Steven Vigilante,
Director, Media + Partnerships also shares how they select influencers, approach personalized marketing and leverage unexpected brand collabs to stay ahead. Can you guess his favorite
flavor?
OLIPOP added Orange Cream to its permanent offerings as well as created a drive-thru pop-up in Los Angeles and collaborated with influencers for the
campaign launch. How did the team decide which influencers to partner with?
We've always been really intentional about working with creators who
authentically love OLIPOP and align with our brand's core values. For the LA Drive Thru specifically, we wanted to tap into the LA creator community, which has been such an important market for us
since our early days. When we thought about Trisha Paytas, it was honestly a no-brainer - she's iconic for her drive-thru content, so having her at our drive-thru felt like a natural fit that would
resonate authentically with her audience. In general, our goal with creators is to partner with a very diverse group of creators that help us authentically reach different audiences.
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Orange Cream became a permanent offering after strong consumer demand. What advice do you have for brands
looking to use social listening to identify and develop successful new flavors or products?
We put a huge emphasis on listening to our consumer base to
offer products that provide that level of nostalgia to traditional soda flavors. Social listening has been critical for us - we pay attention to every comment, every tag, every time someone says
"OLIPOP should make a blank flavor." Orange Cream wasn't just something we thought sounded cool; it was practically demanded by our community. When your customers are consistently asking for
something, that's your market research right there.
How does OLIPOP approach channel mix in
today’s fragmented media landscape? What’s performing best right now or is there an unexpected channel that is standing out?
Our strategy is
really characterized by authentic influencer partnerships, personalized marketing, and a consumer-forward approach. We've built this business on authentic connections rather than traditional
advertising, and that philosophy guides everything we do across channels. My belief is that you want to be in the content people are choosing to watch, rather than just interrupting the content they
choose to watch via an advertisement. A channel that’s performing well for us right now is our arena partnerships where we’ve been able to meet people where they’re already reaching
for a soda. The goal is always about finding the next group of awareness - figuring out who those people are, where they are, and how we authentically reach them.
OLIPOP has partnered with other major brands like NASCAR and Barbie. What are the key ingredients to make a great brand
partnership?
We're always looking for people who want to be aligned with brands that they truly care about and that they think are doing the right things
in the world. The best partnerships happen when you find passionate communities and figure out how to authentically insert yourself into that cultural moment. With both NASCAR and Barbie, we were
looking for genuine alignment and shared values.
I love cross-pollinating our partners because it adds this whole other layer from a social media and brand perspective.
It's not just about doing a product placement - when our NASCAR driver posts about it and our music partners post about it, it creates this interconnected web that feels more authentic and engaging.
The key is finding partners where the collaboration makes sense to both audiences, not just forcing a connection for the sake of it.
What’s your personal go-to OLIPOP flavor, and if you could dream up any new flavor, what would it be?
Crisp
Apple is my current favorite. It is so refreshing and reminds me of drinking the glass bottle Martinelli’s back in the day at my local bagel shop in New Jersey.
My
dream flavor would be Shirley Temple.
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