Dylan Jones, the CMO of Podium Nutrition joins us in this episode to share the story of Podium - from a small CrossFit supplement brand to an emerging lifestyle performance brand, with ambitions to become the leading nutrition brand for Olympic athletes by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The key? Focusing on lifestyle and entertaining content to build authenticity over traditional product marketing. Dylan talks about the importance of understanding the core "pain points" of a niche audience and creating valuable content & experiences around those points, rather than just “pushing products” like salesmen.

Podium established credibility within the CrossFit community through partnerships with influencers like Matt Frazier and Buttery Bros (who also later became equity owners). We learnt that brands should focus on developing a unique personality that entertains customers, not just ‘educates’ them. Furthermore, Dylan shares valuable insights on successfully transitioning from a niche market to a broader audience while cautioning against the dangers of "over-partnering." For marketers aiming to build culturally relevant brands with passionate ‘fans’, this conversation is packed with practical advice and insights from Podium's journey to becoming culturally relevant.

Watch the video version of this podcast on YouTube 📺: https://youtu.be/-T4ZIQrbiRc

🖊️Mentioned in the Show:

• Rival New VIS ID
• Instagram reel
• Favourite Challenger Brand: LSKD
• Nike Kids Shoes Campaign

📕Chapters:

(00:00:00) - Intro 🕰️

(00:06:55) - Favorite Challenger brand ⭐

(00:10:25) - What is Podium Nutrition? 🍏

(00:12:02) - Podium’s take on influencers 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

(00:27:00) - Where do brands go wrong in expanding to new niches? 🌍

(00:40:25) - Playbook to beta test a new category 📊

(00:43:00) - How do you move to retail from DTC 🛒

(00:46:36) - Lightning Round ⚡

Find Rival online at www.wearerival.com, LinkedIn, Twitter.

Find Eric on LinkedIn and tweet him @efulwiler.

Say hi at media@wearerival.com, we’d love to hear from you.

Scratch is a production of Rival, a marketing innovation consultancy that develops strategies and capabilities that help businesses grow faster. Scratch is hosted by Eric Fulwiler, and he’s joined by Bryant Garvin of Ozlo Sleep in this episode. Past guests include CMOs from Mastercard, GE, Shell, Hyperloop, Adobe, PepsiCo, and Papa Johns.