How Poppi created a 'black ops' budget to build the brand

@behindthebusinessshow

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The video provides high-value, actionable insights from a successful founder, framing a marketing strategy as a 'hack' which appeals to other entrepreneurs.

Summary

Poppi co-founder Allison Ellsworth explains how the brand used a 'black ops' budget to strategically sponsor creators at major cultural events like Coachella. She emphasizes that this approach was focused on long-term brand awareness rather than immediate conversion.

Structure

1Introduction to the 'black ops' budget concept
2Explaining the strategy of paying creators at cultural events
3Defining the black ops budget as an opportunistic fund
4Sharing an anecdote about long-term brand building with Chappell Roan
5Concluding with the importance of brand awareness as a primary KPI

Product placement

Poppi is the subject of the case study, with the co-founder discussing their marketing strategy.

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Original caption

"Brand awareness was our number one KPI for the first three, four years of business." Poppi co-founder Allison Ellsworth breaks down how the company created a "black ops" budget to build the brand while staying agile. 🎧 Full Behind the Business conversation on YouTube, Apple or Spotify - links in bio #branding #marketing #entrepreneurship #startup #founder #creatoreconomy

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On-screen text

BEHIND THE BUSINESS HOW POPPI CREATED A 'BLACK OPS' BUDGET TO BUILD THE BRAND THERE'S JUST CULTURAL TENT POLES IN SOCIETY RIGHT NOW IT'S FESTIVAL SEASON SO YOU GOT YOUR COACHELLAS YOU GOT YOUR STAGECOACHES ACTIVATE THERE HOWEVER YOU CAN Allison Ellsworth Poppi co-founder OUR FIRST YEAR WE DID WE COULDN'T AFFORD TO DO A COACHELLA HOUSE SO YOU KNOW WHAT WE DID IS WE PAID ALL OF THE CREATORS THAT WERE ALREADY GOING TO DO GET READY WITH ME WE WERE EVERYWHERE IN EVERY HOUSE WE ACTUALLY JUST WERE PAYING THE CREATORS SO THERE'S WAYS YOU CAN HACK THESE CULTURAL MOMENTS WHERE IT'S LIKE DIFFERENT STAGES OF BUDGET WITHIN YOUR COMPANY AND SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT A BLACK OPS BUDGET IT'S A BUDGET PUT ASIDE TO ALLOW US TO JUMP ON CULTURAL TRENDS AND BE OPPORTUNISTIC BECAUSE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES CAME OUR WAY AND SOMETIMES WE DIDN'T SEE THE TOTAL RETURN RIGHT AWAY IF CHAPPELL ROAN CALLS US AND SAYS HEY WE NEED POPPI AT OUR BIRTHDAY WE MAKE THAT HAPPEN KNOWING WE MIGHT NOT SEE A SINGLE POST FROM THAT UNTIL TWO YEARS LATER SHE CALLS AND SAYS I WANT YOU GUYS IN OUR MUSIC VIDEO THAT IS LONG-TERM BRAND-BUILDING BRAND AWARENESS WAS OUR NUMBER ONE KPI FOR THE FIRST THREE FOUR YEARS OF BUSINESS 100% FOLLOW BEHIND THE BUSINESS with Michelle Toh WATCH/LISTEN ON

Transcript

How Poppi created a 'black ops' budget to build the brand. There's just cultural tent poles in society right now. It's festival season, so you got your Coachellas, you got your Stagecoaches. Activate there however you can. Our first year we did, we couldn't afford to do a Coachella house. So you know what we did is we paid all of the creators that were already going to do get ready with me. We were everywhere in every house. We actually just were paying the creators. So there's ways you can hack these cultural moments where it's like different stages of budget within your company. And so when we talk about a black ops budget, it's a budget put aside to allow us to jump on cultural trends and be opportunistic because a lot of opportunities came our way and sometimes we didn't see the total return right away. If Chappell Roan calls us and says, 'Hey, we need Poppi at our birthday,' we make that happen knowing we might not see a single post from that until two years later she calls and says, 'I want you guys in our music video.' That is long-term brand-building. Brand awareness was our number one KPI for the first three, four years of business. 100%.