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Hello and welcome. You're listening to
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Marketing Matters on the Wharton podcast
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network, our weekly podcast where we
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analyze the latest in advertising,
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marketing, customer behavior, new
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product launches, retailing, branding,
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everything marketing. I'm Barbara Khan,
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the Patty and JH Baker Professor of
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Marketing, and I'm joined by my co-host,
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America Reed, the Whitney M. Young Jr.
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Professor of Marketing and the brand
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identity theorist. And today we are so
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happy to have as our guest Stacy Andred
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Wells who's the chief marketing officer
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of Liquid IV. In case you've never heard
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of Liquid IV, Liquid IV is a wellness
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brand that's focused on hydration,
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functional beverages, and also does
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culturally relevant purpose-driven
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marketing. And Stacy leads the brand
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strategy, consumer marketing, and
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innovation for Liquid IV, which is one
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of the fastest growing wellness brands
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in the country. By the way, the probably
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the most important part of Stacy's
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background is that she's a Wharton. Um,
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we're so happy to have her. Hello,
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Stacy. Hello, Americus.
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>> Hi, Stacy. Hey, Barbara.
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>> Hello. Thank you so much for having me.
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I'm excited to be here today.
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>> Excellent. That's awesome. And by the
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way, before we just jump into this, I
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have a video of No, sorry. Burma is
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like, why are you pivoting? I'm sorry. I
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just have to say this. I have a video of
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Stacy in my undergraduate class
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presenting to Microsoft colleagues on a
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group project that they did during that
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term, many, many years ago. So, I'm
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excited to talk to Stacy. This is
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awesome. But go ahead, Barbara. Yes,
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let's let's get let's get into it.
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That's kind of where I wanted to start
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before we get into Liquid IV and your
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exciting Super Bowl commercial and all
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this other stuff. Stacy, you were at
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Wharton. Um, and then where'd you go
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after Wharton? Did you go to PNG after
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Wharton?
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>> I did. I started my career at Proctor
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and Gamble. Um, I did a a summer
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internship there while I was still in
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undergrad. And actually, I remember
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going to you Americus about this
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opportunity and saying like, "Hey, what
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do you think about this? Like, what
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should I do? Yes.
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>> And um you know,
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>> and what was my sage advice? [laughter]
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>> I think he said something along the
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lines of like, hey, there's no better
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school in brand management than Proctor
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and Gamble and this is a great
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opportunity for you to start your career
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here. Like 100% go for it. Um I had
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never been to Cincinnati before. I grew
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up on the East Coast and so that was,
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you know, he said just do it. Like
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>> do what you need to do and it was
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absolutely the right advice. It could
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not have been a better move for me to
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start my career there. Um, it was
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wonderful training ground in brand
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management. Um, especially on top of
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your phenomenal class, of course.
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[laughter]
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>> Well, thank you, Stacy.
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>> But yes, now I've moved over to the
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Unilver family. So, I've been here for
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the last four years and that also has
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been an incredible journey um to be part
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of that broader company, but also kind
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of be in the world of liquid IV uh
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within the well-being collective
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umbrella. So yeah, together they've been
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an amazing experience.
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>> So let's go back to PNG just for a
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second though. So um your your
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background really is in brand then like
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at PNG you I have here that you worked
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at the game brand. Did you like work
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most of your career that you were at PNG
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on one brand?
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>> No. So I actually started my career
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there in Surface Care and I worked on uh
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Mr. Clean was the first brand I ever
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worked on. Then I moved over to Swiffer
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for a while. I worked across innovation
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and commercial uh growth and brand
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building on those two brands. Um I moved
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over to fabricare and I worked there for
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a while. Um it actually started there in
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a bit of a more of like a marketing
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sales role where I was working the club
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channel all the innovation for the club
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channel and promotional strategy for all
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of fabricare. And then the last three
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years of my time at Proctor and Gamble
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was on the gain business. So I laid led
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the Gain laundry and fabric enhancer
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business for them. Um and then that was
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when I made the move out to Liquid IV
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and out to California. So big change
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both professionally and personally after
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quite a long stretch with BNG.
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>> Yeah. So that's kind of interesting. And
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you said Liquid IV is owned by Unilver.
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Is that what you said?
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>> Yep. Acquired in 2020. I mean, I don't
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want you to, you know, say anything un
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not kosher, but like here you are
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working at two of the biggest brand
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companies, PNG versus Unilver. Um, and
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in both cases working on specific
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brands. Do you have like some big
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picture like takeaways from those two
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experiences?
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>> Yeah, I mean, I would say I think
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there's a reason why both are
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powerhouses in the world of CPG. I think
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they both have their absolute strengths.
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Um, what I took away most from my time
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at PNG was a bit more on like the brand
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management side, which was the roles
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that I occupied there. Kind of learning
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a bit about fluency with the P&L, how to
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drive commercial growth. A lot of those
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businesses have been around for decades.
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They're legacy brands and you're
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learning how to grow a business in
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mature categories. So, that takes a lot
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of creativity when it comes to the
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commercial drivers that you can
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manipulate to grow the business. And
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that was a foundational experience on
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that front. I would say when I came over
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to Unilver as part of Liquid IV, Unilver
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was in a very different uh sorry liquid
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IV was in a very different life stage
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brands I had previously worked on. It
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was very high growth, much smaller at
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the time in terms of total revenue. Um
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and the marketing model was quite
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different. So it had taken a page out of
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the beauty playbook was very heavily
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invested in influencer marketing event
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activations and so that also
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>> interesting
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open up my mind to the world of like
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true integrated marketing. What does it
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look to lead a business that is very
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large in DTOC and e-commerce as a
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percentage of the total business which
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is not true for the majority of PNG
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brands. They're very retailheavy. So
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very different skill set
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>> digital first. Yeah. So it in many ways
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they're very complimementaryary. Um I
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think both bring amazing capabilities
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and competencies to the table and it's
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been a real privilege to be able to kind
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of you know absorb insights and
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knowledge from both of those incredible
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organizations.
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>> So like I love that idea. So PNG is
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definitely retail. You talk about
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grocery, you think about the detergent
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aisle or the cleaning aisle or things
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like that. Whereas, I'll just tell you
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idiosyncratically, my experience with
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Liquid IV is I get it the the first time
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I ever heard of it is I got it in a
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little package that they gave away at
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weddings um for hangover stuff. Um,
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which sounds much more influencer Tik
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Tocky than like your traditional. So, I
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mean that's just anecdotally, but my
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experience with the two different types
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of brands that you're talking about are
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radically different marketing
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strategies. So, Barbara, are you saying
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sorry to interrupt say Barbara, are you
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saying you were hung over at a wedding?
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>> No, not I. I just Hey, we're allegedly
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[laughter]
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that was that was
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>> understood. Understood.
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>> With aspirin. You got aspirin and liquid
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IV.
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>> That's interesting. Interesting. So,
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right right to your point, Barbara, that
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the trial piece, it's something there
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like experiential right there, which is
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a completely different model to your
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point, Barbara, than to kind of the
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retail model.
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>> Yeah. And I I'm thinking that that's the
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way I experienced it, but I'm guessing
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that that's it's not an accident. It's
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part of what you're saying.
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>> Absolutely. Very intentional. We
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actually call that our sticks in hand
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program. [laughter]
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And uh we just want to get as many
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sticks in hand as possible because the
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product it really does work. So if you
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try it, you will buy it. And um on an
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annual basis now the on the brand team
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alone, we can distribute upwards of 6
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million sticks just in a given year. If
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you take into account all the sampling
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that we do from a retail standpoint and
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even the product giveaways that we do um
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you know with at like firefighter houses
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and things like that, we are
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distributing over 20 million sticks in a
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given year.
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>> So it is our goal to get this product in
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the hands of people because we know that
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that that really does work. Um in a
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category that's so has such low
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household penetration driving trial is
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critically important. um trial in
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detergents when 99% of households are
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using some detergent or another.
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>> Yeah, very different.
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>> It's a switching game.
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>> Yeah,
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>> that's super interesting. Stacy, I I
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want to because this is really
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interesting to me to Barbara's point
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about your background coming from the
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world of brand management and stewarding
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a brand. Can you pause briefly and tell
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our listeners who may not know, tell us
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about the the Liquid IV brand? What two
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things? Number one, what does it stand
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for? How do you how do you conceptualize
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its ethos? What makes it different? I'm
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sure there are other things that are out
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there claiming to hydrate and we can we
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we know what those competitors are and
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we won't say their names. [laughter] Uh
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but uh or maybe Barbara will later, but
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no, no, but seriously, you know, so just
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talk us through like I mean because to
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Barbara's point, it's like it's powder
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in a packet sticks. We got to get 20
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million sticks out there. How do you
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make what you're doing different? How do
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you build a what is the brand and how do
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you how do you put it out there?
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>> Absolutely. So I mean if you think back
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to the hydration category about a decade
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ago, it was really focused from a
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positioning standpoint on high octane
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sports and highly competitive
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environments. Hydration was what you saw
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professional athletes focusing on. It
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was really for competitive sports. And
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the offerings that were out there in the
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marketplace were basically, you know,
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beverages that had artificial coloring,
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artificial sweeteners, very high amounts
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of sugar, all in plastic bottles kind of
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lining the shelves. And that was the
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nature of the hydration category. I
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think what Liquid IV was able to do was
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really introduce hydration in a way that
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felt relevant to a much broader cohort
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of people and really expand the role of
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hydration as something that is
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foundational for everyday wellness. It
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is the bedrock of your wellness routine.
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And we highlighted for people that
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you're dehydrated because you've been on
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Zoom meetings since 9:00 a.m. and it's
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now 2 p.m. and you haven't had a glass
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of water. you're dehydrated because
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you're walking outside in in the heat in
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the peak of summer and and that's a
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dehydration moment. You know, you don't
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have to be competing in these highly
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competitive sports in order to
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experience dehydration. It's something
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that is universally relevant.
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>> So, that was the positioning shift that
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really happened within the category.
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>> When was that? What year was that you
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were talking about?
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>> So, Liquid IV was founded in 2012. So,
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we've been growing this business for
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over the last decade and really carving
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out this position of leadership within
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hydration. I think that proposition then
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has to be met with a product that really
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delivers. So, you know, I always say
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this, but to me, you know, incredible
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marketing without an incredible product
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is a one-way ticket to a fad. You know,
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you need to have the product that is
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really going to deliver an incredible
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consumer experience and is going to
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justify the repeat that the brand needs
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in order to sustain over time. Liquid IV
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was able to offer three times the
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electrolytes of a traditional sports
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drink with a third of the sugar. And
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then over the last couple of years, we
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launched our sugar-free version, which
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makes it actually the only sugar-free
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functional beverage in the marketplace
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that has clinical studies that
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demonstrate it hydrates faster than
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water alone. There's a lot of sugar-free
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beverages out there that are making
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similar claims, but where are the
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clinical studies that back it up? They
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don't exist. So this liquid IV has
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really anchored its point of
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differentiation on scientific
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superiority and our ability to really
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show our homework when it comes to the
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claims that we are making in the
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marketplace.
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>> So that's a pretty good answer to your
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question Americas. I think I think she's
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laying out you know a couple things that
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I just want to summarize because I think
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it's interesting. when you're telling us
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that you kind of developed a category
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like in the beginning it's like you you
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built a new category then you
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differentiate your brand by the
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scientific claims is part of what you're
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saying there but the other thing that I
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wanted to point out is that it was
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really good timing too because as all of
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this stuff was happening we've seen in
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the la that's why I asked you on timing
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I think in the last like five years or
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so a really big growing area is this
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wellness area this health area so you
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had a Great. You introduced a really
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interesting category. You know, you
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introduced an interesting brand, but the
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timing was good too is what I'm guessing
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because a lot of people are focusing on
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health and wellness and that's where the
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growth is. So, some of it some of the
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good fortune of Liquid IV was being in
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the right place at the right time. I
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mean, do you agree with that? Yeah, I do
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think um a lot of it is kind of the the
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macro dynamics that are happening and
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the the trends that you're seeing. So
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certainly the brand benefited from the
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growing focus on wellness. Um, I do
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think the growth of Liquid IV was also
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able to kind of fuel the broader
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conversation on hydration and showing up
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in a way where we don't just talk about
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the product, but we talk about the
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broader focus on dehydration grows the
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total category. Um, so that really has
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been our focus is how do we keep
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hydration as a need very top of mind
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when there's all these other different
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wellness trends or focus areas that are
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popping up for consumers, right? Um, and
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I think like part of how you kind of
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futureproof yourself and make yourself
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relevant is understanding where is this
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category going, what is important to
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consumers when it comes to their
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wellness routines and habits and how do
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we make sure that we're designing
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products that continue to meet those
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evolving needs, which is your point
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about fad versus trend versus like so
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you don't want to just be a fad. It's
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fine that the timing is good, but it's
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got to be something that endures.
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>> Exactly. So, I mean, one of the other
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things I know the part of the newsiness
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of the of having you on our show is that
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you're going to introduce your first
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Super Bowl ad. Now, what's interesting
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about that though is you were talking
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about more of a like word of mouth,
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sticks in hands. That's a very different
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strategy. Super Bowl goes back to what
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we were talking about at the beginning,
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you know, building brand the PNG way,
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you know. I mean, although they did it
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on soap opers, not Super Bowl
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necessarily, but but still network TV
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building brand, which is very different
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than what you were saying, you know, in
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the more sticks in hand, get the get the
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word out there, word of mouth and things
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like that. So, why the pivot to a Super
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Bowl ad?
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>> I think the key is really in how you
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show up at the Super Bowl.
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>> Um, you know, if we were going to show
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up with a 30-cond spot and call it a
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day, like, yeah, that that's a bit
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tired. It's a bit uh been there, done
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that. We like to say here that we zig
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where others zagged. So, we're trying to
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find unique ways that we can show up.
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And because we are located in Los
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Angeles, this is where we were born and
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raised. We looked in our backyard. We
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said, "How would Hollywood launch a
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blockbuster film?" And we're going to
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take a page out of that playbook and
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we're going to approach it that way. And
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so actually um even the days leading up
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to Super Bowl are huge building moments
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for us because we've partnered with EJ
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who is a Golden Globe winning Oscar
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nominated artist, singer, songwriter. Um
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she is in the absolute apex of the
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cultural zeitgeist right now. She has
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re-recorded um Phil Collins Against All
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Odds uh Take a Look at Me Now. Um it's
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an iconic song. her version helps us
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transcend generations and kind of reach
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a very broad audience but do it in a way
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that's very linked with culture and is
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very of the moment. So um that actually
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released I think it was last week uh to
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incredibly positive reception and
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engagement on our digital channels. So,
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kind of Barbara bringing back to your
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question of like, yeah, that's, you
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know, that's linear television. We're
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actually starting our journey in the
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worlds of Meta, Instagram, Tik Tok, like
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how do we drive engagement for what the
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brand is doing. Um, we're going to
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continue to drop teasers and trailers
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leading up to the big day. And whereas
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most brands will release their Super
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Bowl spot in the weeks leading up to
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Super Bowl, we will not be doing that.
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Uh, nobody will see it until Super Bowl
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Sunday. And that's very intentional
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because that's the joy of Super Bowl is
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seeing the ads for the first time and
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talking about them at the viewing party
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with your friends. Um, and you know, we
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talked a lot about the experiential
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marketing piece. We absolutely plan to
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have our field marketing fleets on the
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ground in San Francisco in the two
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cities that will be competing in the
00:17:01
Super Bowl. So, experiential marketing
00:17:04
is a very, very big part of our total
00:17:06
campaign. you'll see influencer content,
00:17:09
social content. There will be sticks
00:17:11
being distributed. Um, so it really is a
00:17:13
a comprehensive 360 approach to how we
00:17:16
show up at Super Bowl. And there will
00:17:18
also be a lot of activity happening the
00:17:20
Monday after and even through the end of
00:17:22
March to kind of continue that narrative
00:17:24
through the entire quarter.
00:17:26
>> Wow, that's cool. Uh, this is amazing.
00:17:28
First of all, kudos for figuring out how
00:17:31
to do something with Phil Collins. I was
00:17:33
in the gym this morning [laughter] and I
00:17:35
was listening to Bill Collins while I
00:17:37
worked out, Barbara. So, this is
00:17:38
fantastic.
00:17:39
>> I mean, the the the man's voice is
00:17:41
iconic. And to do a remix of a of a, you
00:17:43
know, sort of culturally relevant
00:17:45
current modern artist doing sort of a
00:17:48
classic, nostalgic, iconic artist is
00:17:50
just genius. So, kudos for that. Um, but
00:17:53
I wanted to I wanted to step back
00:17:54
because Barbara said something that was
00:17:56
really interesting that I want to unpack
00:17:57
just a little bit and it builds on your
00:18:00
discussion uh Stacy where you said you
00:18:02
know we're kind of defining the market
00:18:03
as humans because everyone needs to be
00:18:06
hydrated and this sort of more mass
00:18:08
approach. So, as the liquid IV community
00:18:13
has evolved since 2012 and it's sort of
00:18:16
like a every it's relevant to everyone
00:18:18
like Barbara was saying, have you found
00:18:20
that there are certain like when you
00:18:22
look at your customer, your typical
00:18:23
customer, are there certain personas
00:18:25
that have emerged kind of organically
00:18:28
that you know have kind of become a
00:18:31
non-mass kind of more of a niche
00:18:33
customer? Are there pockets of clusters
00:18:35
or or is it just everyone? I mean, so
00:18:38
I'm kind of interested in like how how
00:18:40
this has evolved over the the last
00:18:42
decade.
00:18:42
>> Yeah, it's a great question. So,
00:18:44
[clears throat] while it is something
00:18:46
that is universally relevant, so we're
00:18:48
not, you know, we're not like a men's
00:18:51
personal care brand that's only relevant
00:18:53
to a smaller audience. This is something
00:18:54
that's applicable to everyone. But at
00:18:56
the same time there is what we call a
00:18:59
design consumer that is kind of a a more
00:19:03
crystallized picture of the people who
00:19:06
use liquid IV the most. So we've looked
00:19:08
in our own consumer base and we've said
00:19:11
something like the top 10 to 15% of
00:19:13
people who use liquid IV. What are some
00:19:16
of the things that we can learn about
00:19:18
them to help identify people like them
00:19:21
in the marketplace? And some of the
00:19:23
things that we learn is like if you were
00:19:25
to rank your your points of view on
00:19:28
health and wellness or fitness on a
00:19:30
scale of one to five. One being this is
00:19:34
really not important to me. Five being
00:19:36
this is extremely important to me. I do
00:19:38
iron mans things like that. Our top
00:19:41
consumers in liquid IV tend to be in the
00:19:44
like four out of five range of that
00:19:47
scale. So they are above average focused
00:19:50
on their wellness routines, their health
00:19:53
and fitness routines. They are actively
00:19:55
looking for products that have
00:19:58
sciencebacked functional benefits. They
00:20:00
want to read the ingredient label. They
00:20:02
want to understand what those
00:20:04
ingredients are doing and even
00:20:06
increasingly are interested in
00:20:08
sustainability and social impact that
00:20:11
the brands are doing and supporting
00:20:13
businesses that they feel good about
00:20:15
spending their dollar with. So some of
00:20:18
those more like psychographic and
00:20:20
behavioral, you know, insights are
00:20:22
really what helps us craft our
00:20:24
messaging. It helps inform what are the
00:20:27
hero usage occasions that we really want
00:20:29
to show in our advertising. Um, and it
00:20:32
really guides a lot of the creative work
00:20:34
that we do from a marketing standpoint.
00:20:37
It also really helps inform our product
00:20:38
development pipeline.
00:20:40
>> That's pretty interesting. Let me just
00:20:41
back up on one thing you said. you said
00:20:43
something about the social impact issues
00:20:44
and things like that that you might so
00:20:46
what are the types of issues you might
00:20:48
make a statement about.
00:20:50
>> Yeah. So I think it is really important
00:20:52
today to win both the minds and the
00:20:54
hearts of consumers. That's where brands
00:20:57
really are able to kind of um build that
00:21:00
loyalty and build that equity that that
00:21:02
creates community around the brand. So
00:21:05
for us um that looks like our impact
00:21:07
program. Over 1% of our company revenue
00:21:10
goes to our impact program. Um, and that
00:21:13
program works with nonprofit
00:21:15
organizations that are domestic and
00:21:17
international that are working on
00:21:20
creating access to clean water in
00:21:22
communities that don't
00:21:23
>> perfect. [laughter]
00:21:26
>> Actually, two million people in the US
00:21:28
alone don't have access to clean water.
00:21:31
So, it is a huge need. Everybody needs
00:21:34
water to feel vitality. Our products
00:21:36
need water to to exist.
00:21:38
>> So, perfect.
00:21:39
>> It's a social impact. I mean, it's an
00:21:41
important important area.
00:21:43
>> Yeah. It's a social impact mic drop.
00:21:45
>> Yeah. [laughter]
00:21:46
>> Exactly. It's to your brand. It speaks
00:21:50
to your brand identity, your community,
00:21:52
your health and wellness. It's genuine.
00:21:54
It's authentic and it's important. Like,
00:21:57
wow. Perfect.
00:21:58
>> Yeah. And, you know, a lot of brands
00:22:00
will do this on the side. We have an
00:22:02
entire impact department that sits
00:22:04
within marketing. um a well staffed team
00:22:07
that manages these relationships with
00:22:09
nonprofits. Every year we do an annual
00:22:11
conference where we bring them together.
00:22:13
It's the really one of the only forums
00:22:15
where these nonprofit organizations have
00:22:17
an audience with each other to try to
00:22:19
solve these [clears throat] challenges
00:22:21
together. Um so it's a very very
00:22:23
important part of what we do and we have
00:22:25
also found that ourers they do respond
00:22:28
well to it and and they they love the
00:22:30
work that we do.
00:22:31
>> That's so perfect because it's also not
00:22:32
a controversial polarizing kind of club.
00:22:35
And it it's just, you know, if you said,
00:22:37
"What kind of thing do you want to do
00:22:39
that's going to make sense?" This has
00:22:40
got to hit every one of the markets
00:22:42
>> 100%. Yeah. And it's to Barbara's point,
00:22:44
Stacy, it's so fantastic because a big
00:22:46
part of the of the brand exercise and
00:22:49
the mission, the vision, etc. Uh to what
00:22:52
Barbara is saying is that, you know,
00:22:54
you're trying to create the thought
00:22:55
leadership that in the space that then
00:22:58
will create the permission structure to
00:23:00
do a million other things.
00:23:03
Now, not just, you know, the brand. I
00:23:04
mean, you're building the brand. It's
00:23:05
very powerful,
00:23:06
>> right? To the brand and the identity of
00:23:08
the brand. That's just wonderful. So, we
00:23:10
have to wait to see exactly what like I
00:23:12
like that idea of I mean, what people
00:23:14
talk about with a Super Bowl ad is you
00:23:16
get all the hype leading up and then all
00:23:18
the hype leading down. And typically
00:23:19
what they do is, as you say, show the ad
00:23:22
and then people discuss the ad, then
00:23:24
they see the ad, then they discuss it
00:23:26
again. But you get to have all the
00:23:28
conversation and still save some
00:23:30
surprise for the big event, which is
00:23:32
kind of a good way to do it.
00:23:37
>> It's the most fun part going to see all
00:23:40
the ads the day of. If we if we let the
00:23:42
cat out of the bag early, then you know,
00:23:44
we give away some of the humor and some
00:23:46
of the experience that consumers are
00:23:48
looking for on Super Bowl Sunday.
00:23:50
>> So, are you going to go to the Super
00:23:51
Bowl? Are you like as a sponsored? will
00:23:54
be I will be in the area. Um but our
00:23:58
[laughter] team we take our community
00:24:01
management very seriously. So we are
00:24:04
prepared to be interacting with other
00:24:06
brands, responding to consumer comments
00:24:08
on our social platforms. Uh and so I
00:24:11
will be in the war room with the team uh
00:24:14
responding in real time and kind of
00:24:15
making sure that everything goes
00:24:17
smoothly. So I won't be at the actual
00:24:18
game but I will be in the area. Oh, so
00:24:21
you're gonna be monitoring like all the
00:24:23
social media activity that happens after
00:24:25
the ad launches. Is that kind of what
00:24:27
you're talking about? That's pretty
00:24:28
interesting.
00:24:29
>> That's very cool. That's very cool.
00:24:31
>> So, you got do you have comedians in
00:24:33
there or something? I mean, like like
00:24:35
how do you respond like in a way that's
00:24:37
clever, you know? I mean, I think that's
00:24:39
really important to get that you can get
00:24:41
a lot of to do that right. That's got to
00:24:44
be an important piece of the whole
00:24:45
campaign.
00:24:46
>> Oh, there's an entire playbook on
00:24:48
community response. um we have
00:24:51
intentionally picked um you know a
00:24:54
disruptive idea so we know we expect
00:24:57
that people will have feelings about it
00:24:59
we'll have comments about it and
00:25:01
>> nice good
00:25:02
>> we are ready with our witty responses
00:25:04
we're we don't hire comedians although
00:25:06
they are quite funny um our copyriters
00:25:09
and our community management team so
00:25:11
yeah they're ready to go
00:25:12
>> that's nice
00:25:14
>> that's now I'm really
00:25:15
>> that's incred and now now now our
00:25:16
interest is heavily peaked let me ask
00:25:18
you this Stacy because we're pushing up
00:25:20
a little bit here on time here. We
00:25:22
Barbara and I often put our guests uh
00:25:25
into the time capsule, if you will, uh
00:25:27
and ask them to, you know, cuz you're
00:25:30
deep in this world in terms of expertise
00:25:32
since 2012, building this amazing brand.
00:25:34
Take us 5 10 years out. What does this
00:25:36
space look like? What are the things
00:25:38
that you and your team are paying
00:25:40
attention to? you know, whatever those
00:25:42
things are, like what what are some of
00:25:44
the things that you could share with us
00:25:45
that is a more of a forward-looking uh
00:25:48
crystal ball that you'd like to kind of
00:25:49
just impart a bit of wisdom with us?
00:25:52
>> Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think in the
00:25:53
wellness space, what we're seeing right
00:25:55
now and where I think this is going to
00:25:56
go for the foreseeable future is um
00:25:59
continued expansion on what functional
00:26:02
benefits are available to people. So,
00:26:04
you're seeing everything from gut health
00:26:06
to cognitive support. Um, especially
00:26:10
with the growth of GLP1s, there's a very
00:26:12
big focus,
00:26:13
>> right? We didn't even get into that.
00:26:14
Yeah.
00:26:15
>> Very big f focus on protein. Um, fiber,
00:26:18
which is really needed to allow your
00:26:21
metabolism to continue to function on
00:26:23
lower levels of food. And, um, obviously
00:26:25
hydration continues to be a very big
00:26:27
need, especially with that growing
00:26:28
trend. But I think you know expanding
00:26:31
our thinking into the world of
00:26:32
functional benefits and how we can meet
00:26:34
those shifting needs um is going to be a
00:26:37
very big focus for us. I think the
00:26:39
second big wave that we can't go without
00:26:42
talking is the explosive growth in AI.
00:26:46
So as yeah as AI continues to take off
00:26:49
and becomes more uh consumer adopted
00:26:53
shopping experiences becoming available
00:26:55
through your AI platforms how do we make
00:26:58
sure that brands are well set up to
00:27:00
succeed in a world where a lot of
00:27:02
people's searches are now happening on
00:27:04
AI platforms and ultimately that's I
00:27:07
think honestly I think brands like
00:27:09
Liquid IV stand to benefit in this
00:27:11
situation because we have 12 clinical
00:27:14
studies that we've completed
00:27:15
They are published in like very credible
00:27:18
journals, scientific journals. Um, we
00:27:21
have an entire scientific advisory board
00:27:23
that helps inform our product
00:27:25
development. In a world where the
00:27:27
category is becoming increasingly
00:27:29
cluttered and it is hard for consumers
00:27:32
to discern what is real and what is not,
00:27:35
>> AI is actually going to be a very good
00:27:37
tool that will help amplify where there
00:27:39
is actual scientific rigor and
00:27:41
credibility in the products that you are
00:27:43
buying.
00:27:43
>> That is so So I know we're we're out of
00:27:46
time, but I just do want to c that's a
00:27:48
really interesting point like how to
00:27:50
leverage the AI platform. You want to
00:27:54
provide scientific information that they
00:27:56
can pick up. So if people ask for like
00:27:59
that kind of credibility, you already
00:28:01
have it. It's not opinion. Now you have
00:28:03
the data. That's just an interest. It's
00:28:06
clearly right for what you're talking
00:28:07
about in your strategy, but it's also an
00:28:09
interesting point for other brands to
00:28:11
consider
00:28:12
>> how to leverage the AI platform and the
00:28:14
and it's interesting to think about that
00:28:16
as a search engine as opposed to like a
00:28:19
Google or an Amazon search or even a Tik
00:28:21
Tok search. We're now talking about AI
00:28:24
search and suggesting that credible
00:28:26
claims, scientific evidence is going to
00:28:30
matter more in an AI search engine than
00:28:32
anywhere else. Right? Like that is a
00:28:34
very cool point. I love that.
00:28:35
>> Very insightful,
00:28:36
>> Stacy. But unfortunately, America's
00:28:38
asked you that terrific question right
00:28:40
at the end of our [laughter] time.
00:28:43
>> We want to thank you very much, Stacy
00:28:45
Andre Wells, the CMO of Liquid IV, for
00:28:48
joining us today. And tell us and our
00:28:50
listeners where we can learn more about
00:28:52
you and the brand and things you're
00:28:54
doing.
00:28:54
>> Um, absolutely. Uh, you can follow us on
00:28:57
Instagram, on Tik Tok, Liquid IV.
00:29:00
liquid.com is a great source for all of
00:29:02
the brand knowledge. All of our latest
00:29:04
clinicals and science backing is up on
00:29:06
that website. And of course, make sure
00:29:09
you are seated on Super Bowl Sunday so
00:29:11
that you don't miss our amazing spot.
00:29:13
>> No, I'm gonna be there. [laughter]
00:29:15
>> Oh, no doubt. This is awesome.
00:29:17
>> Yeah, that's great. Thanks. That's all
00:29:19
we have time for today. We'd like to
00:29:20
thank our producers, Dion Simkins and
00:29:22
Marissa Rena. Thank you all for
00:29:24
listening today. We'll be back next
00:29:26
week. Till then, this has been Marketing
00:29:28
Matters on the Wharton podcast network.
00:29:30
I'm Barbara Khan here with America's
00:29:32
Reed.
