From Awareness to Aisle: How Props Drove Measurable Lift for Yerba Madre
Yerba Madre
Yerba Madre is an emerging identity-driven energy drink competing in one of CPG’s most crowded and brand-saturated categories. Surrounded by legacy incumbents with large media budgets and entrenched shopper habits, Yerba Madre needed a marketing system that could both elevate its cultural relevance and deliver measurable impact across awareness, intent, trial, and repeat. The brand partnered with Props to create a breakthrough model for full-funnel CPG growth.Yerba Madre set out to shift its position from a niche product to a lifestyle-driven choice—one that shoppers recognized, sought out, and repeatedly purchased. The brand wanted a modern engine capable of increasing awareness, driving in-store trial, and building a repeatable velocity model across key markets. Props’ solution was straightforward: collaborate with culturally aligned creators whose authentic storytelling could articulate the identity of Yerba Madre—active, expressive, and natural—and translate that identity into demand both online and at the shelf.
Mission
Yerba Madre set out to shift its position from a niche product to a lifestyle-driven choice—one that shoppers recognized, sought out, and repeatedly purchased. The brand wanted a modern engine capable of increasing awareness, driving in-store trial, and building a repeatable velocity model across key markets. Props’ solution was straightforward: collaborate with culturally aligned creators whose authentic storytelling could articulate the identity of Yerba Madre—active, expressive, and natural—and translate that identity into demand both online and at the shelf.
Props approach
Props partnered with outdoor and lifestyle storytellers—runners, hikers, climbers, travelers, and festival-goers—whose lived experiences naturally aligned with Yerba Madre’s ethos. These creators produced non-branded and lightly branded narratives that captured the emotional value of natural energy and self-expression. Each story was published on Yerba Madre’s own domain, giving the brand full control over traffic, engagement, and first-party data.
.jpeg)
As consumers moved deeper into the journey, the content evolved. Mid-funnel stories integrated product benefits and daily rituals, while lower-funnel creator endorsements reinforced trial and repeat behavior. This full-funnel story architecture transformed Yerba Madre from simply “an energy drink” into a lifestyle category of its own.
Distribution ran through creators’ handles on Meta and Instagram, preserving authenticity while enabling precise targeting in high-density shopper regions. Paid media was optimized to maximize efficient reach, traffic, and in-aisle conversion. Retargeting pools grew rapidly as consumers engaged with the creator content, equipping Yerba Madre with stronger remarketing capabilities for sustained velocity.
.jpeg)
During the Props campaign flight, TRACKSUIT independently recorded significant lift across the full brand funnel. In parallel, retail performance accelerated: higher sales velocity, more stores carrying the product, and stronger brand conversion. With Props representing the vast majority of total marketing investment during the lift period, the results demonstrated the causal power of identity-led creator marketing in CPG.
results
What we accomplished
The campaign delivered full-funnel brand lift, measurable in-store velocity, and expanded shopper demand across the Dallas market, strengthening Yerba Madre’s position as a culturally resonant lifestyle brand among younger, active consumers. TRACKSUIT independently confirmed sharp gains across the brand funnel—awareness rising from 12% to 16%, consideration from 6% to 11%, usage from 3% to 7%, and preference from 2% to 6%—while retail performance surged with a 33.6% year-over-year sales lift, a 31.2% increase in stores carrying the product, a 55.8 Max ACV during the campaign window, and incremental brand awareness and conversion from Yerba Madre’s internal reporting. By reframing natural energy through lived experience and authentic creator storytelling, Props helped the brand build trust, deepen relevance, and convert cultural momentum into real in-aisle demand. The activation also expanded Yerba Madre’s retargeting pools and improved the efficiency of its downstream digital campaigns, validating the broader “Props Effect.” With rising brand equity, stronger shopper intent, and faster retail velocity, Yerba Madre emerged as a high-growth challenger ready to scale into additional regional markets—setting the blueprint for upcoming expansions, including new activations supporting Maverik and Hy-Vee.
Cases
Other cases
Snowmass Village
From Story to Stay: Boosting Snowmass Visits with Props
College Ave Student Loans
Understanding the almost-empty nester
.webp)
Better Mortgage
Not Just Better — 55% Cheaper Cost Per Lead
New York - Princeton - London