How Olipop Grew to a $200 Million Company

How a healthy soda company sells more root beer than A&W.

Olipop, a healthy soda company, was able to break the barriers that most healthy drink companies face and became a mainstream brand in the soda industry. The question that many people are asking is, how did they do it?

Rather than going on about the details of its healthiness, Olipop talks about how their beverages help you poop.

Ok, that is mainly on TikTok because of TikTok’s laid back nature, but across all platforms they are clear and concise with the benefits, less sugar, more fiber. That’s it. Most companies give way too many details about the benefits of their products.

But still, how did a healthy soda company break the barriers of the healthy consumer niche and become mainstream?

Olipop’s rise to fame can be attributed to leaning into cultural trends such as when health and wellness drinks exploded, along with the rise of mocktails.

Olipop forms much of their marketing around mocktails, due to the lack of alcohol consumption from Gen Z compared to the older generations. Most of their highest viewed videos are about how to make a mocktail with an Olipop beverage.

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Ben Goodwin in an interview with Forbes made it clear they were NOT chasing trends. Rather they just were aware of what culture was doing and they inserted themselves to where they fit.

Goodwin goes onto say what really separates Olipop from the rest of not only the functional drink industry, but the entire soda industry - emotional connection. Goodwin tells Forbes, “OLIPOP is leveraging deep childhood memories and our aim was to tap into nostalgia and shared social moments.” Olipop leverages this nostalgia in all their marketing and branding by giving everything from their cans to their Instagram post a vintage vibe.

What this shows us is that we need to take the focus off our awesome products and find ways to insert our products into the current cultural climate.

Action steps:

Stop saying, “look how awesome we are” and find ways to communicate in a concise way how your product solves your consumers problems.

What is happening in culture that you can insert your product into? For Olipop it’s mocktails, what is your?

Find an emotional connection point. Every business has a vehicle to emotionally connect with your customers. You just have to identify it.