MARKETING

I’d like to buy the world a stevia-sweetened prebiotic drink

It’s brown, it’s sweet, and there’s a chorus of fizz when it’s poured over ice. It is neither Coke nor kombucha. It’s Olipop, a stevia-sweetened prebiotic-laden drink that hopes to squirm its way into the crowded carbonated beverage category, finding an opportunity between sickeningly sweet soda pop and tart, vinegary probiotic-rich drinks. 

Coming in seven flavors like Classic Root Beer, Vintage Cola, and Cherry Vanilla, Olipop is running its first major campaign today across streaming platforms such as Hulu, Roku, Spotify, ESPN, and Amazon Fire TV, to introduce—specifically—sports fans and cola drinkers to a brand that calls itself “a new kind of soda.”

The campaign showcases two spots:

• The first: an almost perfect shot-by-shot remake of Pepsi Zero Sugar’s latest campaign, mocking the soda giant’s sugar-free offering. The brand is targeting audiences who have bought either Pepsi or Coke, and will track whether they make the switch to Olipop, using a mix of store purchasing and mobile location data. 
• The second: Former ESPN personality Kenny Mayne touts his own preference for the product with his usual dry humor. It’s running alongside streams of the Olympics, professional golf tournaments, and CBS Sports, targeting men in their late 20s through their mid-50s.

David Lester, the brand’s cofounder, told Marketing Brew that the campaign’s first spot purposefully doesn’t get into specifics regarding Olipop’s health-related perks; instead, it simply makes the drink look refreshing. He’s taken a lesson from brands like Halo Top and Impossible Foods, which lean into their respective categories’ indulgence > health benefits.

“These are brands that understand the categories they’re in,” he told us. Otherwise, “it’s a big miss for the natural products industry so far.”

Selling soda

The campaign will run for the next six months, marking the brand’s most expensive ad buy yet. And while Olipop may have all the design aesthetic of any DTC brand you’d find on Instagram, roughly 70% of the brand’s revenue comes from retailers like Whole Foods and Target. 

Lester declined to provide any sales figures other than percentage increases, but he said revenue grew 10x between 2019 and 2020. Still, Olipop isn’t profitable. And even though the ad pokes fun at Pepsi, Olipop could very well be scooped up and added to the soda giant’s portfolio: In 2016, PepsiCo bought kombucha brand KeVita, and two years later, Coca-Cola bought Australian ’bucha brand Mojo.

“It wouldn't be crazy to assume an acquisition at some stage, given the challenges with distribution,” said Lester. “For us right now, we're focused on profitability margin and continuing to move toward a self-sustaining business.”

Click here to read more about how Olipop plans to make a splash in the soda category.—RB

CAMPAIGNS

Dream Dinner Party: Congress, Spotify’s CEO, and us

You’ve probably seen Spotify’s new Only You campaign. ICYMI, Only You generates personalized “Audio Birth Charts,” “Dream Dinner Parties,” and other features based on music and podcasts you’ve listened to, then turns them into snazzy Instagram story graphics. Basically, it’s a twist on Spotify’s year-end Wrapped roundups. 

• But on Wednesday, the same day that Only You was taking group chats by storm, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek received a letter from Congress expressing concerns about the company’s Discovery Mode. 
• Discovery Mode is still in its pilot stage, but it essentially operates like this: Spotify can make its algorithm favor certain artists and labels who opt in, but only if they agree to lower royalty rates. Last month, a nonprofit called the Artist Rights Alliance called Discovery Mode a “pay-for-play scheme,” in a Rolling Stone op-ed.

What’s Only You got to do with it? 

Rock stars and the legal system might finally agree on something. Members of the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (a group started in response to pandemic-induced industry hardships) are urging Spotify to raise its artist royalty rates...so as you can imagine, they’re not too happy about Discovery Mode, either. 

The kicker: Some union members used Only You as a “launchpad for their activism,” per the LA Times. For instance, the paper cited Galaxie 500 drummer Damon Krukowski’s tweet: “#OnlyYou Spotify would reduce artist royalties the same year your stock price tripled.”

Bottom line: Spotify used musicians as a marketing tool in its Only You campaign...while simultaneously facing criticism from the US government and artists themselves.—PB

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SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter had a busy week

Twitter was busier than the assistants in The Devil Wears Prada last week. With so many updates, it can be hard for a marketer to keep up. Read on for your cheat sheet.

Twitter cerulean Blue: On Thursday, Twitter rolled out its Twitter Blue subscription service in Canada and Australia. For $2.99 a month, per The Verge, users can gain new superpowers, such as undoing a tweet before it gets posted, accessing a dedicated customer support team, creating folders for saved tweets, and more. 

Fleets of fleets: Twitter basically said “Our advertisers can have a little bit of Snapchat, as a treat” last Tuesday. It’s testing Fleet ads—disappearing video tweets similar to Snapchat Story Ads—with a small user pool in the US. Sound like NBD? Not really: Depending on how the test goes, more Twitter vertical ad formats could be in store, per Ad Age. 

Verification, all I ever wanted: Right before Memorial Day weekend, Twitter paused its verification program after being overwhelmed with requests. But as of Tuesday, it pressed play on the program again. Crisis averted, all clout chasing (or, you know, brand account verifying) efforts = full speed ahead.

Why the product spree? Twitter wants more users—and that includes your brand. According to CNBC, “The company is making a broad effort to build more features at a faster clip as it seeks to grow to 315 million daily active users by the end of 2023.”—PB

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Google settled with French authorities for ~$270 million after regulators accused the search giant of favoring its own advertising tools over competitors’. 
• Walmart will keep its doors shut on Thanksgiving for the second year in a row.
• Criteo has a new logo for its cookie-free future.
• Facebook’s newsletter service, Bulletin, is expected to debut later this month. Without politics.
• Bud Light and Oreo went all in on aliens ahead of a government report on the existence of UFOs.

FRENCH PRESS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren't those.

Stress ball: Keep your creatives happy. This playbook will help you avoid three marketing design stressors. 

Spam: Don’t use these spamtastic words if you want to be taken seriously (and keep your emails in the primary inbox).

Cheater: Go organic. Why you shouldn’t just buy YouTube followers in 2021. 

Big decisions, big value:  The Wall Street Journal is the essential resource for the world’s most influential people and businesses. That trust is why WSJ influences more than $1 in every $3 spent in the US on B2B-related purchases. Partner with WSJ, and your company can reach the world’s business decision-makers.*

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AD ANTIQUES

Vintage Ad Browser

Olipop might have fiber, but it's competing with more than 120 years of Pepsi advertising.

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Black-owned media executives are still waiting on checks from media buyers
• Roku made a show about what’s on Roku
• Why brands are using QR codes for Pride Month