Social Media Club and Social Media Club Los Angeles (SMCLA) are non-profit organizations. To be able to provide quality programming and events, we have companies sponsor us throughout the year.This year, we are very excited to announce that OXiGEN is the water sponsor for all our events. To get to know OXiGEN a little bit better, we interviewed the vice president of marketing and communications, Rebecca Peters.When was OXiGEN founded and why? What is the story behind the launch of the brand?OXiGEN was founded in mid-2014 after we discovered we had the ability to bring to market the first ready-to-drink oxygenated water that actually works! On shelves since November 2015, our product contains an O4 oxygen molecule that’s highly stable, meaning we get it to stay in the water. It doesn’t go “poof” out the top of the bottle when it’s opened like regular O2 oxygen does when you add it to bottled water.  We all know that oxygen and water are vital to sustain life and added oxygen has so many benefits. We wanted to bring those benefits to the masses through our product.What three words would you use to describe the brand? ConfidentRealHappyHow important is social media and digital marketing to OXiGEN’s overall business strategy?Extremely important. Social and digital media is how we (consumers) get our information about everything, including new products, and social media allows us to easily educate ourselves on a large scale in real-time. OXiGEN has a great story and we use social and digital not only to tell our own story, but also to allow others to tell our story for us. What do you hope to gain, or have you already gained, by implementing social and digital marketing initiatives? We love our product and want as many people to know about it as possible, while at the same time ensuring they are educated about the “why” behind it. Why they should pick up OXiGEN versus any other water brand — or any other beverage brand for that matter! Why they should incorporate OXiGEN water and shot into their day and what it can mean for their general sense of well-being. Social and digital marketing allows us to do this at a level of intimacy that wasn’t previously possible. It also allows us, as mentioned before, to find people who believe in us and want to help spread the word about us.Are there any emerging social platforms or digital tools that you are most excited to test in 2017? We are still a young brand in the midst of honing in on what really works to get people interested in engaging with us and about us. I’m excited to watch how this evolves in 2017 on all the social channels we’re involved in. Our team at Social Reality has done an amazing job in a very short time, so I’m looking forward to watching our progress over the next 6 to 12 months.Why are you excited to be involved with SMCLA this year? We are happy to be partnering with Social Media Club Los Angeles this year for many reasons. One of which is the opportunity to get our product in the hands of professionals in the Los Angeles area who work tirelessly to run their businesses and/or serve their clients - they deserve a dose of mental clarity and recovery! Secondly, we are passionate about being incorporated into the communities in which our products are sold. Southern California is a key market for us as we are sold in many Vons, Gelson's, Bristol Farms and Albertsons locations here. Back to the brand, what are the benefits of OXiGEN products? OXiGEN water contains 100x the oxygen you find in regular water. OXiGEN shot takes it even further - with 500x the amount! More oxygen in the form of OXiGEN means you can recover faster from your workouts, twice as fast to be exact. So, whether you need an increase in stamina, greater mental clarify, recovery from a tough workout or even to combat jet lag and hangovers, OXiGEN provides the all-natural daily boost you’ve been looking for…without all the bad stuff like sugar, caffeine, or unhealthy additives. Where can people find OXIGEN? Head to your favorite grocery store and OXiGEN water is probably there! OXiGEN is sold throughout the U.S. and to find a retailer nearest you visit: https://drinkoxigen.com/products/where-to-buyAbout Rebecca Peters, vice president, marketing + communications at OXiGEN. Finding and telling stories for brands has been the crux of Rebecca Peters’ career for almost 20 years, first as a TV news producer and then in the field of Public Relations, Communications and Marketing. Over the last decade, Rebecca has worked with a diverse set of brands, helping them make their long-term, positive mark domestically, nationally and internationally. She has experience managing brand and corporate communications, creating long-term brand equity, developing and executing strategic communications plans and providing proactive and reactive communications solutions. Rebecca works consistently across all platforms – traditional and digital – building the OXiGEN brand into a household name.