How Flow Launched Its New Sparkling Water with Venn

Company: Flow Water

Interviewee: Corrie Higgins, SVP of Sales

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

About Flow Water

Flow is one of North America's leading premium water brands, built on naturally alkaline mineral spring water from a family-owned artesian spring in Canada. The company packages its water in recyclable containers made from majority renewable materials and holds Certified B Corporation status for its social and environmental standards. Flow now serves over 18 million customers through more than 25,000 retailers, and this summer the team is adding Flow Sparkling, its new sparkling water line, to that footprint. Venn followed SVP of Sales Corrie Higgins through a launch-week day to see how the team runs the finances behind it.

The Launch

A new product, a Toronto retail debut, and a citywide sampling push

This Summer, Flow launched their newest product: Flow Sprakling. Flow Sparkling made its retail debut at Summerhill Market, the Toronto grocery institution, with in-store sampling running through the end of July. Corrie Higgins leads the retail push, and the launch strategy pairs those demos with a hot introductory deal designed to get consumers stocking up and trying the product in time for summer. Behind the sampling tables and the ad campaigns sits a week of concentrated spending: product purchases in stores, marketing costs ramping up daily, and the invoices that follow all of it.

The Problem

A product launch compresses months of spending into a single week

A launch tests every operational system a brand has, and the finance stack carries some of the heaviest load. Sales reps sample product in stores across the city, and they need to buy that product on the spot, at the shelf, without a purchase order or a reimbursement form. Marketing scales up digital ad spend at the same time. Large one-off expenses land all at once, and the finance team needs to know what each charge covers before the statements arrive.

For most consumer brands, that pressure exposes the same weakness: spending authority concentrated in too few hands. When one card or one approver stands between a field rep and a shelf, demos stall, campaigns wait, and finance reconciles the launch weeks after it happened.

Flow built its launch on the opposite model. Every person spending money for the launch carries the means to do it.

The Solution

One platform behind every launch expense

Venn gives Flow a corporate card in every mobile wallet that needs one. When a rep runs a demo at Summerhill Market, they pull out their phone, pay for the product with their Venn card, and take it straight to the sampling table. Nobody fronts personal money, and nobody waits on a reimbursement while consumers wait to try the product.

Marketing runs on the same rails. Sr. Ecommerce & Marketing Manager Brittany Tersigni puts Flow's digital campaigns on her Venn card, covering the online ads that build demand ahead of launch day.

"Brittany is constantly using it in marketing, for building ads online and so on." Corrie Higgins, SVP of Sales, Flow Water

The finance handoff happens before the charges even settle. Corrie flags the big launch expenses to the finance team in advance, routes them through the Venn card, and follows up with a full accounting of the spending.

"The big expenses that are going to come up, we put them through our Venn card, and we get you a breakdown of each charge. We don't have to front our own costs and everything syncs with accounting immediately. There is no friction." Corrie Higgins, SVP of Sales, Flow Water

Here is what runs through Venn during the launch:

• Venn cards in every rep's mobile wallet, ready for on-the-spot product purchases at demos
• Digital ad campaigns on their own Venn card, managed by the marketing team directly
• Large launch expenses routed through Venn, with a breakdown of each charge sent to finance
• Real-time visibility into who spent what, the moment it happens
• 1% cashback on every purchase behind the launch
• Hours saved every week that would otherwise go to reimbursement forms and receipt chasing

Venn builds for exactly this kind of team spending. Cards spin up instantly, so a brand can put one in every field rep's pocket before a launch without waiting on plastic. Every transaction logs in real time to the person who made it, and Venn sends SMS and email receipt reminders after each purchase, so documentation keeps pace with a week where spending happens across a whole city.

Why Venn

Built for a Canadian brand moving at retail speed

Flow Water is a Canadian brand launching a Canadian product at a Canadian retailer before going global, and Venn builds its platform for exactly that market. The team needed cards that work at a Toronto grocery till, spending power distributed across sales and marketing, and visibility that keeps a lean finance team ahead of a heavy launch week instead of behind it. Finances should not be a bottleneck when the team needs to move fast to deliver across 25,000+ retailers.

Who Venn Is For

Canadian consumer brands that put spending power in the field

Venn works best for Canadian businesses where spending happens across a team rather than at a single desk. For consumer brands like Flow, that means field reps who buy product for demos, marketers who run always-on campaigns, and finance teams who need to see every charge the moment it lands.

Over 15,000 Canadian businesses use Venn to manage team spending, reduce overhead, and keep full control of their financial operations. Setup takes minutes and requires no branch visits or lengthy approval processes.

Join the companies that use Venn to manage team spending, reduce costs, and operate with confidence. Try Venn today!

FAQ

Can my team pay with Venn cards from their phones? Yes. Venn cards add to Apple Pay and Google Pay, so team members tap to pay anywhere contactless payments work, including grocery tills and retail checkouts. A team member can start spending from their phone the moment you issue their card, with no physical card required.

How fast can I issue cards to a new team or a seasonal crew? Venn creates virtual cards instantly. If you staff up for a launch, an event, or a seasonal push, you can issue a card to every new team member in minutes and close those cards the moment the project wraps, without any leftover plastic floating around.

How does Venn handle recurring marketing spend? Venn supports recurring payments that run without manual attention each cycle. You can dedicate a virtual card to each ad platform or subscription, which keeps billing separated by channel and shows exactly what each platform costs every month.

Can I set limits and approvals on team spending? Yes. Venn provides team spending controls, including limits per card and approval workflows for larger transactions. Owners and finance leads decide how much independence each cardholder gets while keeping oversight of everything above their thresholds.

Does Venn handle payments beyond card spending? Yes. Venn sends ACH, wire transfers, and Interac e-Transfers from one platform, with multi-currency support and international payments to 180+ countries through Global Transfers. For brands working with suppliers or partners outside Canada, payments and card spending live in one place.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Venn Software Inc or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.

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