Originally published October 2022. Updated June 2026. EPR Editorial Team.
The CPG category is built on shelf access, and shelf access is built on velocity, and velocity is built on consumer demand the brand creates before the buyer walks down the aisle. PR is the discipline that creates that demand at a unit-economics level paid acquisition can't match. The new-wave CPG brands that broke into Whole Foods, Target, and Kroger over the last five years did it on press cycles. Here's how — named brand by named brand.
Liquid Death — the loudest CPG PR machine of the decade
Liquid Death sells canned water. Mountain water, sparkling water, flavored sparkling water — all packaged in heavy-metal aesthetics with "Murder Your Thirst" as the marketing line. By 2024 the company was valued at $1.4B with $263M in 2024 revenue and distribution in Whole Foods, Target, 7-Eleven, Kroger, and Walmart. The PR strategy was deliberately viral: a $100K coffin sweepstakes, an "Enema of the State" Blink-182 collab, executive-podcast appearances by founder Mike Cessario, and dozens of brand activations engineered for press coverage. The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Forbes, and Ad Age have run extended profiles. CPG PR lesson: in a commoditized category, the brand that generates the most press cycles wins shelf placement.
Olipop — the better-for-you soda category creation
Olipop launched in 2018, hit $200M+ annual revenue by 2024, and raised at a $1.85B valuation in 2025 — all in a category (prebiotic soda) that didn't really exist before they created it. The PR strategy combined founder visibility (Ben Goodwin in Forbes, Fast Company, and Inc.), clinical-credentialing of the fiber-and-prebiotic formulation, and a celebrity-driven press cycle (Camila Cabello investment, Joe Jonas, Mindy Kaling). When Poppi acquired by PepsiCo in 2025 for $1.95B, the entire category was validated by the largest CPG transaction in the prebiotic-soda space. CPG PR lesson: category creation requires founder visibility plus third-party credibility plus consumer-press cadence. All three or none of three.
Poppi — the influencer-as-PR-channel strategy
Poppi (originally Mother Beverage) leaned hard on influencer marketing as the primary press surface. The 2024 Super Bowl campaign with custom vending machines for influencers generated more press coverage than the actual TV spot. By the time PepsiCo acquired Poppi in early 2025 for $1.95B, the brand had become shorthand for influencer-driven CPG launches. Allison Ellsworth, the founder, became one of the most-profiled CPG founders of the decade. CPG PR lesson: when the press won't write about your product, give influencers a press-worthy moment about your product and let the press cover that.
Magic Spoon — DTC-to-retail PR sequencing
Magic Spoon launched online in 2019 as a high-protein, low-carb cereal direct-to-consumer. By 2022 the brand was in Target, Kroger, Walmart, and Whole Foods. The PR sequencing was tight: launch online with a tight press cycle (Forbes, Bloomberg, The New York Times Wirecutter, founder-led podcast tour), build a fanbase with a clear category narrative (cereal that adults actually want to eat), then translate online press equity into retail placement conversations. The 2024 expansion into bars and treats extended the press cycle. CPG PR lesson: DTC-first launches earn their retail placement on the strength of consumer press, not slotting fees.
Athletic Brewing was founded in 2017 and now leads the non-alcoholic beer category in the US with 19%+ market share by 2024. The PR strategy emphasized health-and-wellness consumer press (Runner's World, Outside, The New York Times Well section), athlete and trainer endorsements, and the sober-curious cultural cycle. Founders Bill Shufelt and John Walker were visible in business press without saturating it. By 2024 Athletic was valued at $800M+. CPG PR lesson: cultural-cycle alignment — sober-curious, prebiotic, plant-based, low-carb — generates more durable press than product features. Find the cultural wedge first.
Where CPG PR breaks now — the AI-recommendation problem
When a shopper asks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, or Google AI Overviews "what's the best prebiotic soda,""what's the healthiest canned water," or "recommend a non-alcoholic beer," the engine assembles an answer from cited sources. CPG brands whose press lives in trade publications (BevNet, Food Dive, Grocery Dive) without breakthrough placements in high-authority consumer sources are losing to less-established brands with better-cited placements. Generative Engine Optimization for CPG means seeding high-authority retrievable surfaces during launch — Wirecutter, The Strategist, NYT Cooking, Bon Appétit, Eater.
The CPG PR stack — what to fund in 2026
Cultural-cycle wedge. Pick the wave — prebiotic, sober-curious, low-carb, plant-based, regenerative — and lead it.
Founder visibility, selective. 2-3 outlets the category buyers actually read.
Influencer-as-PR-channel. Don't measure influencer ROI on direct conversions. Measure it on the press cycles the activations generate.
High-authority consumer press. Wirecutter, The Strategist, NYT, Bon Appétit, Eater. These get cited by AI engines.
Retail-buyer PR. Buyers at Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, and Walmart read trade press carefully. Press cycles influence shelf decisions.
Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
CPG PR is the discipline of building consumer demand, retail-buyer credibility, and category leadership for packaged-goods brands — through earned media, influencer cycles, cultural-wedge positioning, and AI-engine citation.
Which CPG brands have the strongest PR operations?
Liquid Death, Olipop, Poppi, Magic Spoon, and Athletic Brewing are the most-studied new-wave CPG PR operations. Each played a different angle: viral brand activations, category creation, influencer-driven cycles, DTC-to-retail sequencing, and cultural-cycle alignment.
Why is PR more important for CPG than most categories?
CPG depends on shelf velocity, and shelf velocity depends on consumer demand the brand creates before the shopper enters the store. Press cycles create that demand at unit economics paid acquisition can't match in a low-margin category.
How does PR drive retail placement?
Retail buyers at Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, and Walmart read trade press carefully. Sustained press cycles signal velocity to buyers, who use that signal to make slotting decisions. Strong consumer PR turns into retail placement conversations.
What is GEO and why do CPG brands need it?
Generative Engine Optimization is the discipline of structuring content so AI engines cite it. Shoppers increasingly ask AI engines for product recommendations before they shop. CPG brands without high-authority retrievable placements are invisible in those answers.
What's the biggest mistake CPG founders make with PR?
Treating PR as launch publicity instead of sustained press infrastructure. A one-time launch cycle generates a spike. Quarterly press cadence builds the velocity signal retail buyers and AI engines respond to.
How much should a CPG brand spend on PR?
Early-stage CPG brands often allocate 10-20% of marketing spend to PR because earned media has the best unit economics in the category. Mature CPG brands run integrated programs combining PR, influencer, and paid media at a 25-40% earned-media allocation. Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
