In May 2025, the functional soda brand was acquired by PepsiCo for nearly $1.95 Billion. Before Poppi was appearing in headlines for its billion-dollar status and popping up on the TikTok For You Page (FYP), the brand looked quite different. 

Poppi influencer marketing campaigns attracted younger audiences on social media, and the brand quickly became a viral sensation among health-conscious Gen Zers and Millennials, driving rapid sales growth during its early days.

What is Poppi, And How Is It Different From Mainstream Soda Brands?

Poppi is a modern soda with functional benefits. Unlike mainstream soda, Poppi sodas contain as little as 5 grams of sugar and are 35 calories or less. 

Rather than containing sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup or aspartame, the modern soda brand uses a combination of cane sugar, stevia, fruit juice and functional ingredients like apple cider vinegar and prebiotics such as agave inulin and cassava root fiber. 

Poppi’s Humble Beginnings

The soda brand started as a home project in 2015 to help curb co-founder Allison Ellsworth’s gut issues. Ellsworth discovered that apple cider vinegar (ACV) improved her gut-related problems, but its taste was not so great. She mixed up fruit juices with ACV and other prebiotics to create the innovative concoction.

Originally called “Mother Beverage,” Allison and her husband, Stephen, took their beverages to farmers’ markets and eventually became so popular that the duo turned to Shark Tank to pitch their unique recipe and earned a deal with Rohan Oza in 2018.

By 2020, the rebranded Poppi was launched, and a year later, the brand was going viral on social media. 

Five years after their rebrand to “Poppi,” the company was valued at nearly $2 billion, thanks in part to the Poppi influencer marketing team’s hard work in creating media buzz within such a short time span.

Through strategic positioning and viral Poppi Influencer marketing campaigns, Poppi was quickly transformed from a healthy apple cider vinegar-based beverage into a modernized prebiotic soda that is making waves in the beverage space. 

How Did Poppi Make Waves In The Beverage Industry? 

From the start, the founders of this beverage brand knew that traditional soda was on its way out and the category needed innovation.

In fact, the reason co-founder Allison Ellsworth labeled her beverage as a soda is that she actually liked soda and wanted an alternative beverage that had the same look and feel, but without the bad ingredients or calories.

Allison and Stephen wanted to make a product that would not contain any of the bad ingredients traditionally used in sodas, but did not want to compromise taste, so they created Poppi, and the gut-friendly soda was born!

Poppi still tastes like the mouth-watering soda flavors that traditional brands offer, but it contains ingredients that are actually good for you.

Positioned as a healthy, gut-friendly, and better-for-you soda, Poppi leaned into its functional benefits and captured the attention of health-conscious Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

They followed their audience to social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where they quickly learned about the power that social media can have, going viral on TikTok in early 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poppi’s First viral TikTok video, which told the story of the brand’s origins, reached over 17 million views. Within 24 hours of posting this video, Poppi’s sales increased by $100,000.

Poppi influencer marketing strategies also helped generate media buzz around the soda brand and created a cult-like following among health-conscious, younger demographics. 

Poppi Leverages Influencers To Reach New Heights With Its Gen Z Audience

It should come as no surprise that Gen Zers are known for being chronically online. In fact, 94% of Gen Zers reported using at least one social media platform per day in 2025, with TikTok and YouTube being the #1 and #2 platforms.

Wise brands like Poppi know that to reach this young audience, they must be visible online as well. 

So how did Poppi effectively show up online? They partnered with everyday influencers. 

Throughout 2023 and 2024, Poppi was featured in popular “Get Ready With Me” videos on TikTok from big-name influencers like Alix Earle, Monet McMichael, and Avery Woods. These influencer partnerships helped reinvent what younger generations thought of soda and associated it with an everyday essential. 

Why was this influencer marketing strategy effective? Leveraging its influencer partners instead of traditional ads makes the brand feel approachable and attainable, adding value to the brand and allowing its audience to connect with Poppi. 

Additionally, Gen Zers are more likely to be influenced by endorsements and follow celebrities on social media than other generations, so these strategic partnerships resonate well with Poppi’s audience and naturally show up on their feeds.

In return for these partnered posts, these influencer collaborations directly improve Poppi’s direct-to-consumer sales.

Poppi Influencer Marketing Faces Criticism Approaching 2025 Super Bowl Campaigns

In February 2025, the brand gifted full-size vending machines to influencer partners in preparation for their Super Bowl LIX watch parties.

Although the company sent influencers these extravagant gifts with good intentions of creating a fun and memorable experience, the public saw this PR gifting as over the top and out of touch. 

In response to the negative internet opinions, Ellsworth revealed that Super Bowl season is the time of year when soda is the number #1 consumed drink, so, as a soda brand, Poppi wanted to provide their influencer partners with a fun experience that would make a splash on the internet. 

The online community, however, did not see the vision. Critics of this campaign viewed the large gifts as overconsumption and believed it was out of touch to send expensive gifts to influencers who already had a lot of money.

The company had been well known as being a community-driven leader, and the Poppi Influencer Marketing team was able to learn its lesson from this error and respond appropriately to criticism. 

Even though there was negative PR surrounding this campaign, the soda company saw sales rise following the backlash and media attention.

In other words, all press was good press in this instance, but Poppi was able to address their mistake and remind their followers of their brand values, in return building trust with their audience and upholding their positive reputation.

High-Profile Partnerships Are A Key Component In Poppi Influencer Marketing Tactics 

Poppi is no stranger to celebrity partnerships. The brand has partnered with celebrities like Charli XCX, Post Malone, and reality television celebrities to campaign their beverages.

Most recently, Poppi came out with its new “vibes” campaign with Charli XCX to present Poppi as a fun, energetic drink that is “for the vibes.” This partnership aired during the 2026 Super Bowl and created immediate online buzz.

Poppi leaned into the moment and partnered with a rising star to capture the attention of their younger audience and boost mainstream recognition.

Poppi also partnered with Post Malone in 2024 to launch a special addition wild berry-flavored drink in collaboration with the singer. The celebrity and the brand partnered to create a custom can design of Post-Malone’s favorite flavor, AKA “Posty’s Soda,” available only at Kroger.

Poppi influencer marketing campaigns led the brand to create a new partnership in October 2025 with a cast member from the popular reality dating show, Love Island USA.

The company partnered with the show’s season 7 winner, Amaya Espinal, AKA “Amaya Papaya,” to create a tropical island colada inspired by the celebrity’s nickname.

The soda company teased this new flavor as the reality TV show was airing in July to create fun media attention and digital-worthy content, but did not officially launch the product until a few months later.

These celebrity and influencer partnerships create a ton of media attention and drive a sense of exclusivity to the brand.

Poppi strategically works with these celebrities to bring their customers a new feeling and sense of closeness to their celebrity partners, and in return, their sales soar.  

Key-Takeaways

In summary, Poppi is not an ordinary soda brand; it’s a healthier substitute for traditional soda that appeals to younger generations. 

Poppi’s sales have continued to grow because of the brand’s willingness to have fun with media and make bold plays and partnerships, setting the brand apart from its soda competitors.

Poppi influencer marketing efforts have led to high-profile partnerships with celebrities like Charli XCX, Post-Malone, and Love Island USA’s Amaya Espinal. 

🪽 Written by Kaitlyn De La Torre