The strategy that broke Celsius’ 10-year slump

This is the story of how branding, a fresh team, and some luck, took Celsius from a little-known weight loss drink in Florida, to an international energy beverage powerhouse.

Subscribe to Morning Brew

Follow The Brew!

[bato]

OG Celsius looked like a Dollar Tree brand WD-40.

[trendnwin]

I am a C-store manager and we carry 16 different Celsius flavors. It’s the top selling drink right now displacing monster and redbull.

[terrykrall]

Celsius’ early can graphics was horrifying. No surprise it didn’t sell.

[AsfAhmad]

“But when you're selling a story, you never know when people might stop buying it.” whoever wrote this last line can have my energy drink

[dylancook]

hey guys, it was me. i drank all the celsius and cured the 10 year slump

[danielmishtal]

For anyone who has not see them in your country. There not really international. Only in a few other countries outside the US, but are expanding internationally as we speak and rolling out.

[MotorTea]

Always blows my mind when the can says since 2005. Didn’t see a single can until 2021 in Texas. Now they all over.

[hamelconsultancyllc]

Celsius makes red bull look like child’s play. 200mg caffeine vs 80mg

[trayne]

I work for a fire department in Florida, as far back as 2016 this seemed to be the energy drink of choice on the job for coworkers.

[dauts]

This shows how people may not like energy drinks because they look aggressive, but if you change the branding and emotion, you can capture a far larger market

[smoketinytom]

Haven't seen it in Europe... And that's ironic, since we're all using Celsius for our temps.

[tuhin]

The last line really hits, props to the writer.

[xelefonte]

Maybe Celsius did make a comeback but this video still feels like a giant ad for Celsius.

[ericd_br]

It’s pretty rich to call it international. They just recently announced distribution deals in Canada and the UK, the common first steps because they’re both English speaking. In the UK it’s still only available on Amazon or through international grocers, so an import. Any actual distribution hasn’t started yet.

[Ptrad]

I've been hooked on celsius since 2022. Their flavors are always at least good, if not great. They have a good enough amount of caffeine to pick me up but not too much like Bang. They're also generally cheaper than similar energy drinks.

[robertmariano]

I honestly thought that Celsius was started in 2020, I just paired it with my sandwich and really liked the taste. I usually drink water throughout the day, but around lunch I’ll drink something with a flavor.

[chiquita]

Why not note that Celcius has to pay for that aisle display? They dont just get that because they are connected to Pepsi, stores rent out display areas

[matthewstahler]

6 months later and that 18 billion is 6 billion. A wonderful example of the idea that when you see everyone talking about a stock, it's probably time to sell.

[SilverAura]

Wow... I always knew but never actually thought about how much distribution impacts brand-success. It always feels like a "given" but it's actually a remarkable feat of engineering and.. luck, it would seem.

[Fireflyepic]

It's funny how well they portray themselves as healthy. This stuff is very, very unhealthy lmao. The beauty of marketing.