Why AG1 is No. 1: The Rise of Athletic Greens 🏅 - Tribe Dynamics (2024)

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CreatorIQ Logo Q CreatorlQHBBIP™️: Volume #38June 17, 2024Hello and welcome back to How to Build Brands and Influence People, your weekly multivitamin (we’ll come back to that theme later)for the Creator Economy.Last time I checked, I was still Alex Rawitz, Director of Research & Insights at CreatorIQ. And you know what? I checked againjust now, and I’m still glad that you’re here.Here’s this week’s update on my recent move: my stuff still hasn’t arrived. (Hopefully this won’t be true by the time you readthis, but for the sake of comedy, let’s say that it is.) I did get a text from the logistics company saying that they hadscheduled delivery for a certain date, but then they texted back a minute later to tell me that the first text was meant for adifferent customer. It’s very reassuring to know that the people I tasked with moving all my belongings across the country arerunning such a tight ship!Anyway, I’m still in my Pizza Hut/Taco Bell era, by which I mean that I’ve been eating nothing but items from those two fineestablishments. Now, I know what you’re thinking: dear God, why? But honestly, it’s not so bad. After all, it worked out fine forthat guy from Super Size Me. I haven’t watched that movie or checked the news lately, but I have to assume that’s the case.So yes: as much as I love my PHTB lifestyle, it might be time to pay a little more attention to my health. But I’m a busy youngprofessional looking for an easy solution to a complex, multifaceted issue! How can I enjoy reliable nutrition while expending aslittle effort as possible?Thankfully, I still have my foolproof method of finding new brands to give money to. By checking out CreatorIQ’s Health & Fitnessleaderboard, I discovered a vitamin supplement that pairs quite nicely with a Cheesy Gordita Crunch. Read on for more details, anddon’t forget to use my affiliate code, once this brand gives me one.The Top Brand of All Time (Of the Week): Athletic GreensFrankly, I was sold by the name alone. Athletic AND green? That’s two healthy things in a single brand name! These guys had to belegit. Once I (cheesy gordita) crunched the numbers, I found that they are, in fact, legit:Athletic Greens EMV, 2018 - 2023 $80,000,000 $60,000,000 E $40,000,000 o $20,000,000 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023This is some of the craziest growth I’ve seen in the course of writing this newsletter. Numbers like this deserve a fulldeep-dive:Athletic Greens EMV: 2018 - 2023 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 $462,131 $13,387,429 $78,909,070 $403,206 $3,935,426 $54,993,980From 2018 ($403.2k EMV) to 2023 ($78.9M EMV), Athletic Greens surged by a casual 19,470%. Psh—imagine not growing 20,000% in fiveyears. Couldn’t be me.What’s more, this improvement wasn’t just a matter of new-brand buzz: Athletic Greens was founded in 2010, meaning that thebrand’s incredible progress was the result of plenty of groundwork and iteration.What we have here is another example of EMV predicting big gains across a host of KPIs: in 2022, the year where the roller coasterreally started accelerating, Athletic Greens secured $115M in venture funding, achieving a $1.2B valuation. Perhaps even moreimportantly, 2022 was also the year that Athletic Greens signed with CreatorIQ for all its creator marketing needs!While CreatorIQ can’t take credit for the brand’s remarkable rise, or for its creator marketing strategy, we can at least saywe’ve played a role in some of Athletic Greens’ recent highlights. So without further ado, let’s kick back with some proteinsupplement meal replacement green juice…What AG1 is not @ Protein Supplement While AG1 contains pea protein to optimize digestive comfort, it does ot replace a proteinsupplement. @ Meal Replacement AG1 does not provide enough calories to skip a meal. Itis designed to complement a healthy diet,not replace one. @ Green Juice AG1 provides nutrients from fruits and vegetables but removes excess sugar by usingWhoops. Alright then—in that case, let’s kick back with some AG1, and learn about some of the key trends behind the company’ssuccess from May 2023 to April 2024.Mmm, you can really taste the citrus bioflavonoids!Giveaways GaloreThe first thing that jumped out when I surveyed Athletic Greens’ most viral content was the traction that the brand has enjoyedfrom giveaway posts. Eight of Athletic Greens’ top 10 EMV-driving posts centered around these contests, which also sparkedsignificant engagement throughout Athletic Greens’ top 50 pieces of content.One of the brand’s most prolific giveaway organizers was entrepreneur and lifestyle influencer Tori Gerbig, who was responsiblefor Athletic Greens’ top two posts by EMV, as well as five of its top 10 posts overall. Tori’s all-pink aesthetic proved a hitamongst social media users, helping the creator rack up $1.2M EMV from May 2023 to April 2024—a whopping 632% YoY improvement. Inall, giveaway content inspired $3.2M EMV for the brand, a higher total than any single creator. The contests served as aneffective way to not only drum up excitement, but expose Athletic Greens to a wider audience.Building Strong PartnershipsYou know the rule, folks: if a brand’s top EMV-driving hashtag has to do with its brand partners or community-building efforts,then said brand is probably in pretty good shape. And you already know that even for a brand called ‘Athletic Greens,’ AG1 is inabsolutely phenomenal shape.So it’s no surprise that #AG1Partner ranked as the brand’s No. 1 tag from May 2023 to April 2024, pulling in a cool $14.6M EMV.And it’s even less of a surprise when you consider who some of those AG1 Partners are.Perhaps the most impactful partnership that Athletics Greens forged over the past year was with America’s favorite fraternalfootball stars, Jason and Travis Kelce. By serving as an official sponsor of the brothers’ New Heights podcast, Athletic Greensenjoyed steady shoutouts in the description text of the podcast’s episodes and clips on YouTube. Given the year that the Kelceboys have had, this partnership proved to be a pretty prudent decision on Athletic Greens’ part. Tapping into the Kelce mediamachine at the start of 2023 is like buying Nvidia stock at the start of 2023: even if some critics are grumbling aboutoverexposure or speculating about an impending split, you’re doing pretty great right now. And indeed, New Heights yielded $1.8MEMV as one of Athletic Greens’ top earners.No Time for TikTokUsually when I highlight a brand, I call out the crucial role that TikTok played in its growth. It’s become something of a tropefor these write-ups, but hey, I only do it because it’s so frequently true.Well, this isn’t one of those occasions. In fact, while I don’t have figures on this, I would venture that Athletic Greens has thelowest TikTok total, and has seen the least growth from the platform, of any brand I’ve analyzed over the last year or so. Checkit out:Channel Total Instagram YouTube TikTok EMV $78,435,601 $46,730,756 $30,353,555 $730,618 YoY Growth 19% 28% 16% -63%Not only was TikTok’s contribution miniscule compared to what Athletic Greens saw from Instagram and YouTube, but even thisminiscule amount represented a drastic decline from the previous 12 months. Going through Athletic Greens’ top posts by EMV fromMay 2023 to April 2024, I didn’t encounter a single bit of TikTok content until I reached post No. 66. What’s more, there werejust three TikTok videos amongst Athletic Greens’ top 100 posts.To be clear, I’m not saying this is a bad thing. Need I remind you, Athletic Greens has grown nearly 20,000% over the past fiveyears, so I’m not about to question the brand’s strategy. If anything, it’s further proof of the Creator Economy’s multifacetednature: while TikTok is all the rage for some brands and verticals, it’s not a prerequisite for growth. Athletic Greens has carvedout a niche via Instagram giveaways and YouTube partnerships, demonstrating what works for health and fitness brands in thecurrent creator climate.So Long For NowThat’s all for this week, folks. Tune in next time, when the misadventures of my move are hopefully complete, and I have to find anew schtick to work with. What will that schtick be? You better click on the email to find out. For now, I’m off to deliver theFoundational Nutrition my body needs. As always, thank you so much for reading.Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.LinkedInInstagramXTikTokCopyright Creator IQ 2024CreatorIQ, 8605 Santa Monica Blvd, PMB 82232, West Hollywood, CA 90069

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