The head of culture at poppi, the prebiotic soda brand targeted at young women, says KPIs stay out of the brief, and its team is mostly recent grads who match its customer. One of the soda brand's Love Island posts drew 90% of its reach from people who don't follow it and led to the launch of a new flavor.

Shapermint's best-selling creators look like its customers too. The shapewear brand is on track for $10 million in TikTok Shop sales this year, selling to women 35 to 65, and 60% of its top-performing creators are over 35. Favorite Daughter put its own head of social on camera and doubled its Daughters Day sales to $2 million. More below.

— Jeff

Sophia Sesto, head of culture at poppi, the prebiotic soda brand now owned by PepsiCo, told Marketing Dive this week that data and KPIs are "normally backward-looking, not part of the brief." The soda leaves the call to a culture team made up mostly of recent college graduates. "We like to say we know our consumer because we are them," Sesto said. "If it's not 'F yes,' it's 'F no.'"

A limited Love Island flavor, Punch Pop, launched in May ahead of the U.S. season. By June, Studio 55, ITV's brand partnership studio, had signed poppi across the U.S. and UK shows, from villa placement to retail displays and a creator-led finale in London. One Love Island post drew more than 250,000 likes, and 90% of its reach came from people who don't follow poppi.

Eight designers worked with poppi at New York Fashion Week this year, its most ever. PepsiCo, which bought the brand for nearly $2 billion in 2025, has left its marketing to Sesto's team.

The shapewear brand reached $1.5 million in TikTok Shop sales in the first four months of 2026, with month-over-month growth as high as 515%. More than 5,000 affiliate creators have posted over 20,000 videos since January. They work from weekly briefs shared on Discord. Sixty percent of its top performers are over 35. The videos are home demonstrations of the garments staying in place through an ordinary day.

The apparel brand co-founded by Erin and Sara Foster had 25 creators go live on the morning of September 25. Many had smaller followings, such as a Dallas mom with 60,000. The day carried a 25% sitewide discount. Head of social Laura Galvan now appears in several videos a week. "The intent really wasn't for [Galvan] to be public-facing," EVP Jennifer Stender Hawkins said at Shoptalk Fall.

Sally Hansen "had pretty much gone dark because there was no money to support it," Gordon von Bretten, president of Coty's Consumer Beauty, told Glossy. Coty found the money, and the brand has returned to growth. On the media mix, he said, "We forgot that if we want to appeal to Gen X and millennials, they still watch TV." Kara Langan starts October 13 as general manager of U.S. Consumer Beauty.

Direct checkout, announced October 5 and rolling out in the U.S., sits apart from TikTok Shop and runs through Shopify, Salesforce, Shoplazza and Stripe. A new AI shopping assistant answers questions on sizing, shipping and availability. Merchant access comes through those four providers, so a brand's commerce platform is the place to ask about timing before the holiday season.

Both poppi and Shapermint give the creative call to people who look like their customer, then watch one number for new buyers: non-follower reach at poppi, TikTok Shop sales at Shapermint. Branded entertainment earns its budget the same way, by reaching people who haven't bought yet with something they chose to watch. Staff the work with your audience and measure the acquisition.

Who's buying, hiring, and greenlighting branded content this week, from job-post signals to confirmed deals.

This week's radar: 17 creator and content roles posted. 9 sit in-house at brands, 5 at agencies, 3 at platforms. 4 are director-level or above. 10 disclosed a salary band, median $115,000.

Why it matters: Panda Express moved gaming from campaign spend to a destination it keeps open and updates monthly. Persistent billboards hold its place in Fortnite between menu launches.

Why it matters: One hire owns creator recruiting, affiliate sales and the usage rights behind Meta partnership ads.

Why it matters: WME now builds and runs clients' channels and sells the brand sponsorships inside them. Erling Haaland's channel, which it launched, has 4.5 million subscribers.

Why it matters: Creators can book a tour or brand deals à la carte, on stages Live Nation already operates.

Why it matters: Morning Brew now owns all of the IP of a creator-built newsletter written for CPG and ecommerce operators, along with its two founders.

Why it matters: AGC will put its financing, production and international distribution behind IP that creators originate, with the creators as partners.

Why it matters: The true-crime parody treats odor, weak clumps and litter tracking as the crimes, so each episode demonstrates Tidy Cats Performance+.

Why it matters: Netflix took a shared premiere with YouTube and library episodes from a show that built its audience on YouTube over 12 years.

CMO statements, earnings mentions, and funding signals.

P.S. If your consumer brand is ready to go beyond one-off campaigns, I can help your team develop a consistent content strategy and the infrastructure needed for branded entertainment. Schedule a 30-minute call with me for actionable insights on using your audience data effectively.

Jeff Hallstead | Brand Strategy Consultant, Fractional CMO, and CCO, based in Los Angeles. jeffhallstead.com