Poppi's $1.95 Billion Exit Shows Brand Personality Now Drives Growth

PepsiCo paid $1.95 billion for Poppi, a soda brand whose main asset, according to 72andSunny international CEO Chris Kay, was a distinctive personality that generated over 1 billion TikTok views on the way to the deal. Kay's argument, laid out in a recent essay, is blunt: the marketing industry's long obsession with "P" words — price, product, place, promotion, positioning, purpose — has been displaced by a new one. Personality is now the commercial fuel.

What do the numbers say?

The evidence Kay cites is a mix of survey data and balance-sheet outcomes. Adzooma research suggests 57.5% of consumers buy brands with strong, distinct personalities. The Future Proof report from The Daily Aus found only one in five respondents feel positively about a brand that merely describes itself as "purpose-driven." The gap is stark: roughly three times more consumers respond to felt personality than to declared purpose.

The case studies carry the real weight. Duolingo turned its green owl mascot into what Kay calls "a slightly unhinged, self-aware cultural icon," a campaign that drove 1.7 billion views. E.l.f. Beauty delivered 30 consecutive quarters of business growth — seven and a half years of uninterrupted expansion — by positioning itself as "a bold disrupter with a kind heart." Liquid Death, which Kay credits as the early creator of the movement, has run a six-year compound annual growth rate of 122% since its 2019 launch. In plain terms: personality, executed well, correlates with valuations.

A caveat, though. These are survivor stories. Kay names no brand that tried personality-led marketing and failed, and correlation between a mascot and a $1.95 billion exit is not causation. The essay does not address that gap.

Why did positioning and purpose fall short?

Kay's diagnosis is generational rather than empirical. Positioning, he writes, "could feel cold and analytical," while purpose "maybe grew lofty and detached" — brands "racing to solve global crises, writing manifesto after manifesto, making very similar-looking ads to save the world (and sell products)." He also floats a driver the data does not confirm: that consumers may be gravitating toward brands that "make them feel something real" partly as "a small rally against AI." That claim arrives without a supporting figure.

How does a brand build personality?

Kay proposes four pillars, each framed as a discipline:

• How you speak (voice and fluidity). Abandon "rigid, 50-page tonal guidelines." Codify the rhythms of brand speech so it stays recognizable whether in a social comment or a Super Bowl ad.
• How you look (visual identity). Build signature distinctive assets, but flex presentation across audiences while "still always looking and feeling like yourself."
• How you feel (vibe and energy). Brands with a clear vibe "can react, improvise, and play in real time alongside their communities."
• How you act (real-world behavior). "Personality is proven through action, not empty claims." Bold, unexpected moves convert passive consumers into advocates — and, Kay argues, give purpose its substance back.

What changes for marketing leaders?

The biggest structural claim concerns leadership itself. For decades, Kay writes, marketing leadership meant guardianship: protecting brand identity, enforcing guidelines, shielding the company from risk. His verdict is harsh — "protection is passive," and guardians "end up building polished, potentially lifeless museum artifacts that can trigger a brand's demise." The replacement role is the catalyst, a leader who "ignites the brand's personality, empowering teams and communities to play with it, flex it."

Notably, Kay does not specify how a catalyst measures success, who arbitrates when flexibility shades into brand risk, or what governance replaces the 50-page guideline. The essay closes on exhortation — "stop playing it safe, be comfortable in the chaos" — rather than process. For CMOs weighing the shift, the Duolingo and Poppi outcomes make the case; the playbook for getting there, at least here, stays thin.