How an energy drink upstart is rewriting the rules of mass attention

Read the full What the Future: Attention issue

At the confluence of many trends across everything from gaming to wellness sits a market that is both mature and also flourishing with start ups: energy drinks. One of the former upstarts, Celsius, is now a category leader. Fueled by investment from PepsiCo it has grown organically, through expansion into overseas markets as well as through acquisitions of Alani and Rockstar. Like many brands, Celsius has used a wide range of attention-grabbing means, ranging from niche guerilla marketing to Super Bowl ads. How does a brand get, and just as importantly, keep an audience’s attention these days? Kyle Watson, Celsius’ chief brand officer, says the job is a lot of things, but it’s definitely not easy. Here’s how this fast-growing brand tackles the attention problem.

Matt Carmichael: There aren’t many mass audiences anymore. Does that affect our cultural unity and identity?

Kyle Watson: Yes. Social media has become so key, and that's really amplified for brands to speak to audiences in the right way, have that relevance and speak to them in a way that feels authentic. People are out there trying to find their tribe that have shared interests. Of course, those big cultural moments like the Super Bowl are still important, but it's really more how you approach it from a content, community and subculture perspective.

Carmichael: How do you get the attention of relevant subcultures and invite them into your brand?

Watson: It takes a lot of work. Social media is this fast-moving feedback loop where the algorithm becomes part of the conversation. What I see as important is brands creating their own ecosystems and connecting the dots between these communities but also establishing people in those communities that are going to be the brand's voice because they're so authentically connected to those humans. We did that with our brand ambassador program. Obviously, that takes a lot of social listening. It's understanding where these audiences are living, working and playing. As a brand, you have to have a team that has a pulse on cultural conversations as they're happening.

Carmichael: Do you ever just wish you could go back to, "Oh, we just ran a commercial on all three networks and we captured 80% of our audience"?

Watson: In a way, yes, because there's some top funnel where you just want to be able to get this message out there efficiently, and you want to have the consumers in that audience segment understand that top-down message. But the value is not the same as it used to be because of the way that message is hitting consumers. Consumers are looking for something different. They're looking for something that feels a little bit more relatable. That's where there is this shift in content being less buttoned-up and less production-heavy.

Carmichael: Your growth really started from a niche differentiation.

Watson: As a challenger brand in the energy category, we were positioned more as a fitness beverage. What was interesting is, at the time, that was really niche. It was an amazing time for us to be so differentiated because there were these trends around better-for-you brands and health and wellness. Being this fitness brand gave us that edge. Fitness wasn't just going to the gym; fitness was becoming a lifestyle. But it doesn't mean you're being inauthentic if you start reaching a larger, more mainstream audience.

Consumers are looking for something different. They're looking for something that feels a little bit more relatable. That's where there is this shift in content being less buttoned-up and less production-heavy.”

Carmichael: To continue growing, does that involve getting the attention of new audiences or expansions of those initiatives as they become more mainstream?

Watson: 100%. That is where a lot of our insights come in, understanding white space and opportunities for growth. We do need to continue to bring new consumers into our brand outside of just Gen Z. Gen Z is, at this point in their life, where they're entering into the category after they turn 18. They're going to college, studying, they have sports, intramurals, Greek life. But we also want to make sure we're hitting other people. There's a shift happening in the category, meaning as people enter into different stages of life, they're looking for something that aligns differently with their lifestyle.

Carmichael: With the tension between lots of tools for getting attention but also lots of channels competing for attention, is your job getting easier or harder?

Watson: It's definitely getting harder for brands to grab that attention because it's not just plug-and-play, it's not just a big media buy. It requires a lot more work and a lot more insights. Marketing is a complete mix of art and science, and to be successful, you need to have a nice balance of that mix. But the insights piece is critical — understanding those white space opportunities, evolution in consumer trends and preferences and shifts in how people's daily lives unfold. Brands need to show up not just where they live, not just where they work, not just where they play — all of it. We need to meet them in those occasions, and we have to understand how to speak to them in those occasions.

For further reading:

• What the Future: Fandom
• Ipsos Top Topics: Retail, food and beverage
• What the Future: Influence