How Celsius rebranded itself to be a premium wellness energy drink

A little over a decade ago, energy drink brand Celsius was being delisted from many of its retail partners. Now, it's become one of the hottest beverage companies on the market.

According to CEO John Fieldly, it took time and effort, but the company was able to rebrand itself as a lifestyle beverage associated with health and wellness. When it first launched, "it was positioned as a negative calorie drink. It got tons of interest from retailers," he said. The brand, however, "just couldn't get that connection or that conversion with consumers."

So what helped Celsius rebound? It was a newfound focus on health and beauty. As part of the original turnaround, it started focusing on distribution in gyms and health clubs, as well as retailers like GNC. Then, when Celsius decided to return to grocery, it was placed in the health and beauty aisles.

"In hindsight, when you look at it, [this] differentiated the brand very much so from those traditional energy drinks that are in the aisles today," Fieldly said.

Fieldly joined the Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the brand's evolution over the years. Now, it's become a premium player in the energy drink space. "It's really important we continue to partner with premium brands alongside to build that credibility," he said.

At its most recent earnings, the company reported year-over-year revenue growth of 37% and its stock price has grown 6,000% over the last five years.

Which is to say: The current strategy seems to be working. The focus now is on growing even more. "We've got to continue to talk about our brand story and really share those brand attributes, which differentiates ourselves in the category," Fieldly said.