Source: AdAge
Poppi, the fast-growing soda brand recently acquired by PepsiCo, is seeking a creative agency to accompany its next phase of growth.
The brand, established in 2020, has done most of its marketing work in-house, primarily using TikTok and social media influencers. Poppi ran a surprise Super Bowl ad in 2024 and another in 2025, each created in partnership with Virtue Worldwide.
“We’re looking for someone that gets us,” Allison Ellsworth, co-founder and chief brand officer of Poppi, told Ad Age.
Ellsworth described a wide-ranging search for a versatile agency that understands the brand and its devoted fan base. It is currently narrowing the list of potential partners.
“We’re talking to everyone. We’re doing fireside chats, we’re doing integrations, we’re doing meet-in-persons, to really just find the person that gets us, that can do everything from commercials to retail to campaigns to fun FOMO brand partnerships,” Ellsworth said.
The move is the first creative RFP for Poppi and comes as the brand is gradually absorbed by PepsiCo. The beverage giant is expected to use its distribution strength to expand availability from 50,000 outlets currently to 350,000 worldwide, Ellsworth said.
Ellsworth, Poppi CEO Chris Hall and Chief Financial Officer Joshua Gittler are remaining with the company during the integration, which could be up to three years. Andy Judd, Poppi’s chief marketing officer, earlier this month announced on LinkedIn that he had departed the brand.
Jenny Danzi, who previously led marketing for the Pepsi brand, was appointed VP of marketing this month for a functional beverages group that includes energy drinks, but will not include Poppi, a PepsiCo spokeswoman said. Gustavo Reyna, a 20-year PepsiCo veteran who most recently worked as a senior director in its international foods business, succeeded Danzi as Pepsi’s VP of marketing in May.
Poppi’s annual sales had exceeded $500 million when Pepsi agreed to acquire it for $1.95 billion in March. The deal, which closed in May, provides Pepsi with a leading brand in the so-called “modern soda” category, which refers to ”better-for-you” sodas with functional benefits like probiotics and lower sugar than traditional soft drinks.
Pepsi said the acquisition marked a significant step in transforming its portfolio behind functional products with appeal to health and wellness-focused consumers.
Poppi sales grew by 137% in 2024, according to Beverage Digest; the same publication noted overall carbonated soft drink sales declined by 0.2% last year and that volume sales of brand Pepsi were down by 6.1%.
Poppi was founded in Austin, Texas, as a home-brewed apple cider vinegar drink called Mother Beverage by Ellsworth and her husband, Stephen Ellsworth. The brand won a $400,000 investment from former Coca-Cola beverage exec Rohan Oza on a 2018 episode of “Shark Tank.” Oza’s Cavu Consumer Partners made a further investment in the brand in late 2022.
Oza was behind Glaceau Vitaminwater’s $4.2 billion sale to Coca-Cola in 2007. Ellsworth’s $1.95 billion exit is the highest for a female-founded beverage brand, Poppi said.
