An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
No one builds a brand on their own. It takes many partners, influencers, stakeholders, collaborations and an amazing behind the scenes team to build a great brand. Don’t just engage someone because they have a huge following. Engage them because they truly love your brand. That enthusiasm and honesty is easy to feel rather than someone who is just a hired gun. It cannot be understated on how great passionate partnerships drive a brand’s success.
As a part of our series about How to Create a Trusted & Believable Brand, I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Frohman.
After discovering the power of adaptogenic mushrooms, Scott Frohman, founder of Odyssey Elixir, began to meticulously mix and match unique blends into his coffee each morning. The different combinations of mushrooms produced powerful results such as euphoria, mental clarity, and lasting energy. He knew immediately that he had to share these discoveries with the world to support others on their wellness journeys — and 2 years later, Odyssey Elixir was born.
Since the brand’s inception, the mission has always been to create functional mushroom-based beverages that are potent, organic, sustainable and most of all; delicious. Odyssey has carefully combined flavor-forward ingredients like passion fruit, orange, guava and blackberry with potent adaptogenic mushrooms like Lion’s Mane and Cordyceps to create products that are unique in both taste and effect. Together, Odyssey’s beverage line provides holistic support for the body and mind, supporting Energy, Endurance, Focus, Immunity, and Mood.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve been in the consumer goods industry for a while — I left my place on Wallstreet a long time ago to pursue a career path of deeper fulfillment by creating things that excite and help people. The concept of wellness — as it relates to products and a lifestyle — has always been a particularly exciting space to me as I am drawn to the idea of supporting others on their own health journeys since my own journey has been integral to where I am today. This passion eventually led me to the CBD industry where I spent years building a successful business that I eventually exited.
When I discovered the power and potency of functional mushrooms, I know that I had truly found the next frontier of wellness. A friend of mine was early adopter of functional mushrooms and graciously let me in on the secret. I started blending different adaptogenic tonics and the results I started experiencing from my daily concoctions were profound. I knew immediately I needed to share this with the world. After almost 2 years of R&D, Odyssey Sparkling Mushroom Elixirs were born.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One of the funniest mistakes we made was making a POS that said, “Super Tasty.” After we started seeing it out in retail, we had realized it sounded corny and inferred there was bad taste to mask when in reality we had cracked the code and were able to create a beverage with mushrooms in it that had zero mushroom taste. So, at the end of the day, we scrapped that POS and we all got a good laugh out of it. I learned to really nail down your brand messaging and not rush to create something that you’re going to put into hundreds of stores.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
In my earliest visions of Odyssey, I knew I wanted this brand to exist beyond the shelf. I wanted to create a purpose-driven company that lived in the hearts, minds, and daily lives of the next generation of creative thinkers, athletes, gamers, musicians — those who are pushing humankind forward in their craft or their sport.
So, since we got started, we have worked hard to bring Odyssey beyond the shelf and into society to create momentum around this idea of “upleveling your life” by cross-promoting our products with lifestyle events such as music festivals, yoga classes, fungi-festivals, and more. I truly believe that Odyssey is so much more than just a line of kick-ass drinks — it’s a mindset, it’s a commitment to thriving, it’s a movement that is redefining how people understand the power of their body, mind, and spirit — ultimately, it’s a reclamation of our health. Our company stands out because of the stellar “all in type of mentality” team we have assembled, the Metatron, which is a symbol of a force for good and our product is the first and one of a kind sparkling mushroom beverage with no detectable taste of mushrooms. We are the new energy drink that the market is demanding, and this generation is ready for.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
At Odyssey we are constantly thinking about the big picture, which means we are always exploring new avenues for innovation. Our brand sits at the nexus of health, functionality, food, and innovation — which pushes us to continue to think outside the box to continue to create cutting-edge products that enhance people’s lives on various levels. We’re fascinated by the cognitive and mood-enhancing benefits of mushrooms and this concept of “biohacking” through food. This is driving our product development to expand our offerings further to allow people to take complete control over their health and wellness through food. As we are a young brand, I am totally focused right now on driving awareness and growth. I am also working on new products to add to our portfolio that are innovative and fill gaps in the market.
Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
To me, the difference lies in the end results; with product marketing, you are promoting a specific product, ultimately educating, inspiring and incentivizing consumers to purchase that product based on the core “reasons to believe”. Brand marketing, on the other hand, enables a company to convey the entire essence of its being and identity by connecting with the consumer across various dimensions. Brand marketing brings the conversation beyond the product (the “what”); it explains the who, the why, the where. Together, the two marketing tactics build recognition and trust in both the brand entity and its product line — with the ultimate goal of driving loyalty by establishing an emotive connection with consumers.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
Consumers have incredibly short attention spans — their decision-making timeline spans just a few seconds. This means you have a few seconds (at best) to capture the attention and dollar of someone browsing through the incredibly crowded aisle that your product sits in. By building your brand and driving recognition, equity, and loyalty — these decisions become solidified before the consumer even gets to that aisle. They decide how many products of yours they plan to buy and in what flavors before they even reach the store. Brand loyalty lies in your ability to continually deepen your connection with your customer. Consumers are savvier than ever before, and brands need to constantly communicate with their customers using every tool possible to stand out amongst the competition and communicate their unique selling proposition.
Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand?
1. Authentic, engaging content strategy
We believe that people don’t just want to see or hear about our products repeatedly. They want to see them brought to life because they want to understand where those products can fit into their own lives, so we showcase our products in the wild — with real people doing real things.
2. Consistent brand messaging + presence
This is especially true for a new, emerging brand as you need to build familiarity with your brand, products, and mission. That means being consistent in how you present yourself across all channels.
3. Experiential marketing
Like I mentioned, we bring our products beyond the shelf and into society through interactive, immersive experiences. This helps us to engage with consumers are on a more intimate level. You can find us at yoga and fitness events, music festivals, e-gaming competitions, on the beach, in a restaurant, at the convenience store — wherever our customer is we want to be there.
4. Influencer partnership
No one builds a brand on their own. It takes many partners, influencers, stakeholders, collaborations and an amazing behind the scenes team to build a great brand. Don’t just engage someone because they have a huge following. Engage them because they truly love your brand. That enthusiasm and honesty is easy to feel rather than someone who is just a hired gun. It cannot be understated on how great passionate partnerships drive a brand’s success.
5. Tell Your Story:
What is back story behind the brand? How did it come to be? Who are the people behind the brand? What is the company’s mission and vision? Don’t sugarcoat anything. Talk about the challenges and obstacles you had to overcome to bring your brand to life. Always tell the truth about your brand. Sometimes brands hide or shade the truth or try to be all things to all people. Know what your core competencies are and where you want to play and stay there. Be clear, be proud, be the best at what you do.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
Celsius is a company that I think has done an amazing job at growing their brand and marketing their products. However, as much as I think they have really hit their stride in terms of building a brand and are clearly a success story in terms of distribution and sales, I also think that there’s a misconception about how healthy their drinks really are, and consumers are beginning to take note of that. To their credit, Celsius struggled in their early years, but then they sharpened their messaging and branding, and it took off. There wasn’t as much competition in the category when they got started. It’s a commendable success story, but I still think that until now, the data was not showing that consumers want less sugar, less caffeine; to be less amped up with copious amounts of stimulants, caffeine, and artificial sweeteners. Now we know for certain the data is clearly indicating that clean label, functional energy, mood, clarity, and focus are top of mind for consumers. They want those benefits in a way that does not compromise their health values with less caffeine and naturally low in sugar and carbs. If they don’t feel good after they drink it, what’s the point? With Odyssey, you feel great and that’s where we see our growth opportunity; making people feel good and do good.
In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?
I’d say overall it’s similar in that you want quantifiable metrics to measure your success, but for a campaign, those look more like number of new followers, average engagement levels with your content, impressions, reach, subscriptions, or other metrics that indicate some form of loyalty and visibility from your audience.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
Social media is the canvas on which we paint a vivid, vibrant picture of what Odyssey is about. We use social media to express our vibe and show our consumers the entirety of the Odyssey lifestyle — bringing them beyond the grocery store shelf and into the colorful world that Odyssey exists in. We invite consumers to dive deeper into the essence of Odyssey by posting engaging content that welcomes followers to join the journey. Social media allows us to unleash a next-level creativity. It also allows us to test new messaging, new products, and new ideas with our fungi-family by communicating directly with those following along our journey — gathering input, reactions, and feedback along the way. So essentially, social media is both a form of expression but also of intel.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I entered the functional beverage business because I truly believe that food can and should be used as medicine. Health is truly our most valuable form of wealth and it’s important that we always cultivate, support, and enhance our health to step into the best versions of ourselves. This requires us to be so intentional in what we choose to put into our bodies — from the food that we eat, from the dialogues we listen to, to the energy we surround ourselves with. Food can be used to uplevel the energetic frequencies that we all put out — if we so choose to consume things aligned with our highest selves.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Life is not a dress rehearsal.” I always approach things with a “carpe diem” attitude. I thrive on excellence and to inspire others around me to aim for that as well. Mediocrity is everywhere, but even if you fall short of excellence, if you are striving for it, you usually don’t fall far from it. I like to challenge people to be there best and become great leaders themselves. To me, that’s how you build an organization where there is harmony, and everyone has fun doing because they are part of the end result and reap the rewards.
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Yes, Taylor Swift. She’s such an amazing role model and embodies the best of her generation. I love how she speaks her mind and doesn’t let the trends in society rattle her from being true to herself and her values. She has no doubt inspired and empowered millions of her peers with her songs, positivity, and humanitarian efforts. She is as authentic as they come, and I admire that. Yes, please tag her!
How can our readers follow you on social media?
IG: @odysseyelixir
FB: Odyssey Elixir
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Scott Frohman Of Odyssey Elixir On How to Create a Trusted & Believable Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
