How Brands Turn “Uncool” Products Into Cultural Moments — The Synergy Playbook

Here’s one of the most underrated truths in marketing: Most products are not cool.

Cleaning supplies, canned fish, fiber supplements, kombucha… none of these categories were born aspirational. But this year, the brands winning are the ones doing the impossible: turning historically “uncool” products into cultural moments through brand, storytelling, and timing.

And no one has done this better recently than Synergy Kombucha.

The Problem: Kombucha Hasn’t Always Been Cool

Let’s be honest: kombucha used to be the weird, slightly questionable drink you picked up only for gut health. It lived in a niche lane. Functional, yes. Culturally iconic? Not even close.

Synergy didn’t accept the category they inherited.

They rebuilt it.

• Not by reformulating the product

• Not by redesigning the bottle

• Not by talking about gut health for the 10,000th time

…but by shifting perception.

The Strategy: Make the Brand Cool Before the Product Is

Synergy’s genius wasn’t simply choosing influencers, it was the strategy behind it. Instead of riding “health content” or leaning on functional beverage trends, they placed kombucha somewhere no one expected:

inside a cultural storyline people were already emotionally invested in.

By partnering with Love Island favorites TJ, Hannah, and Iris at the exact moment the internet cared about them most, Synergy didn’t just borrow clout, they borrowed relevance.

This is how you make an uncool product cool:

• Tap into a moment, not a demographic

• Speak the language of the community, not the category

• Let the story carry the brand

Suddenly, it wasn’t just kombucha.

It became a symbol of upgrade.

And that’s how brand of the funky fermented tea became aspirational.

The Results (Because Cool Shows Up in Data)

Synergy’s campaign wasn’t just culturally smart, it delivered:

• 40M+ social views

• 10K+ new followers

• A noticeable lift in brand perception

• A wave of organic conversation

Not because people suddenly developed a new obsession with kombucha, but because Synergy made kombucha feel desirable.

The Bigger Idea: Cool Is Manufactured, Not Inherited

This is the blueprint for brands in “uncool” categories:

• Branding can rewrite category rules

• Narrative can elevate even the most ordinary product

• Cultural timing is more powerful than paid reach

• Cool is emotional, not functional

Paper towels can be cool. Olive oil can be cool. Kombucha can be cool. If the brand earns it. Synergy didn’t chase attention. They engineered cultural participation.

Pophaus Take

The brands winning in 2025 aren’t the ones with the most innovative products.

They’re the ones with the most innovative storytelling.

Synergy proves that cool isn’t about the category, it’s about the context.

If you can place your “ordinary” product inside a moment people genuinely care about, you can turn even the least sexy item into the next social obsession.

✨ The takeaway: Products don’t go viral. Perceptions do.