In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, I sit down with Alice Ratcliffe, Head of Brand at TRIP — the wellness drinks brand rewriting the rules of brand positioning in one of the most crowded categories on the market.

Alice pulls back the curtain on how TRIP went from scrappy challenger to a brand that commands culture, loyalty, and shelf space — and what it's really taken to scale that story into the US.

In this episode, we cover:

• How to stand out in a saturated wellness & drinks market

• TRIP's influencer strategy and why it's built differently to most other brands

• Integrating celebrities into your brand without losing authenticity

• The real strategy for brand building in the US

• Why employee advocacy is one of the most underrated tools in a marketer's arsenal

• How to integrate AI for effective brand building in 2026

• The honest challenges of being the underdog and how to turn them into an advantage

CHAPTERS

00:00 The Polished Brand Problem

02:03 Finding Branded White Space

06:00 Regulation Into Advantage

07:36 Always On Brand Building

10:17 How To Earn Consumer Trust

16:06 Creators Influencers Celebs

23:25 US Expansion Playbook

26:30 Approaching Employee Advocacy

28:39 Scaling Without Gatekeeping

29:51 Email List vs Community

31:15 AI Vs IRL

33:36 Hosting Inclusive Brand Events

35:50 Winning on TikTok Shop

39:52 Global Growth and Accounts

44:26 Powerful Founder Partnerships

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