Poppi makes team sponsorship debut with the Los Angeles Lakers

For decades, big soft-drink companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been dominant sponsors of many of the biggest teams and leagues in the country. As healthier-for-you soda brands like Poppi and Olipop push into the sports space, they’re starting to face some competition from across the grocery aisle.

Consider the case of Poppi, which is making plenty of waves bubbles in sports. After working on WNBA integrations, college football partnerships, and a Super Bowl ad recently, the drink brand announced its first team sponsorship with the Los Angeles Lakers in October.

The goal of the partnership, CMO Andy Judd said, is to grow its cultural relevance, especially among a newer target demo for the brand: younger men.

“We have done an incredible job building this brand, largely with Gen Z [and] millennial women,” Judd told Marketing Brew. “We have built a really solid, foundational, authentic connection with that community…As we were going to move into this space and look at an expanded audience, particularly Gen Z males, we wanted a brand and partner that had the same level of rich authenticity with its fan base.”

Take me to the Lake(er)s

Like many marketers who invest in sports, Judd said the move was motivated by continued efforts to frame Poppi as a “culturally relevant…and influential brand.” The Lakers’ cultural relevance goes beyond fashion showcased in their players’ tunnel walks; the team has ties to the arts community with its In the Paint program that highlights local artists.

The Lakers also have a strong on-court product, a big social media following, and a pull with young men, Judd said. Plus, the LA and greater California market is “typically further ahead on the health and wellness spectrum” than many other areas, he added, making it prime territory for better-for-you food and beverage brands.

Bigger than basketball

The deal makes Poppi the official soda of the Lakers, a key element of the sponsorship for Poppi, according to Judd. “That was really important language to lock in and be a part of, because we didn’t want to suggest that we are a subcategory,” he said. “We are soda.”

The partnership is also set to include involvement with In the Paint, tunnel-walk sponsorships, content with the Laker Girls cheer squad, theme nights at home games, virtual signage and media placements during broadcasts, player activations, retail displays, and custom cans, Judd said. Already, Poppi founders Allison and Stephen Ellsworth served as “honorary captains” for the team’s Oct. 26 game against the Sacramento Kings, he said.

One traditional team sponsorship asset that’s not part of Poppi’s deal with the Lakers: pouring rights at the team’s home arena, which Judd said is due to the fact that Crypto.com Arena isn’t owned by the Lakers’ ownership group. With that said, Poppi is available at other Lakers-owned facilities, like the team’s UCLA Health Training Center, where its players practice and its G League team plays.

Social soulmates

Social media collabs are another key element of the sponsorship. During Poppi’s talks with the Lakers, “congruency for social media” between the two brands came up repeatedly, Judd said.

The Lakers brand is “extremely energized,” paralleling Poppi’s “fun and charismatic” brand voice, and given the team’s involvement with fashion and the arts, “there’s a lot of different components of the range of cultural conversations that the Lakers are having that fits well with the range of cultural conversations that we have,” he said. Poppi posted several TikTok videos announcing the partnership and is planning to include the Laker Girls in future social posts, Judd said.

As for a certain father-son duo currently playing for the Lakers, Judd was tight-lipped about whether LeBron and Bronny James might appear in any Poppi content down the line.

“It’s definitely not why we did this partnership, but I love the storyline,” he said. “The relevancy of the next generation…How could you not think through that?”