For soft-drink brand Poppi, fans come before consumers. The Pepsico-owned brand has bottled up an innovative approach to social media that’s beginning to be picked up by the marketers behind the industry’s largest brands, but it carries risks, too.
“We’re community first. I like to say it’s pop culture,” said Sophia Sesto, who leads the team behind the beverage brand’s social media, creator and ambassador operations. Rather than attempting to appeal to the broadest range of users possible, the brand’s social media operation is tuned to reach Poppi diehards on TikTok and Instagram. It’s a strategy that led the company to gain a 34% share of the “functional soda” consumer category prior to its $1.95 billion acquisition by Pepsico.
According to Sesto, the brand’s “fans” act as evangelists for its fizzy qualities online, amplifying its content while also providing a source for social listening and trend observation, and a quick-acting focus group rooting its product development in real consumer connection.
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