The OLIPOP Strategy for Category Disruption

The OLIPOP Strategy for Category Disruption

From On Brand with Nick Westergaard by Nick Westergaard

April 20, 2026 · 35 min

About this episode

Mark and David Lester discuss their journey in brand strategy and the innovative approach behind OLIPOP.

Mark Lester and David Lester are brothers who have turned a shared history of high-level brand strategy into a family legacy of innovation. David is the co-founder of OLIPOP, the prebiotic soda that has fundamentally changed the beverage landscape by blending gut-health science with the nostalgia of a classic cola. Mark, co-founder of the consultancy Squint, has spent his career at R/GA and We Are Pi shaping the strategic direction of global icons like Nike and Samsung. Together, they represent a unique bridge between the rigor of global brand building and the intuition required to launch a category-defining startup. What You’ll Learn in This Episode The hidden strategy of finding category value in plain sight How to break only one rule really hard to drive innovation Lessons from building a billion-dollar brand using global marketing rigor Why the discovery channel of the retail store still beats direct-to-consumer The unique dynamic of using brotherly advice to jump into the entrepreneurial unknown Episode Chapters (00:00) Intro (01:24) Growing up in Northern England with entrepreneurial roots (04:28) The Nashville hike that launched a business partnership (06:59) Concepts for…

People in this episode

Host: Nick Westergaard

Guests: Mark Lester, David Lester

Topics covered

  • category disruption
  • brand strategy
  • innovation
  • entrepreneurship
  • retail discovery

Keywords

  • OLIPOP
  • prebiotic soda
  • brand strategy
  • innovation
  • entrepreneurship
  • retail
  • D2C

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: OLIPOP, Squint, R/GA, We Are Pi, Nike, Samsung

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