Not many brands can say they created their own category based on an ancient family recipe, but such is the case for Lifeway Foods and kefir, the storied fermented milk beverage it sells. In 1986, Michael Smolyansky launched the company with a mission to transport his ancestors’ formula for kefir from the mountains of the Soviet Union, where it was revered for its health benefits 2,000 years ago, to grocery stores aisles across the U.S.
Flash-forward to today, and Lifeway is not only lining store shelves with kefir products, but engaging with its community at two annual family-friendly events, where it serves as presenting sponsor: Kidzapalooza, hosted in Chicago each July as part of Lollapalooza, and Austin Kiddie Limits, hosted in October during the Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival.
The youth-focused experiences, which include touchpoints like crowd-sourced murals, temporary hair-dyeing stations and expert-led fitness classes, are aimed at teaching kids about the mind-gut connection, self-care and living their healthiest lives, while also appealing to health-conscious parents.
According to Julie Smolyansky, president and ceo at Lifeway Foods, the brand has doubled its business over the last five years and continues to invest in events to help maintain that trajectory. As she puts it, “Trial has been the key element to our business and continuing to grow for all 38 years.”
So we asked Smolyansky to share her thoughts on delivering culturally relevant experiences, modernizing an ancient product, making self-care tools more accessible and building safe spaces for kids at adult-oriented music festivals.
Julie Smolyansky, CEO, Lifeway Foods
Event Marketer: Tell us about Lifeway’s origins and introducing kefir to a U.S. audience.
Julie Smolyansky: My dad founded the company in 1986 when I was 11 years old, and I have been working for him since then. I remember standing at my very first in-store demo at the age of 11 or 12 and ‘pimping’ kefir and trying to get people to try it. And they had no idea what it was… People were like, ‘Is this Pepto Bismol? What is this?’ Nobody knew what probiotics were. We launched a category. We brought kefir from the former Soviet Union, where it was a staple for 2,000 years. And it was unknown in the United States, unheard of. We created that category—and it was through trial at activations and events.
EM: Give us the ‘who, what, when, where, why’ of developing your Lolla and ACL partnerships.
JS: Chicago is home base; that’s where our headquarters are. So we have a strong foundation in the community, and it’s really important to us to be there and show up in different ways that are delightful, and introduce new generations to our product. We were the original sponsor of Kidzapalooza, which is the kids activation center within Lollapalooza. We’ve been doing that for 15 years. We really built out that stage. When we started it was just us and a little stage and a couple of acts, and it really turned into a place that families come to as part of their summer rituals. And I would say same thing for Austin’s City Limits and Austin Kiddie Limits.
EM: Why is your sponsorship strategy focused on creating family-friendly experiences?
JS: There aren’t that many places to activate for kids [at music festivals]. It is hard to create these kinds of places where families even show up. So we created the Kidzapalooza stage and Austin Kiddie Limits stage. We felt during the daytime, [if] I want to go as a young parent, I want to experience music festivals with my kiddos. There’s a time and a place. Then after five, send the kids off to grandparents or a babysitter, and then you can enjoy the adult experience. But it was really important for me as ceo, but also a mother, to help create those communities and spaces where families could go.
EM: Tell us about enlisting fitness pros from the community every year. Why is that a priority?
JS: Maybe it’s a kids’ meditation, maybe it’s a kids’ little boxing class, a lot of times it’s kids’ yoga—and parents can join in. The kids get some stretching, they breathe, they get to feel what their body is experiencing and get present with themselves. We know that kefir and fermented products with probiotics like ours, there’s a mind-gut connection. So drinking kefir can help reduce stress, depression and anxiety. But it’s one tool in the toolbox of many things that we believe are important to teach kids, and really everybody from cradle to grave.
EM: How does Lifeway Foods bring its values to life during these activations?
JS: These kiddos, I call them the VIPs, the real rock stars, have a chance to experience a cultural event, community, the magic and the power of music and dancing and nourishing your body and what self-care feels like, what it feels like to feel joy. Personally, for me as ceo, this has been an experience that has been important in my life. And Lifeway is a brand that really tries to help people live their best, most empowered life, their healthiest life. One where self-care tools are accessible to all, or as many as possible.
EM: How do these wellness experiences translate back to business growth?
JS: We know that when people make good choices in one part of their lives, they tend to make good choices in other parts… If they’re making good choices around how they move their body, how they rest their body, how they experience joy in their body, how they experience entertainment, live music, whatever that is… [some will] make the healthy, good choice of drinking Lifeway kefir, seeking it out in the grocery store, buying it. That’s just one of the different ways that we bring our brand attributes to life.
… And, for example, Whole Foods corporate is in Austin. So maybe Whole Foods is at the festival, maybe they’re not, but hopefully they see some of the signage and see that Lifeway is part of the community. It’s important to be there and be visible in front of the community and our buyers, and that they’re aware that we are investing into the brand and the product line. Again, that’s why we are having such great success.
EM: Sounds like you won’t be eliminating experiential from your marketing mix anytime soon.
JS: Definitely not. There are always new products to launch. There are always new things to make [kefir] more relevant. We’re taking a 2,000-year-old product that was so ancient and archaic, and we’ve modernized it by making it relevant at these kinds of events. I don’t think my great grandmothers in the Soviet Union ever thought that their products, their recipe would be showcased as a presenting sponsor of Kidzapalooza or Austin Kiddie Limits.
Get a Taste of Kidzapalooza, presented by Lifeway Kefir:
Photos: Courtesy of Lifeway Foods; Julie Smolyansky/Instagram
