Glossy+ Research: Field marketing tactics are bringing much-needed exposure to young startup brands

For young CPG brands, year-round investment into standalone pop-up events is not yet feasible. Although the majority of CPG startups in Glossy’s sample invested in a pop-up event last year, the capital and resources required to continuously host these events throughout the year are just out of reach for the growing marketing budgets of these startups. Instead, these new brands are showing up at large events as sponsors or investing in exclusive parties for brand partners and influencers, rather than hosting multi-day pop-up activations for the public. 

In fact, over a 12-month period, these startups sponsored more large ticketed events like music festivals, expos and professional sporting events – and hosted more private invite-only brand parties – than they held standalone pop-ups for the public. 

For brands like electrolyte drink mix brand Liquid I.V. that have entered grocery, drugstore, convenience and club stores in the past few years, sponsoring events and meeting potential customers at these large venues is a key part of their long-term strategies to gain wider retailer distribution.

“Partnerships and events, influencer marketing, these were really critical cornerstones of the marketing DNA, even before retailer doors were available,” said Stacey Andrade-Wells, CMO at Liquid I.V. “That allowed us to generate awareness and consumer demand, such that when we showed up in [retailer] doors, we weren’t having issues with velocity or meeting retailer red lines. We had that brand love already built up ahead of time.” 

Here’s a look at how digital startups like electrolyte drink mix brand Liquid I.V., energy drink brand Lucky Energy and olive oil brand Graza are building up brand love with IRL event activations to better position themselves for retail expansion. 

Methodology

Glossy+ Research analyzed the event sponsorships, brand parties and ambassador programs that 21 CPG startup brands hosted during the time period July 1, 2023 — August 1, 2024. The brands were chosen by the editorial team based on past coverage and Glossy’s industry analysis of scaling startups.  

We also conducted a focus group with executives from Liquid I.V., Lucky Energy and Graza to learn first-hand about the activation strategies these startups are using to grow brand awareness and increase product distribution.

Large ticketed events like music festivals, expos and major sports competitions attract thousands of visitors to one central area or venue. Small startup brands with limited reach can present their products and interact with consumers at these locations in the hopes of gaining much-needed brand exposure. The heavy foot traffic at venues and word-of-mouth buzz created during these events are expensive for a small brand to otherwise replicate. Additionally, brands that sponsor events are able to set-up a booth or a pop-up within the event. Therefore, many startups take advantage of event sponsorships to place product samples and promotions in front of large audiences of potential consumers.   

However, brands must carefully select the events they choose to sponsor. In order to achieve a successful brand activation, the audience and the event must align with a brand’s ethos. Liquid I.V.’s Andrade-Wells said Liquid I.V. focuses on one key question: “Where is the intersection of that cultural phenomenon with a moment that makes sense for our brand and for our product?”

For Liquid I.V., the perfect intersection exists at music and arts festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, where the brand can showcase its electrolyte products in a setting where attendees might naturally be eager to consume liquid products. Aside from hosting traditional pop-up booths on the festivals’ grounds, Liquid I.V. setup branded “hydration stations” where attendees could refill reusable water bottles and on-stage promotions with performing artists. 

“It’s the perfect opportunity to reach people in a specific moment where they’re going to have a need for that product, and be able to offer them something that’s a science-backed solution,” Andrade-Wells said. “It’s going to deliver hydration that they can experience in real time.”

Liquid I.V. has also turned its attention to large sports events in the past 12 months, kicking off a two-year partnership with Formula One and Crypto.com in March. “Formula One is in the cultural zeitgeist. It’s the intersection of sports, hospitality and entertainment,” Andrade-Wells explained. “Combined with the fact that Formula One drivers are losing eight to 10 pounds of water weight every single race because of the heat inside the vehicle and outside, it is the perfect intersection to build some brand equity and reach fans with a perfect hydration solution.” 

As a digitally-native brand, it’s important for Liquid I.V. to find moments to connect real-life experiences with digital activations — whether that’s ensuring content created at an event is used for digital marketing or connecting the event back to the DTC business. Additionally, as Liquid I.V. has entered more retail shelves, these event experiences help the brand connect with its expanding in-person audience, while maintaining its digital roots.

“When you are a digitally savvy brand, use that in real-life moment as a way to bring your digital community along the journey and have that tie-back to your DTC business,” Andrade-Wells said. “We will never do an event or an activation if we cannot also have content creation on site. We need our influencer marketing team to be ready to bring influencers to the event and generate content there. Our social team is creating custom content on site. And sometimes we have paid assets that our creative team will generate for that event to help amplify it on social media.”

Liquid I.V. also gathers demographic information from potential new customers at the large events it sponsors. At the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, Liquid I.V. hosted a racing simulator for visitors. This simulator served two purposes: first, provide an unforgettable experience to the visitor; and second, collect emails and phone numbers of participants. 

“We were able to generate over 2,500 leads just by virtue of having that footprint, and that becomes part of our retention marketing and the revenue that we drive on our DTC business,” Andrade-Wells explained.

CPG startups show up at unexpected events 

Lucky Energy and Graza are taking creative steps to show up in unexpected moments at venues and events. Both brands face marketing challenges, but for different reasons. In Lucky Energy’s case, the energy drink market is overly saturated, so a primary challenge for the brand is to differentiate itself from the competition. Meanwhile, olive oil is used to prepare foods but is rarely served on its own, therefore Graza needs a food pairing or partner for its activations.

“When you’re a new energy drink brand in a category that’s so saturated, and it’s also very monolithic, the placement is one [factor]. But the way you get into the creative experience is the thing that takes it to another level,” said Hamid Saify, CMO of Lucky Energy. “If you were to put into Chat GPT — ‘give me a typical energy drink ad’ — we want to do the exact opposite of that.”

Although Lucky Energy was not an official sponsor of the 2024 Coachella music festival, the brand creatively integrated itself into the event during the festival’s two weekends. The company bought two massive billboards on the roads leading to the Coachella Valley with the tagline, “Call for a quick fuck,” and a phone number to call. Playing on the cheeky innuendo, when someone called the number they were answered by a phone operator who said, “Let’s link up at Coachella.” Lucky Energy brand ambassadors were then stationed throughout the Coachella Valley to hand packages of free product to those attendees who called or texted the number. 

For olive oil startup Graza, the brand’s product is not easy to present for sampling by itself and must be partnered with another food vendor or brand partner. Therefore, the type of event and usage occasion limits the IRL activations the brand can participate in. In a recent activation, Graza partnered with ice cream brand Talenti to present at the U.S. Open from an ice cream truck. This marked the first time the brand tested its own experiential concept at a major sporting event in partnership with another brand. According to Kali Shulklapper, director of marketing at Graza, the focus for now is “integrating our product into what other food vendors are doing at these festivals and events.” 

“What we have done, and will continue to do, is provide olive oil to various vendors at food festivals, and big food-focused events, sometimes at concerts,” Shulklapper said. “We’ve worked with ice cream vendors at Outside Lands and Coachella to make custom menu items like a scoop of vanilla ice cream paired with a drizzle of Graza olive oil.” 

“We’re a small, scrappy team. We haven’t invested in the resources yet to have a true field marketing or experiential team,” Shulklapper added. “We’re just really focused on an IRL extension that’s tied to an upcoming product launch or big brand moment. We’re going to pursue that, and if it works out great, we’re going to do that.”

Startup brands party with VIPs at exclusive hangouts 

To encourage influencers and VIP brand ambassadors to partner with their brands, CPG startups have also been hosting exclusive, invitation-only parties during which guests can learn more about a brand’s image and products. For many years, the beauty community has used similar parties to celebrate the launch of new products, such as eyeshadow palettes or skincare lines, and food and beverage startups are now taking a similar approach when launching new product flavors or packaging. 

“A lot of the experiential activations that we’ve done to date have been somewhat limited and focused around product launches or tentpole brand moments,” Shulklapper said. “It’s something that we’ve started to dip our toes into and are figuring out what our future investment is going to look like.”

Although these extravagant parties require substantial financial investments from brands, a brand party held for one day or evening is less burdensome than a pop-up that may be held for multiple days or weeks. In Glossy’s analysis of CPG startups, 14 out of the 21 CPG startups analyzed hosted an exclusive brand party or invitation-only event for influencers and special guests. However, most of the brand parties were held in conjunction with a new product launch or brand collaboration rather than as standalone events. 

Austrian beverage brand Waterdrop hosted two exclusive parties in collaboration with health and wellness companies Wellness Wonderland and HiVibe Wellness in Miami this year. The first party, hosted in conjunction with Wellness Wonderland during Miami Art Week, invited influencers, wellness gurus, professional athletes and celebrities to a $30 million mansion for a one-day retreat that featured workouts, musical performances, ice baths and partying. The second event, hosted in conjunction with HiVibe Wellness, was a luxe pool party held during Miami Swim Week, an annual swimwear and resort wear fashion event where celebrities, influencers and other VIPs were already in attendance.  

Miami Art Week and Swim Week attract a flurry of designers, celebrities and influencers from around the world. For Austrian-based Waterdrop, it made sense to collaborate with U.S. wellness companies like Wellness Wonderland and HiVibe to help the brand build its American market base.

Key findings about the future of field marketing for Lucky Energy, Graza and Liquid I.V. 

• Lucky Energy isn’t hitting the brakes on in-person brand activations any time soon. In fact, the brand’s new field marketing team will be placing an even greater emphasis on IRL events next year.
  • “We’re definitely increasing our investment because we’re new, so we’re starting from a place of zero. Next year, we’re planning out an entire calendar’s worth of events that we’re going to be at. One of the first hires that I made is a director of field marketing who came over from [protein bar brand] RXBAR. So, we’re definitely dialing up the event calendar for next year.” — Hamid Saify, CMO of Lucky Energy
• Graza is still looking for the best fit for its event activations.
  • “For us it’s a test-and-go strategy. I think we’ll keep investing in different one off ways, see what works for us and what doesn’t, and take it activation by activation,” — Kali Shulklapper, director of marketing at Graza 
• Liquid I.V. hosted successful festival and IRL event experiences in 2023, which it carried over into 2024. The brand plans to double down on that approach in 2025.
  • “We launched our field marketing team this year, our two-year partnership with F1 Miami, and our college ambassador program. For us, 2024 has been a signature moment for us to drive a stake in the ground and say, yes, we’ve learned a lot in the last couple of years. This is worth continuing to invest in. Let’s double down in 2024 and find how to run some of the infrastructure of these core programs. I fully expect in 2025 we’re going to continue to scale these things out so it will absolutely keep being a critical part of our total marketing mix at the brand.” — Stacey Andrade-Wells, CMO of Liquid I.V.