How does a top-tier design studio reimagine a fast-growing brand?

In Part 2 of our brand refresh series, Suite 9C founder Paula Grant—joined by team members Jessy Qussar and Melissa Piombo—unveils five final design directions created for Dappy, a non-alcoholic functional beverage brand on the rise.

Maddie Frank, Dappy’s founder, shares her candid reactions and reveals which concept ultimately became the new face of the brand. Together, they unpack the creative strategy behind each direction, what made the winning look stand out, and how the final identity captures Dappy’s mood-lifting mission in the growing non-alc space.

Hear Scout Brisson, CEO of DUS, Troy Bondi, co-founder of Saws, and Sarah Yankee, CEO of Home Court, discuss the true cost and return of attending trade shows like Expo West, sparked by Scout’s LinkedIn question: Is exhibiting at Expo West worth it? Learn how to create a memorable brand experience, measure success beyond sales through networking and media coverage, and leverage trade shows for long-term marketing, along with tips for selecting the right shows and amplifying your presence for greater visibility.

Natalie Wieder, Vice President of Category Management at Thrive Market, shares recent updates to this leading grocery e-commerce retailer’s vendor experience, including the launch of a new vendor portal, a brand insights dashboard, and a retail media platform. The conversation covers shifts in product selection strategy, key attributes Thrive prioritizes when evaluating new items, and how the platform is evolving to better support merchandising and marketing. Also discussed are the attributes of Thrive’s core consumer, promotional planning, and how internal teams assess performance and brand potential.

Join Christian Quie, VP of Sales at ChocXO, and Lillard Anthony Wong, CEO of Owlvericks Coffee, discuss how their brands are responding to sharp ingredient cost increases caused by shifting trade policies and environmental factors and. They share approaches to managing supply chain volatility, strategies for alternative sourcing, methods for communicating price changes, and ways to maintain margin and product quality.

Consumers say they want sustainable packaging, but what do they actually care about, and how can brands deliver without tanking margins? Martin Caballero (BevNET), Simon Gainey (Hard Working Packaging), and Benjamin Puncher (Mintel) unpack it all, from the power of clear front-of-pack messaging to the value of recyclable materials and packaging that reinforces brand identity. They spotlight brands like Liquid Death, which prove that when sustainability is woven into the core story and executed in a way that feels authentic, it can drive consumer connection and strengthen the bottom line.

In part one of this two-part series, DAPI founder Maddie Frank teams up with Suite 9C—the design studio behind brands like BodyArmor, Lemon Perfect, and Core Hydration—to rethink her packaging and bring the brand closer to its vision. This episode covers how to make your packaging design work smarter, not harder; how to position a non-alc product in a fast-evolving category; how and why to infuse your brand identity into the design; and how to communicate essential info quickly enough to catch consumers in the moment of purchase.

Jana Goodbaugh of Happy Wolf and Jason Smith, the “Demo Dynamo” from Ithaca Hummus and former Perfect Bar retail lead, share how to turn demos from a cost center into a growth engine. From pinpointing the best sampling days to building a passionate demo team, they reveal insider strategies for driving product discovery, converting samplers into loyal customers, and proving value to retailers through measurable sales impact.

Nicola Buffo, co-founder of Pistachio—a viral pistachio butter brand dominating DTC and expanding in indie retail—is on a mission to decode CPG’s “grow slow and steady” mantra. What does smart growth really look like when you’re bootstrapped? Pierre Jamet, Fishwife’s Chief Sales Officer, shares his ingenious tricks for conserving cash, boosting velocities, and navigating retail’s competitive landscape.