Executive Briefing
Poppi in play
Also: Instacart earnings, Target goes low, another Foxtrot CEO, and more.
By Dan Frommer on Saturday, February 17, 2024 at 8:00 am
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I missed it during the game, but Poppi’s Super Bowl commercial was a hot topic on DTC Twitter come Monday morning: Was it a good ad? For a growth-stage beverage startup like Poppi — which sells low-sugar soda in classic flavors, with prebiotics — was it a savvy investment? Can Poppi hang with its seemingly larger rival Olipop?
First, this is what Google search activity looks like when you’re a non-household-name brand with a Super Bowl commercial:
Chart of the Day
So, it’ll get attention for a minute — and only a minute. The real work is what happens after this burst of curiosity.
In the short term, Poppi seems to be following up with promotions/advertising on Instacart — I got served a big banner ad on Monday — and on Amazon, where it’s currently the best-selling soda SKU. Good, obvious moves.
Over the longer run, both Poppi and rival Olipop have a lot of brand marketing to do. Each has been able to grow past $100 million in sales through a combination of high-quality products, organic growth, digital competence, expanded distribution, and good, old-fashioned grocery trade spend. But each still represents a tiny sliver of the massive global soda market.
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