How CPG Brands Drive Retail Sales With Creators

For a CPG brand, the question was never whether creators drive reach. It's whether creators move product off the shelf. In Texas, Yerba Madre's did — retail sales up 33.6% year over year during the Props flight, with no added discounting, and no other paid media except Props. - Megan Matera, Senior Director, Props Media Platform

Why CPG creator marketing usually stops short of the shelf

Most creator programs are measured by impressions and engagement — numbers that never map to shelf velocity or distribution. A can that trends online can still sit untouched in the cooler. The gap is design and measurement: content built for the feed, not for the aisle, and reporting that ends at the click. A creator media system closes that gap by connecting Episodes to retail data and geotargeting the shopper within reach of the store — so discovery and purchase happen in the same market, in the same window.

The Yerba Madre proof: a city velocity model in Texas

Yerba Madre, a challenger in the "better energy" category, needed to grow without out-spending incumbents who own the budgets and the distribution. Props built a repeatable, city-level activation across Dallas, Austin, and Houston: a $293K investment, all paid media run through Props, a one-month flight from September 15 to October 15, 2025 — and, from day one, independent measurement through SPINS and Tracksuit.

The activation followed a named, four-step sequence — the Props City Velocity Model:

1. Demand before arrival. Creator Episodes prime millions of shoppers in a market — more than 8 million in Dallas alone — so the yellow can feels familiar before the in-store push.
2. Store-level traffic drivers. Paid distribution through creator handles, geotargeted within roughly three miles of key retailers, turns familiarity into aisle visits.
3. Trial to velocity. Sampling sparks the first purchase; retargeting with creator Episodes turns one try into a routine.
4. Impossible-to-ignore frequency. Varied exposures across the flight keep the brand present until it becomes the default reach in the aisle.

What SPINS measured: retail velocity in Dallas

During the Props flight (September 15–October 5, 2025 vs. the same period in 2024), SPINS recorded:

To isolate the campaign from everything else moving in the market, an independent difference-in-differences analysis compared Dallas against untouched control markets, controlling for promotions, distribution, and seasonality. It attributed a roughly 29% velocity lift to the Props activation. Crucially, the gains held without heavy discounting — baseline velocity, not a promotional spike.

What Tracksuit measured: brand health across Texas

Over the same window, Tracksuit tracked brand health independently — and found lift at every stage of the funnel:

Two independent systems, one conclusion: the lift — brand and retail alike — occurred during the Props activation. When the register and the brand tracker agree, the common denominator is the system that ran between them.

Why it worked: identity first, then velocity

Shoppers don't buy energy; they buy identity. Creator Episodes placed Yerba Madre inside the real rituals of runners, climbers, and skaters — then paid distribution made those stories impossible to miss within reach of the shelf. Yerba came to call the model "authenticity at scale": staying culturally true while reaching millions efficiently. The result is the bridge most CPG brands never build — from culture to SPINS, from "we feel cool" to "we're moving cases."

The CPG takeaway

The Texas program is now Yerba Madre's template for turning on new U.S. markets city by city. For any CPG brand measured on SPINS, IRI, Nielsen, or a brand tracker, it settles the only question that matters: creators can move retail velocity and brand health at the same time — and you can prove it, independently, on both.

Related reading: Authenticity at Scale: The New Promise and Practice of Creator Marketing

Frequently asked questions

How do CPG brands drive retail sales with creators?
By running a performance-based creator media system — creator-led Episodes amplified through paid media and measured against retail velocity through SPINS — so creator content connects to real shelf movement rather than impressions.

How is creator marketing's retail impact measured?
Independently. Props measures retail velocity through SPINS and brand health through Tracksuit. In Texas, Yerba Madre saw a +33.6% year-over-year retail sales lift and full-funnel brand growth during the Props flight.

Can creator marketing move CPG sales without discounting?
Yes. Yerba Madre's +33.6% retail sales lift in Dallas came during the Props activation with no added discounting — baseline velocity, not a promotional spike.