How Celsius rebranded itself to be a premium wellness energy drink

According to CEO John Fieldly, it took time and effort, but the company was able to rebrand itself as a lifestyle beverage associated with health and wellness. When it first launched, “it was positioned as a negative calorie drink. It got tons of interest from retailers,” he said. The brand, however, “just couldn’t get that connection or that conversion with consumers.”

What helped Celsius rebound? It was a newfound focus on health and beauty. As part of the original turnaround, it started focusing on distribution in gyms and health clubs, as well as retailers like GNC. Then, when Celsius decided to return to grocery, it was placed in the health and beauty aisles.

“In hindsight, when you look at it, [this] differentiated the brand very much so from those traditional energy drinks that are in the aisles today,” Fieldly said.

Fieldly joined the Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the brand’s evolution over the years. Now, it’s become a premium player in the energy drink space. “It’s really important we continue to partner with premium brands alongside to build that credibility,” he said.

At its most recent earnings, the company reported year-over-year revenue growth of 37% and its stock price has grown 6,000% over the last five years.

Which is to say: The current strategy seems to be working. The focus now is on growing even more. “We’ve got to continue to talk about our brand story and really share those brand attributes, which differentiates ourselves in the category,” Fieldly said.

Here are a few highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

Regrowing the brand
“We were delisted out of pretty much every retailer in the country, so trying to go back in it takes time. So we built the brand in fitness — we built it in the gyms, health clubs, Vitamin Shoppe, GNC. And then the path went to health and beauty within really the grocery channel. Keep in mind, we were delisted as beverages, so we had to find another route to retail. So we actually built the brand in grocery within the health and beauty sets… In hindsight, when you look at it, [this] differentiated the brand very much so from those traditional energy drinks that are in the aisles today. So I think that also helped with the positioning of [being] better for you and also this fitness lifestyle.”

The marketing strategy
“We want to be a premium brand within the energy category, so it’s really important we continue to partner with premium brands alongside to build that credibility. Ferrari was a great partnership. We’re looking for really top-funnel awareness, but then also driving at the point of purchase, as well. So that’s what those targeted end-cap retail marketing programs that we have [do]. We do a variety of programs, from enter-to-win sweepstakes where you can get gear and ultimately win a trip to Las Vegas to the race… and we leverage that in a variety of different ways, not only at the point of retail but also with our distribution partners and some of our sales team members as well. So it’s a 360-encompassing program that leverages top-funnel, targeted, social media, event-driven and at the point of purchase. So you’re bringing it all the way down to the funnel.”

Growing on its current popularity
“We’ve got to continue to talk about our brand story and really share those brand attributes, which differentiates ourselves in the category. That’s how you’re going to drive the premiumization within the portfolio. When you look at it, I think social media has been a big play over the last several years. A beverage is really an extension of who you are, right? I mean, you can almost think about it as the threads you wear — the shoes you wear, the brands you wear — says something about you. And that has translated into your beverage. I think Starbucks has done an amazing job with that as a premium player within coffee. We’ve always aspired to be that iconic. We used to call it the green straw internally because that green straw said something in the morning when you walked in with it. It’s an extension. That’s why you wait in line. When you hold a can of Celsius, we want you to feel proud that you have that can of Celsius.”