The Hype Behind Alex Cooper's Unwell Hydration Launch

💙 The Branded Moment 💙

Around mid-November, Alex announced that she had been working on a super secret project.

She created a handle @AlexsSuperSecretProject553968

Before even posting a single photo, she had amassed close to 100k followers. (insane)

I had multiple friends text me and ask what I thought it would be (and I am sure every member of her community (THE Daddy Gang) was doing the same).

A month later, the handle “self-destructed” and Unwell Hydration was announced.

The drink is a pre-made hydration beverage by women for everyone (similar to a Prime or Body Armour).

Alex pitched that the drink is better because 1) it’s made by women and 2) the ingredients are better than the others in the market.

Upon the day of the announcement, she held an exclusive party in NYC where members of the Daddy Gang were randomly selected to attend an Unwell Party with Alex herself.

This was mid-December, and the drink was set to launch Jan 2 in Target.

For the weeks leading up to launch, Alex posted Unwell in pretty much every story she had, and finally, come Jan 2, a series of apres-ski themed influencer boxes went out.

Will this be successful?

I’m not fully convinced yet, but here’s what I am thinking about:

1. The launch crushed.

If you are a member of Alex’s community (Daddy Gang), you 100% wanted to try.

The super secret project built up hype. The fact that >100k people follow Unwell Hydration is wild given that Alex only has 3 million Instagram followers.

Alex made engaging content for when the drink was formally announced leaning into the brand’s differentiators (this was my favorite bit), and she engaged her community & influencers pulling all levers.

If you knew her and her show, you were bought in.

2. The category is COMPETITIVE.

The reason brands like Skims and Good American are so successful is because not only did they have well-known celebrities attached to it, but they also filled a white space in the market.

No one was making “size inclusive” jeans. No one was making shapewear that doubled as basics.

The products filled white spaces, and they tapped the perfect celebrity to fill that white space.

Prime, Electrolit, and other hydration drinks offer the same “job-to-be-done” as Unwell.

I’m curious if the ingredient list and positioning will be enough to stand out in a crowded category.

3. The next biggest challenge Alex will face is Reorder Rate (the speed in which a product moves off the shelf).

In my experience with celebrity brands, launches when you have an engaged fan base, are the easy part.

Reorder is where it’s tough.

If your product isn’t good, people won’t rebuy no matter how much they love the figure behind it.

Alex is banking on the fact that women (and some men) will choose her drink because it’s by women and the others in the category are not.

I don’t know if that’s enough of a reason to win in a category, but I am on the edge of my seat waiting to find out.

One new product I tried this week 👉 Catalina Crunch Chocolate PB I literally ate a whole bag in 3 days OOPS! The macros are so good.

One new campaign I’m loving 👉 Kristin Juszczyk & Emma Grede’s Off Season - I WANT A BUFFALO BILLS VEST!

One new piece of content to watch/read/listen to 👉 My friend Hannah Stern has a podcast called Radiate. Check it out!