How Huble Helped Spadel Launch and Sell Out Its Latest Product in Two Months

A bold vision for a new market

When Spadel’s innovation team first pitched the idea for SPA Fountain, they knew they needed to take a different approach.

 

"We had explored launching a B2B business in the past, but ultimately didn’t move forward with it," recalls Nicolas Morlet, Business Leader of this strategic project for Spadel. "This time, we decided to go in a completely different direction, adopting a more startup-like strategy to build everything from scratch—quickly."

 

Spadel, a Belgian family-owned group specializing in natural mineral waters and refreshing beverages, reported a turnover of 379,3 million EUR in the first half of 2024.

 

The vision was clear: offer businesses a flexible, sustainable alternative to traditional bottled water, reducing reliance on single-use plastics. But achieving this required a major shift.

 

Unlike Spadel’s established retail model, SPA Fountain would operate as an automated, subscription-based service.

 

Switchback 7
Headshot Nicholas Morlet
Nicolas Morlet
Spadel

"Launching SPA Fountain was an entirely new challenge for us. We had a strong retail business, but shifting to a B2B subscription model required a complete rethink of how we engage customers. We needed to move fast while ensuring we maintained the premium quality and service that Spadel is known for."

Overcoming B2B Challenges

Even for a company of Spadel’s scale, launching a digital-first B2B business came with significant hurdles:

  • Lack of B2B e-commerce infrastructure: Spadel had no prior experience using HubSpot or managing direct-to-business online sales.

  • Balancing automation and human touch: The platform had to enable frictionless purchasing for SMEs while also supporting more complex enterprise sales journeys.

  • Early marketing learnings: The campaign began with bottom-funnel keyword targeting. Early results showed high CPLs, reinforcing the need for a broader funnel and awareness-building tactics.

  • Payment integration issues: HubSpot’s native payment features fell short of requirements, prompting the need for a custom solution that could serve the MVP while meeting compliance and operational needs.

  • Scope expansion: As momentum built, more internal teams joined the project, increasing complexity and requiring nimble adaptation.

 

Headshot Nicholas Morlet
Nicolas Morlet
Spadel

"Despite these hurdles, the team remained convinced they were onto something big. We knew if we could get the strategy right, this could transform how businesses access sustainable water solutions."

Building a new business model from scratch, quickly

Spadel partnered with Huble to design and deploy a fast, scalable, and adaptable e-commerce platform. The goal: prove the business case by selling 200 machines, quickly and efficiently.

 

The platform was built not only for speed, but also with sufficient operational depth to allow for finance reconciliation, CRM integration, and flexible sales handling, accommodating both low-touch and high-touch customers.

Switchback 3-1

Huble’s approach

01

E-commerce Integration

A fully functional e-commerce experience was created, with HubSpot powering the front-end while an external system (Ezo) managed payments securely. This hybrid setup ensured a seamless user experience and supported varying buyer needs.
02

Sales Process Automation

For smaller customers, an automated self-checkout process was implemented using Stripe, while larger accounts were managed through HubSpot deal pipelines with the HubSpot Commerce Hub, allowing Spadel’s team to guide them through a structured B2B sales process.
03

Adaptive Marketing Launch

To accelerate demand, a multi-channel digital marketing strategy was launched across Google Ads, Meta, and LinkedIn. While early results were challenging, the team adjusted the approach in real-time. 
04

Premium Brand Design

Beyond just functionality, Huble helped ensure SPA Fountain had a premium brand presence from day one. This included designing all visual assets, such as 3D product renderings, website creatives, and ad content, aligning everything with Spadel’s established brand identity.

Project Milestones 

  • MVP Development & Testing (Sep 2023 – Apr 2024): Platform built and tested; feedback helped refine the offering.

  • Launch (May 2024): Live e-commerce experience rolled out. High acquisition costs prompted strategy optimization.

  • Strategic Optimisation (June – Sept 2024): Campaign adjustments improved conversion and reduced costs.

  • Then came the breakthrough: 200 machines sold within two months.
Headshot Nicholas Morlet
Nicolas Morlet
Spadel

"We are excited… and a little overwhelmed. We had to pause marketing just to keep up with demand. It was a great problem to have, but it also meant we needed to rethink our supply chain strategy sooner than expected.”

From Launch to Traction

6M+ Impressions on Meta

51 purchases driven by Google Ads

200 Machines sold in the first two months

Key achievements

  • 200 units sold in two months: Demand exceeded expectations, leading to a pause in marketing to manage fulfilment.

  • 6M+ Meta impressions: Meta proved most effective for building awareness and brand credibility.

  • Google Ads performance: 125 total conversions at a €96.15 CPL; 51 purchases at €235.67 CPA, showing strong purchase intent.

  • Full-funnel success: Adding awareness and mid-funnel campaigns drastically improved efficiency and reach.

  • Agility in channel use: LinkedIn, while less conversion-driven, elevated brand credibility. Retargeting boosted ROI and lowered CPL.

  • Audience insights: Purchase & Facility Managers drove 19 purchases and 11 leads, highlighting the importance of precise targeting.

  • Creative learnings: English creatives drove 5 purchases on Meta, despite French/Dutch dominance. On LinkedIn, Dutch content aimed at HR Managers performed best.

Next steps: scaling up for the future

With phase two underway, the focus now shifts to scaling further, targeting 1,000 units sold while enhancing the e-commerce experience and payment infrastructure.


This project demonstrated how a large enterprise like Spadel could rapidly launch a B2B sub-brand by leveraging automation, digital marketing, and strategic sales processes.

 

"This was just the beginning," says Morlet. "Now, we’re ready to scale."

Headshot Nicholas Morlet
Nicolas Morlet

Spadel

"Working with Huble has been a great experience, and their support has been instrumental in getting SPA Fountain off the ground. Their expertise in digital strategy and sales automation has helped us move quickly and effectively. As we continue to scale, we’re looking forward to building on this momentum together."

About Spadel

Spadel is a leading European beverage company specializing in natural mineral water and soft drinks. Headquartered in Belgium, Spadel is best known for its flagship brand, SPA, which enjoys strong visibility across consumer and business markets.

Related Customer Stories

Whitetail Properties Case Study

Whitetail Properties

Learn more about Huble's impact on Whitetail Properties' sales and marketing operations.

Sales & Revenue

Smovin Case Study

Smovin

Discover how Huble helped Smovin achieve 85% activation conversion and reduce cost per lead by 50%.

Marketing Strategy & Tech

Bouygues Immobillier Case Study

Bouygues Immobilier

Discover how Huble leveraged social media prowess & enhanced user experience to generate leads and soar conversion rates for Bouygues Immobilier.

Marketing Strategy & Tech

Garage Living Case Study-min

Garage Living

Revolutionise your sales efficiency with Garage Living's CRM and CPQ transformation. See how Huble's solutions have transformed Garage Living's operations.

HubSpot Implementations

Marketing Strategy & Tech

Sales & Revenue

Latour Petit Case Study

Latour & Petit

Learn how Huble helped Latour & Petit achieve an astounding 860% growth in monthly leads.

Marketing Strategy & Tech

Avison Young Case Study

Avison Young

Learn how Huble helped Avison Young move its teams from four siloed CRMs, including Salesforce, to one, easy-to-use but very powerful CRM — HubSpot.

HubSpot Implementations

Knight Frank Case Study-min

Knight Frank

Find out how the Huble team helped Knight Frank use HubSpot to give marketing and key business units a unified view of its customer data.

HubSpot Implementations

Global Smart Affordable Housing Case Study-min

Global smart affordable housing

Learn how Huble helped a global leader in smart affordable housing unify their multinational offices under HubSpot.

Marketing Strategy & Tech

Sales & Revenue

Greef Christies Real Estate Case Study-min

Greeff Christies Real Estate

Learn how Huble Digital helped Greeff Christies Real Estate launch onto the HubSpot CMS.

Marketing Strategy & Tech