Yeti CMO departs to lead marketing at AG1

After five years at Yeti, including more than three as chief marketing officer, Paulie Dery is exiting to take the CMO role at AG1, the nutritional supplement brand. He succeeds Jonathan Corne, who had led AG1’s marketing team since late 2022. At Yeti, Bill Neff, a nine-year veteran of the company, has been promoted to head of marketing; for now, the cooler and drinkware company will not be naming a new CMO. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Dery, who helped build Yeti into a lifestyle brand during a period of rapid growth, said he sees similar opportunities at AG1 (formerly known as Athletic Greens). The company is about the same size as Yeti was in 2019—it has more than $600 million in annual revenue—and is primed to expand its marketing to build a loyal community across the category it helped create, he said. “There are a lot of similarities,” Dery said. “The product’s incredible and very successful. Now it’s at a point where the brand is ready to become a lifestyle brand. It’s a premium chance to build a phenomenal lifestyle brand as a category leader.” AG1 currently sells just the single eponymous powdered foundational supplement, which combines 75 vitamins, minerals, whole-food sourced superfoods, probiotics and adaptogens. Its marketing to date has focused heavily on podcasts and influencers. It leans into relationships with health educators, thought leaders, athletes and creators as partners—the current roster includes Allyson Felix and Lewis Hamilton. Dery said the marketing mix will evolve. “That’s worked to get us to this point, and we’ll continue to do that,” he said. “But to build a brand in lifestyle, you need strong communities on the ground. We’ve been really focused on one or two channels. It’s time to expand that and build out the brand in a more wholesome way.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Allyson Felix (@allysonfelix) In-house agency and a new CEO Structurally, Dery plans to continue the model he used at Yeti, which is to focus on a strong in-house team, with some help from agencies. (Yeti was named best in-house agency at this year’s Ad Age A-List Awards.) AG1 currently works with Uncommon and recently brought in Mischief @ No Fixed Address for project work. “It’ll be hybrid for a while, and the mandate is to do the world’s best work,” Dery said. AG1 promoted Kat Cole to CEO in July, after more than two years as president and chief operating officer. She succeeded founder Chris Ashenden. Dery said Cole’s leadership and vision for growth was another reason he signed on. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here “You spend 10 minutes with Kat and you’re in,” he said. “There’s an enormous appetite to be innovative, not just with products but with marketing and customer journeys to grow the business. This space is hungry. It’s primed for great creativity.” While Dery said it was difficult to leave Yeti, he was proud of the celebrated marketing the company did during his tenure—and how it retained the core passion of the brand even as it grew into what’s now a $1.7 billion company. “I think my proudest achievement at Yeti is what I call appropriate growth,” Dery said. “When I joined, I think people were worried I was going to grow it too quickly or not respect the brand. When you look back now, the core Yeti customer still feels the love and passion for the Yeti brand as they did from the very start. It never lost its magic, and that’s not easy.” Prior to Yeti, the Australian-born Dery spent more than two years in a top advertising role at Uber, following a combined 14 years on the agency side at R/GA and M&C Saatchi.

Yeti CMO departs to lead marketing at AG1

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