Reinventing Jacuzzi’s Brand and Growth Engine Around Experiential Wellness

Repositioned Jacuzzi from hot tubs in a $2B product category to Sensational Wellness in a $4T cultural market.

Unified 14 brands into three lifestyle platforms and rebuilt the end-to-end consumer experience to deliver on the new promise.

Grew premium market share 53% and marketing-attributable sales 60%, all while reducing marketing spending over 40%.

1/14

When private equity acquired Jacuzzi Group, they sought to transform a legacy hot tub maker with a 5x multiple into a modern wellness brand with a 15x multiple. Success would require a new premium positioning in the wellness space and modernizing its culturally disconnected products, marketing, and retail to make that positioning real.
2/14

We started with market understanding. Consumers saw Jacuzzi as a relic of 1980s luxury — not a leader in modern wellness. That perception kept the brand stuck in the $2B hot tub market, despite the value of its hydrotherapy. But the $3T global wellness market was growing fast — and with the right strategy, Jacuzzi could capture a piece of it.
3/14

Research led us to a key insight: people craved greater wellness in their lives, but most found it difficult and joyless to pursue. In this context, Jacuzzi could offer something unique and powerful: wellness that was effortless and pleasureful.
4/14

On the power of our consumer insight, we developed a new brand promise: Sensational Wellness — extraordinary sensorial experiences with deep physical and emotional benefits. A big idea rooted in Jacuzzi’s heritage of hydrotherapy, it staked a bold new claim in the $3T wellness market.
5/14

To fulfill the promise of Sensational Wellness, we reinvented both the product line and the process behind it. We built a design-forward innovation engine that tripled development throughput, enabled a price premium over competitors, and became the foundation for Jacuzzi’s 54% premium market share gain.
6/14

A new all-season spa pool declared Jacuzzi’s leadership in Sensational Wellness. Part hydrotherapy hot tub, part red-light and IR therapy center, part professional-class swim spa, It was a new kind of product — and an early signal of the transformation to come.
7/14

Wellness leadership would demand innovation that sparked people’s desire. After two years of networked R&D, Jacuzzi launched True Water™ — 99.999% chlorine-free water that effortlessly cared for the spa and the people using it. True tapped into the nanobubble technology used in NASA spacecraft to turn two traditional purchase hurdles, chlorine and cleaning time, into reasons to buy only Jacuzzi.
8/14

Next, we would reinvent the defining product category, reimagining a hot tub as a spa pool with everything Sensational Wellness could mean: human-centered design, immersive multi-sensorial experiences, advanced therapies, nearly care-free use, and digital engagement — all in one product. This early prototype captured the essence of the shift.
9/14

With product transformation underway, we turned to how people connect and shop. For the first time in a decade, Jacuzzi launched multi-channel social advertising to reposition the brand, reignite demand, and power local retail.
10/14

Research showed Sensational Wellness had to be felt to be believed. We launched experiential and influencer partnerships to let people feel what they were missing — turning first-hand experience into breakthrough conversion and industry-leading ROMS.
11/14

Next, we redesigned the shopping experience — environments, merchandising, pricing, and promotions — to reflect the premium brand Jacuzzi sought to become. And we recreated the retailer network and its programs to support local partners in moving with us in delivering Sensational Wellness in every detail.
12/14

Even before its full launch in 2026, the work repositioned the brand, set it apart from its traditional competitors, doubled its premium category market share, and set the business on a path to double sales within three years.
13/14

Thank you to the business leaders who sponsored the work:
Michael Karangelen, Investindustrial; Robin Esterson, Chairman of the Board; Curt Pullen, Board Member; Dave Jackson, CEO.

Thank you to the Jacuzzi team: Erica Moir, Larry Ovalle, Nick Ochtman, Destini Protich, Andrew Marquardt, Jamie Murrett, Kimberly Giraldo, Laura Roennfeldt, Rachel Norgaard, Joel Voelker, Tyler Verissimo, Oscar Haro, Art Acevedo, Rick Valicenti, Hyperquake.
14/14

GREG PARSONS