Poppi’s Strategy Backfired — Here’s What Brands Can Learn

Written by: Nicole Fortoul

In the midst of all of the conversations and controversy from Super Bowl Sunday, Poppi finds itself in an uncomfortable situation. Poppi is an Austin-based prebiotic soda brand that debuted in 2018. Poppi had multiple strategies to promote its drink during the Super Bowl season, but this specific one took the internet by storm. They launched a marketing campaign by sending custom, fully stocked vending machines to over 30 influencers. Each vending machine was sent to these influencers’ homes, so they could use this machine to host their “Super Bowl watch parties.” The public was quick to criticize this as they viewed this strategy as out of touch and extravagant. It raised the question of the necessity of this when they could have done better by placing these vending machines in the community, for instance, college campuses, hospitals, malls, community centers, etc. Now that you have the gist, let’s talk about what went wrong here.

Poppi had a great start. Its branding is playful and creative, using the slogan, “bring back the joy of soda — minus the guilt.” Poppi originally built a very strong community by using reposts, giveaways, and shoutouts to engage with its consumers. As influencer marketing has been on the rise over the last few years and Poppi’s budget has grown exponentially, they started leaning very heavily into influencer/celeb partnerships and “go big or go home” PR. Its marketing strategies over the last year have been drastically bigger, especially since they have a lot of competition in the marketing world with brands like Tarte Cosmetics, which is notorious for influencer brand trips and extravaganzas. From an objective standpoint, the vending machine itself is super cool and versatile. There is so much that they could have done with it. The criticism that the public feels is not just from Poppi, but from seeing brands that have put all their eggs in one basket (influencers) and have oversaturated this same strategy so much that they can’t relate anymore. People were already fed up in general, and Poppi made the wrong move at the wrong time. The public suggestion of how they could have used the vending machine was for them to ask to be a part of the experiences that influencers get that they so badly want to be a part of. Personally, I think they wanted so badly to “outdo” other brands’ marketing strategies that they are out of orbit at this point. Sometimes, even in our personal lives, we get so caught up in things that we forget what’s important and what our core values are. The competition isn’t even with other soda brands anymore, although Ollipop did use this opportunity to leverage consumers and make Poppi drinkers who are pissed turn to them. I guarantee they succeeded, but this influencer thing has gotten so big that now brands are competing with other brands that have nothing to do with the product/service they offer. It also wouldn’t be wise to assume that Poppi is the only brand partaking in this behavior.

This is obviously not to say that influencer marketing doesn’t work and isn’t necessary. There needs to be a balance, and the involvement of creators is pivotal for a brand. Some influencers who have received the vending machines have not responded well to the Poppi backlash. Many believe it is because brands are going to pull back on influencer partnerships, and they are salty with viewers. Viewers are also watching these influencers’ saltiness towards them, and it makes them hate influencers even more. A brand needs to have good influencer relationships. If they go overboard and spoil them this way just for it to be badly received and have to pull back, that’s essentially another internal problem as well. Many factors would be affected and need to be considered. One slip-up also makes people bring up the past again, which is now reigniting the talk about Poppi’s gut health lawsuit. These conversations being held are what make consumers reconsider what they’re buying.

Poppi responded to the backlash by having the Founder and CEO, Allison Ellsworth, post a TikTok saying that she is hearing all of the conversation going around and explaining the original point of the vending machine campaign. She said that the “vending machines will be a part of the brand for years to come” and for people to let them know where they’d like to see them. She also mentioned, without name-dropping, that its competitor, Ollipop, is spreading misinformation about the cost of the vending machines online. Many viewers engaged and commented on places they’d want to see vending machines, and others criticized Ellsworth for looking like she was reading off a script.

Some key takeaways from this entire situation: everything is good in moderation. Putting your all into one thing can make you inevitably neglect others, even if the effort is for the neglected. Listening is incredibly important. A good way to avoid things like these is to ask people what they think, maybe through an anonymous survey or something. Doing things competitively, although it is a corporate world and everyone competes in the end, won’t sit well with people. Audiences want to feel seen, heard, and feel they are a part of something bigger. Being driven by competition and lust will create a disconnect. Poppi is a brand filled with potential.