AG1 CEO Kat Cole: up 40% Black Friday YoY after launching AG1 flavors, AGZ sleep product, and entering Costco

Summary

AG1 is tracking nearly 40% above last year's Black Friday figures, a result Kat Cole attributes directly to a portfolio expansion that didn't exist twelve months ago. The company moved from a single-SKU model to a multi-product lineup in 2025, launching flavored variants of its core AG1 formula, entering Costco, and introducing AGZ, a melatonin-free nighttime recovery product combining two forms of magnesium, ashwagandha, and an herbal blend. The growth engine on Black Friday is bundling rather than discounting — customers are layering AGZ, flavor samplers, and omega/D3K2 supplements onto existing AG1 subscriptions.

Strategic Pivot: Science Over Influencers

The most consequential marketing shift in 2025 was pulling back influencer spend in favor of clinical validation. AG1 invested over $10 million across four double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled human trials and deliberately reduced overall marketing investment by 40% in the first half of the year to execute product and channel launches cleanly. That science-forward positioning drove out-of-home campaigns that leaned into clinical language, and replaced traditional athlete sponsorships with NIL deals targeting college nutrition students.

An additional $20 million in research spending is already committed for the next phase of clinical trials.

TV as an Emerging Performance Channel

Linear and connected TV are beginning to contribute meaningfully to the funnel. AG1 ran its "Good Morning Moon" brand campaign — narrated by Rick Rubin, described as a long-term AG1 consumer — during Game 7 of the World Series. The campaign was cut into 15- and 30-second versions segmented by audience: parents, runners, and athletes. Cole acknowledges TV attribution remains difficult but cites AI-assisted measurement tools as helping quantify the channel's contribution, particularly as retail presence grows.

Retail and International Expansion

Costco remains the anchor retail bet, and AG1 plans to add national retail partners in 2026. Internationally, the brand has launched Australia and Japan via its Shopify partnership and is extending its European product range. Cole notes that consumer behavior across markets is consistent: purchases require an average of eight to ten touchpoints before conversion, reinforcing the need for sustained top-of-funnel investment.

Macro Insulation Through Launch Velocity

Cole acknowledges the bifurcated consumer environment — higher-income households propping up discretionary spend — but argues that AG1's back-to-back product and channel launches in the first half of 2025 effectively masked any macro-driven softness that a more static brand might have felt. The premium price point is positioned as net value creation, given that AG1 and AGZ each consolidate what would otherwise be multi-product supplement stacks.