging.

Digitally, the product will have a big launch on World Water Day, March 22. They’re also set to rollout a map of water fountains across New York City through Foursquare in the next few weeks. Right now, they’re just trying to get the bobble into people’s hands so they can try it out and see how often they would use it.

Unlike other often clunky — and branded — reusable water bottles, bobble wants to impress people with its functionality. But that simplicity proves that you can say a lot with a little.

Images: bobble