Soda Health’s Julie Fleischer and Jared Childs on Bridging Health Benefits and Retail and Driving Brand Growth

Summary

BRAVE COMMERCE: Episode Summary Title: Soda Health’s Julie Fleischer and Jared Childs on Bridging Health Benefits and Retail and Driving Brand Growth
Release Date: January 28, 2025
Hosts: Rachel Tippograph (Founder & CEO, MikMak) and Sarah Hofstatter (President, Profitero)

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1. Introduction to the 65+ Demographic in Marketing

Rachel Tippograph and Sarah Hofstatter kick off the episode by discussing the often-overlooked 65+ demographic in U.S. marketing. They highlight that this group represents a significant portion of the population with substantial purchasing power.

Key Points:

• Age Misconceptions: The hosts discuss misconceptions about the average age of grandparents in the U.S., revealing it to be younger than expected (47 years old) and technologically savvy (02:07).
• Financial Power: The 65+ demographic is identified as the wealthiest group in the U.S., yet they remain largely invisible to marketers focused on the 18-49 age range (04:25).

Notable Quotes:

• Sarah Hofstatter: “35 million Americans are on Medicare Advantage. And this is the secret that people don't know about.” (01:02)
• Rachel Tippograph: “We are so, which by the way, puts me out of the demo, which is a whole other conversation.” (03:07)

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2. Introduction to Soda Health

The hosts introduce Soda Health, bringing on Julie Fleischer (Chief Experience Officer) and Jared Childs (VP of Business Development) to discuss the company's role in connecting health benefits with retail opportunities.

Key Points:

• Company Overview: Soda Health is a smart benefits platform partnering with health plans to allocate funds for Americans' health-related purchases (06:24).
• Focus on Preventative Health: Emphasis on spending preventative dollars to maintain health and reduce healthcare costs (06:24).

Notable Quotes:

• Jared Childs: “Soda Health is a smart benefits platform. So we work with health plans to give Americans all over the country dollars to spend on their health.” (06:24)
• Rachel Tippograph: “Nothing to do with carbonated soft drinks.” (06:40)

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3. The Hidden Opportunity in Medicare Advantage

Julie Fleisher delves into the specifics of Medicare Advantage and how it creates an untapped market for brands through benefit cards.

Key Points:

• Medicare Advantage Growth: Over 35 million Americans are enrolled, with funds allocated monthly for health-related purchases that must be used within the quarter or they expire (09:23).
• Consumer Behavior: Members of Medicare Advantage tend to spend more (2.1 times the average household) due to the structured benefit cards (14:11).

Notable Quotes:

• Julie Fleisher: “There is money to be had for brands serving these seniors on Medicare Advantage that they can be focusing on to drive brand choice, to drive incremental purchases.” (09:23)
• Jared Childs: “Folks with these cards shop 2.1 times more than the average household that doesn't have these cards.” (14:11)

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4. Bridging Brands and Retailers with Health Benefits

Soda Health explains how they facilitate connections between brands, retailers, and health plans to optimize the use of benefit dollars.

Key Points:

• Retail Integration: Soda Health integrates with retailers' point-of-sale systems and e-commerce platforms like Instacart to ensure seamless use of benefit cards (16:53).
• Brand Opportunities: Brands can position themselves as the preferred choice for Medicare Advantage members by aligning their products with approved benefit categories (15:20).

Notable Quotes:

• Rachel Tippograph: “If she's got this card, she can go get the Tylenol because it's quote unquote, free money.” (09:23)
• Jared Childs: “We work very, very closely with our retail partners to help activate their customers around these benefits.” (14:11)

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5. Technology and Compliance in Benefit Spending

The conversation highlights the technological infrastructure Soda Health employs to manage benefit spending while ensuring compliance and reducing fraud.

Key Points:

• Fintech Capabilities: Ability to restrict purchases to approved items (e.g., apples vs. apple juice) ensures compliance and prevents fraud (11:47).
• Personalization: Future trends point towards personalized benefit spending tailored to individual health needs, requiring advanced technology (21:30).

Notable Quotes:

• Jared Childs: “It's both an opportunity for brands that already exist... and also probably a call to arms for others that might need to reformulate.” (12:45)
• Julie Fleisher: “We have created a new Level of sort of compliance, capability and benefits, integrity.” (20:12)

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6. Impact of Administrative Changes on Medicare Advantage

The hosts discuss potential changes under the upcoming presidential administration and how they might affect Medicare Advantage and Soda Health's operations.

Key Points:

• Privatization Trends: Expectations that Medicare will become more privatized, potentially doubling the number of beneficiaries and increasing the focus on health and well-being expenditures (10:58).
• Policy Implications: Possibility of expanded benefit categories and increased government funding towards health-related consumer spending (19:29).

Notable Quotes:

• Jared Childs: “A lot of analysts think that under the next administration, more Medicare will go to Medicare Advantage... more dollars will be focused around health and well being.” (10:58)
• Julie Fleisher: “Compliance will only get better and better. And we have created a new Level of sort of compliance, capability and benefits integrity.” (20:12)

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7. Retailer Engagement and Consumer Education

Soda Health emphasizes the role of retailers in educating consumers about their benefit dollars and facilitating their use.

Key Points:

• Retail Partnerships: Collaboration with retailers to integrate benefit card acceptance and educate staff (e.g., pharmacists and dietitians) on available benefits (14:11).
• Consumer Engagement: Initiatives to reward additional healthy behaviors (e.g., flu shots) with extra benefit dollars to incentivize healthy choices (16:53).

Notable Quotes:

• Jared Childs: “We're doing a lot to arm [pharmacists and dietitians] with education around what type of benefits folks have.” (14:11)
• Julie Fleisher: “We want to make it really easy for them to find the brands and products available to them.” (15:20)

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8. Monetization and Business Model

The discussion covers how Soda Health sustains its operations through partnerships and value generation for all stakeholders.

Key Points:

• Revenue Streams: Soda Health earns by administering programs for health plans and sharing in cost reductions achieved through better health outcomes (18:35).
• Value Proposition: By increasing the utilization of benefit dollars and driving brand engagement, Soda Health raises the value for health plans, retailers, and brands alike (18:35).

Notable Quotes:

• Jared Childs: “We make money from our customers who are the health plans who pay us to administer this program for them.” (18:35)
• Julie Fleisher: “We make money by helping to drive better outcomes so it reduces their cost and we get a share of that essentially.” (18:59)

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9. Future Trends: Personalization and Expansion of Benefit Categories

Looking ahead, Soda Health anticipates a shift towards more personalized health benefits and an expansion of eligible product categories.

Key Points:

• Personalization: Benefits will become more tailored to individual health needs, moving beyond broad categories to specific products and services (21:30).
• Expanding Categories: Inclusion of diverse product types, such as pest control for health reasons, demonstrating flexibility in addressing various health-related needs (20:12).

Notable Quotes:

• Jared Childs: “The ability to personalize benefit spend for Julie and what she needs versus me is, is where this phase is heading.” (21:30)
• Julie Fleisher: “We have these cards and they are able to restrict... buying apples but not apple juice.” (11:47)

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10. Advice for Brands Interested in Engaging with Soda Health

Julie Fleisher and Jared Childs provide actionable steps for brands looking to tap into the Medicare Advantage market through Soda Health.

Key Points:

• Brand Engagement: Brands should reach out to Soda Health to explore opportunities for inclusion in benefit programs, enhancing their visibility and sales among Medicare Advantage members (22:10).
• Department Collaboration: Marketing departments within brands are key contacts for initiating partnerships, focusing on elevating brand presence among eligible consumers (22:50).

Notable Quotes:

• Jared Childs: “We are looking to work with brand partners to help unlock this market for them.” (22:10)
• Julie Fleisher: “It's how do we elevate the brand and the role the brand plays to these members and make it more available to them.” (22:50)

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11. Personal Stories of Bravery

In the episode’s closing segment, guests share personal stories that exemplify bravery, aligning with the podcast's theme.

Key Points:

• Jared's Story: Inspired by his grandmother's courage to leave an abusive relationship and build a better life (25:32).
• Julie's Story: Transitioning to a data-driven marketing approach early in her career, embracing the unknown and stepping outside her comfort zone (25:41).

Notable Quotes:

• Jared Childs: “My grandma is one of my heroes. She grew up very poor, married at 15... she was brave enough to leave that relationship and forge a life of her own.” (25:32)
• Julie Fleisher: “The most interesting things are outside of your comfort zone.” (25:41)

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Conclusion

Rachel Tippograph and Sarah Hofstatter wrap up the episode by expressing gratitude to Julie Fleischer and Jared Childs for sharing insights about Soda Health. They encourage listeners to engage with Soda Health and explore past episodes featuring related industry leaders.

Key Points:

• Engagement Encouraged: Listeners are invited to connect with Soda Health and explore more content on the BRAVE COMMERCE podcast archive.
• Future Topics: Upcoming episodes will continue to delve into innovative strategies in eCommerce and brand growth.

Notable Quotes:

• Sarah Hofstatter: “If you like what you heard, tell a friend. Write a review. Thanks for listening.” (27:27)

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Timestamps Reference:

• MM:SS: Denotes the minute and second in the transcript where the quote or information is referenced.

Transcript

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[Analyst]

To.

[Soda Health Representative]

35 million Americans are on Medicare Advantage. And this is the secret that people don't know about.

[Analyst]

A lot of analysts think that under the next administration more Medicare will go to Medicare Advantage. It will become more privatized. And so we think more dollars will be focused around health and well being versus things like pharmaceuticals potentially.

[Soda Health Representative]

And we have created a new level of sort of compliance capability and benefits integrity because of the way our fintech rails just less fraud and waste.

[Analyst]

The ability to personalize benefit spend for Julie and what she needs versus me is where the space is heading and it requires a unique technology to be able to power that.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Welcome to today's episode of Brave Commerce.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

I'm Rachel Tippograph, the founder and CEO of Micmac.

[Rachel Tippograph]

I'm Sarah Hofstadter, president of Profitero and.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

This is a show that talks about what's relevant in E commerce for the world's biggest brands. Sarah, do you know the average age of a grandparent in the us?

[Rachel Tippograph]

I do not, but I should. Hit me.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

You want to take a guess?

[Rachel Tippograph]

63.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

47 years old.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Oh my God. Why are you making me feel so Damn old? I'm 50. I'm not a grandmother. My gosh, I gotta get on my kids. Oh my gosh.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

When I first learned that I said 65. At least I have my New York blinders on sometimes. And you know, forget about the rest of the country and how it might differ. But the other cool thing about that stat is a 47 year old today they're on TikTok, they're on Spotify.

[Rachel Tippograph]

So are the 65 year olds. I mean my dad was on Instacart before I was.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Wow.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Yeah, my dad was also on Facebook before I was, which is just a little hashtag creepy. But we don't give credit to people with higher degrees of maturity and we don't appreciate actually their technological adoptions and mechanisms that go along with it. Yet they are the ones with the most income and continued improved longevity.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Well, I don't know if this is a cultural term or a marketing term, but I learned it from a past Brave commerce guest. So Pam Kaufman, who spent a big portion of her career overseeing the Nickelodeon business, she taught me this term, which is called the Velcro generation. Because of the democratization of all these digital tools. Grandparents today are more relevant than ever before because they're accessing the same level of information as a 17 year old.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Very true. And so it's really a matter of, you know, do you have the right mindset yet putting Pam aside because, you know, she's such a baller, but putting Pam aside. Most marketers are not looking at that 65 plus audience. You know, we're still looking at 18 to 49s. We are so. Which by the way, puts me out of the demo, which is a whole other conversation. We're not going to talk about it, but when we start looking at what do marketing briefs look like today, when you start talking about audiences, when you start doing demo targeting, you don't get the 65 Plus. And not only that, I mean, how many do you think there are of that audience?

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Probably a third of the US population, Very possibly. We were talking about the baby boomers. The boomers, yes. And also, as we all know, they're now the wealthiest people in the U.S. right.

[Rachel Tippograph]

So here we are, we've got an audience that's this big, basically invisible to marketers unless you're doing, you know, smart behavioral targeting, but certainly not if you're doing demo targeting. And there's this benefit that exists in the healthcare environment where the government gives you money to spend on a monthly basis. At least as of now, I can't talk about the next administration, but at least as of now, they give you money to spend and it's use it or lose it. And it's all around health care. So you need band aids, you need vitamins, you need Dayquil, whatever that is. Money that the 65 plus generation can get access to that they can spend. And marketers are woefully under tapping into this.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

So my parents are in this demo. How do I tell them to get this money?

[Rachel Tippograph]

The trick has to be connectivity between groups that don't normally talk to each other, which generally I think is our stick. Right? Isn't that what we do? You got to get the people that are responsible for this. In this case, Soda Help seems like the organization that is seeing this opportunity to connect brands, retailers and the insurance providers to be able to create that synchronization. It's a very different go to market strategy than your typical consumer marketing shopper marketing, digital marketing mechanism.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Well, let's bring this very fascinating company onto the show, sodahealth. Today we are very excited to have a different part of the ecosystem. Onto the show. We have Julie Fleisher, who's the chief experience officer, and Jared Childs, the VP of Business development at Soda Health. Hello, Julie and Jared.

[Soda Health Representative]

Hey, Rachel. Hey, Sarah. Thank you for having us.

[Analyst]

Hey all excited to be here.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

First to just kick it off. What is Soda Health?

[Soda Health Representative]

You take that one, Jared.

[Analyst]

So Soda Health is a smart benefits platform. So we work with health plans to give Americans all over the country dollars to spend on their health. Talk a little bit about some of the categories they're able to spend it on, but really focus on preventative dollars to keep Americans healthy.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Wait, so we're now talking about soda.

[Soda Health Representative]

Nothing to do with carbonated soft drinks.

[Rachel Tippograph]

So it's not soda. No, but it is healthy.

[Soda Health Representative]

It's not soda. It's health. And it's health and retail and cpg, which is why we thought this was good for you.

[Rachel Tippograph]

You know what? We have the wrong guests on the show. We're going to have to re record this whole damn thing.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Okay, wait.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Actually, this sounds kind of interesting.

[Soda Health Representative]

Yeah.

[Rachel Tippograph]

So let me get this right. It's not about carbonated beverages, but there's $30 billion spent by American consumers that are currently funded via health care.

[Soda Health Representative]

Let me unpack this for you, please. So let's start with there is a world of seniors, people 65 plus, and we in CPG tend never to see them. Nielsen doesn't even let you buy t after age 54. This is the invisible people. There are 10,000 people in America turning 65 every day. That started in 2011. That will continue through 2029. These people are on Medicare. There's two flavors of Medicare. There's Medicare and Medicare Advantage. 35 million Americans are on Medicare Advantage. And this is the secret that people don't know about. They have access to dollars on cards to buy products, OTC products, healthy food products that help keep them healthier so that there aren't more expensive downstream health impacts of things that have to send them to the hospital and doctors and things like that. So 35 million Medicare Advantage members over 65 have a pool of $30 billion with a B on cards that they can spend on OTC and food items. These dollars are net new incremental dollars. They come from the government to the health plans. They go on these cards for seniors. They either use them or they go away. They go poof. So every quarter, they might get $75 to spend on OTC products. If they don't spend it within the quarter, those dollars go away. There is money to be had for brands serving these seniors on Medicare Advantage that they can be focusing on to drive brand choice, to drive incremental purchases, and to drive. Rachel, you're constantly talking about volume sales versus dollar sales. These are dollar sales, net new dollar sales that can be driven through retail that either get spent or. Or it goes poof.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Let me just unpack this. Let's use my mom because she's over 65 and she doesn't listen to the podcast, so this is safe space. Theoretically, my mom does. I know. I love Jill. Jill, I love you. Thank you for being such a supporter of RaveCommerce and me and Rachel, too. But for me, my mom, she goes to cbs. She needs to pick up some more Tylenol. She's debating between the Tylenol and the store brand because, you know, times are tight. So if she's got this card, she can go get the Tylenol because it's quote unquote, free money, right? Because it goes on the card. And especially if it's the 29th of the month, if she doesn't spend this money, it's gone. So she may as well buy the better brand. Am I getting this right?

[Analyst]

Yeah, it's exactly right. And I think when people hear free money, they're like, so what's the catch? It really is healthcare when you think about your insurers, right? We've all had the privilege of working with our health insurance companies. Historically, they have showed up to pay for things when you're sick, right? So you're sick, they'll help cover some of the costs. In 2018, this whole trend started where they said, let's put preventative dollars in people's pockets so that they can stay healthy and not get to the doctor. And so that's when this space really ballooned, as Julie mentioned in Medicare Advantage. And we've seen it grow from a couple billion to 30 billion in the course of five years. And it really feels like the best kept secret in retail. We're starting to see retailers catch on and invest in this space, brands still seem to be lagging behind, which is why so excited to have this conversation today.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

I have to ask a question that could put a damper on the conversation. Do we feel any of this is at risk under the next upcoming presidential administration?

[Analyst]

It's the right question to ask. We actually think that there could be some tailwinds. So 2018 Medicare Advantage is when it really took off, which is the privatized version of Medicare. A lot of analysts think that under the next administration, more Medicare will go to Medicare Advantage, it'll become more privatized, and so that 35 million Americans that receive these benefits today could look more like 70 million. And then there's obviously some bipartisan buy in around the chronic disease epidemic we could totally get into. And how do we make people healthier with what they're putting in their bodies? And so we think more dollars will be focused around health and well being versus things like pharmaceuticals potentially.

[Soda Health Representative]

And the reason why companies like ours exist, the thing that we do is we have these cards and they are able to restrict. So you're able to buy one product but not another. You're able to buy apples but not apple juice. You're able to buy oranges but not candied orange peel.

[Rachel Tippograph]

Is that like an FSA card?

[Soda Health Representative]

Kind of think of it like an FSA card, yeah. As more is discussed about the kinds of things that should go in somebody's body versus shouldn't go in somebody's body. As this next administration perhaps takes a perspective toward what healthy foods are, those kinds of restrictions can open the doors to more. People could buy these foods because they will have dollars on cards versus others. So it's both an opportunity for brands that already exist that do fall into these categories already, and also probably a call to arms for others that might need to reformulate in order to be on approved lists.

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[Analyst]

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[Rachel Tippograph]

Jared, you mentioned something about the retailers kind of being more leaned into this versus brands. How are the retailers leaning in?

[Analyst]

So there's a couple of ways. I was listening to your podcast with Katie Williams from Halion and she was talking a lot about when people think about health and well being today, they're largely influenced by folks like Huberman and others in this demographic. Medicare Advantage, right 65 plus their local influencers are genuinely their pharmacists and dietitians in store. Right. They go to the store multiple times a month. They know their pharmacists by name in many cases. And so what retailers are seeing is when they get the pharmacists and dietitians more involved in this space, we're doing a lot to arm them with education around what type of benefits folks have. They're able to recommend more relevant products because they also know what medications those folks are on, what diseases they might be managing. And so we work very, very closely with our retail partners to help activate their customers around these benefits because they're seeing that folks with these cards shop 2.1 times more than the average household that doesn't have these cards. And so they've done the calculation, they're seeing that they're more valuable and they're getting more involved. And Julie, I'm not sure if you have additional thoughts on that.

[Soda Health Representative]

That's right. I think we partner with retailers to enable people to use these cards and to make it super easy for them. So we want them to be able to spend their dollars at their favorite stores, online, in store, via phone, whatever makes it easiest for them. And we want to make it really easy for them to find the brands and products available to them through these different benefits. And then the other thing that we want to do is work with brands to expand the effective benefit value so that people's dollars go further. So for example, we were talking with one of our plans and we talked to some of their members who were saying, you know what, there's money here that's valuable to us, but not quite enough to cover the kinds of products that I need to buy. And their specific issue was like around Incontinence products which can add up over the course of a quarter. And so we called Kimberly Clark and said, hey, depend brand, you should be getting on this because there are people that want your products, that can't afford your products, that are using private label instead. But you have the opportunity to come in here. Brands have the opportunity to come in here and be heroes by helping to expand these effective benefits and being the brand of choice for members as they use their benefit dollars.

[Rachel Tippograph]

So just one question on this whole. Retailers dialing in when it comes to online purchasing. The cards that these advantage customers get, can they be used on Instacart or does it work with the retailer and will the retailer be able to pick that up? Like, how are the retailers working with you on connecting to the dots? Especially for those who really have adopted E Comm shopping during the pandemic and now especially for those who are less mobile.

[Analyst]

Part of what we do that's somewhat complex is right we have this, the fintech capability that Julie said that allows us to restrict. In order to be able to do that, the retailer has to be integrated with us in our fintech. And so that's the work that I lead. So we literally have an integration with their point of sale systems. If they have E Commerce and have the ability to accept these cards, we're integrating with E Comm as well so that when that card is swiped, we see every item in the basket. So we're this really interesting data layer in between and then we're able to say, hey, these four items are covered. Authorize the card for this. So our retailers have to integrate with us. There's a decent body of work to do that. One of the reasons why they're leaning in more with us is there's a lot of other pools of money that they can create. Retailers by leaning into this space, I mentioned that obviously they're working to make sure that folks are educated. Another component of this is somebody may have 250 bucks a quarter to spend on vitamins, but if they get their flu shot or a 1C test, they can unlock an additional $25 reward. And so that your pharmacy is well positioned right in store to perform those services that then expand the benefit value. So there's multiple ways we integrate with them. Instacart's a great example of we're seeing more and more adoption of E Commerce for these folks. And Instacart is kind of one of the leaders in the space for accepting these cards before other folks do.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

So just listening to the conversation so far we've talked about a lot of different stakeholders. There is the insurance companies, there's the government, there's the retailers, there's the 65 plus consumer, there's brand manufacturers. I'm sitting here and I'm trying to figure out how do you guys make money?

[Soda Health Representative]

The first thing is part of what we do is we raise the tide for all of those. So it's really about more value for each, better outcomes for all. We make money from our customers who are the health plans who pay us to administer this program for them. And then we also make money by helping to drive better outcomes so it reduces their cost and we get a share of that essentially.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Got it. So the insurance companies.

[Soda Health Representative]

Yeah.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Interesting. And is this us only?

[Jackie Cooper]

It is.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Okay. As the next generation of 65 + come into the Ethereum. My father is 68. He'd be okay with me sharing this. He does listen to Andrew Huberman. I don't know if he talks to his pharmacist. I don't think so. He's never told me about it. How do you think that might change as sort of the, the next generation that has spent the last 15 years on social media, consuming content on Spotify, et cetera, might impact your business.

[Analyst]

One of the things that you'll continue to see is the eligible items will evolve over time. So historically, like we've said, it's been very focused on kind of like OTC category pretty broad. We're starting to see more healthy food. I think you'll continue to see the products available to buy change as the awareness around wellness evolves. And so we're already seeing this in FSA HSA where you can start to spend your dollars on like a sleep eight mattress. Right. These higher ticket items you can apply dollars towards peloton. And so that's one of the areas I could see evolving is the definition of preventative products will expand in Medicare like it has with FSA hsa, more of those employer funded benefits.

[Soda Health Representative]

There's two trends here. One is the trend toward sort of like privatization and choice. The government gives money to the health insurance companies and then they as privatized entities want to give people as much choice as possible within sort of the guardrails of what is acceptable in order to drive health outcomes. And then the other tension is just this need for compliance because we want to make sure that those dollars aren't wasted. And so it's those two things coming together and I think the compliance will only get better and better. And we have created a new Level of sort of compliance, capability and benefits, integrity. Because of the way our fintech rails work, there's just less fraud and waste. But also we can work to enable all of these different categories or types of providers because of the way our system is built. So if you like, literally we have, you know, one plan who also allows pest control kinds of products, because there's areas in the south, even not in the south, where cockroaches or other kinds of things, you know, are a big driver of disease. And so taking care of that, pest control matters. And so we're able to turn that part of it on so people can buy those products with these benefit dollars because it ends up keeping them healthier.

[Analyst]

What you're seeing in medicine today with people being able to take control of their own health by listening to Huberman, being influenced in other ways is the personalization of health care. And so today these benefits are very broad, right? Like if Julie and I were on the same plan, we both get the same dollars for the same preventative items. Where we see the future going is very personalized. So what Julie needs is much different than what I need.

[Soda Health Representative]

Right?

[Analyst]

We're in different parts of the country, we're different genders, we have different socioeconomic needs. And so the ability to personalize benefit spend for Julie and what she needs versus me is, is where this phase is heading. And it requires a unique technology to be able to power that.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

So we have a lot of brand listeners. If I'm a brand right now, what should I do?

[Soda Health Representative]

Call me. We really think that the next thing to do is to bring brands into the equation. So as I, you know, again, we said it's more value for each, better outcomes for all. We are aligning incentives between health plans and retailers and members, but really feel like brands are the missing piece. They have a role to play. And we want to help make sure that those brands can do the job to expand those effective benefit values of members, be front and center for them when they need them. And we have lots of ways to help do that. So we are looking to work with brand partners to help unlock this market for them.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Do you have a thesis? Is it someone from the marketing team, Someone from the sales organization? Like, who do you think is the right person from the brand to call you?

[Soda Health Representative]

It's interesting because we're working with a number of brands in a number of different departments. I think it's marketing. There is a tendency to think about sort of retail or shopper, but I really think it's brand and promotional dollars it's how do we elevate the brand and the role the brand plays to these members and make it more available to them.

[Analyst]

The interesting thing about this is obviously people have dollars that are expiring Soda Health and other players like us. We not only have the first party data of knowing who these people are, we have engagement channels with them to remind them of their benefits. We also obviously know when those are going to expire. And so the intent to buy is there for brands that want to get involved and you know exactly which products and which categories you can spend on. So if I'm a brand like Helion, right, and I know someone has 50 bucks in my category to spend, that ends at the end of the month, I would want to do everything I can to make sure I get that wallet share. And having that intent to buy is, is really a differentiator in this space.

[Soda Health Representative]

We also see everything that people buy. So we also have a closed loop analysis to demonstrate what people have purchased and the ROI on that. So that's really the first thing that we are trying to work on with brands. It's literally direct mail coupons into the mailboxes of people who we know have dollars on their card that are going to expire within the next two weeks to drive them toward brand purchases. And then we can do a closed loop analysis to understand that uplift and then call you call me to do that.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Great. Julie and Jared, it's so fascinating to learn about Soda Health. But we gotta ask you our famous last question. What's the bravest thing you've ever done? Jared, do you want to go first and then Julie?

[Kinsta Representative]

Sure.

[Analyst]

I might try to bend the rules a little bit and share the bravest thing that's been done for me is that cool.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Nice twist.

[Analyst]

I'll keep it brief, but my grandma is one of my heroes. She grew up very poor, married at 15, didn't have a high school degree, had my dad when she was 16 and was in a pretty abusive relationship at 17 with out a high school degree, she left, was brave enough to leave that, that relationship and kind of forge a life of her own. And I'm the beneficiary of that. Years later, when I was in kind of my formative years, I got to go meet basically my dad's real dad and kind of see the life that we could have had. And so that contrast was really impactful to me and I continued to, to be inspired by the bravery that my grandma had.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Wow, that's an amazing story. I did just get chills I don't.

[Soda Health Representative]

Want to follow that.

[Analyst]

Sorry, Julie. I should have prepped you.

[Soda Health Representative]

Bravest thing I've ever done. I'm going to say Sarah is my hero and she was a part of this. But it was probably when I was at CRAFT and sort of reinvented myself as a data driven marketer, when that was a pretty early time to do it. It was very much the unknown. I was coming off of sort of everything that I had worked on. And I had this theory that things could be different if we looked at them differently and really took a big career leap to embrace all of the things that were, you know, just starting to happen at that moment. And so it was big, it was formative and I think it has sort of driven everything that I did afterwards. It also, you know, helped me understand that the most interesting things are outside of your comfort zone.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

Love that. Love both of your stories in forms of bravery. Well, we're so appreciative for your time. And everyone go check out Soda Health.

[Soda Health Representative]

Thank you.

[Sarah Hofstadter]

If you like what you heard and you want to think about other companies that might be tackling this invisible generation or care a lot about health, consumer health, go back in the archives to listen to an episode with Chris Rogers, who's the Chief Business Officer of Instacart. Or go check out a more recent episode with the CMO of Halion us, Katie Williams. Or go check out also a fairly recent episode with Luke Kygle of Kimberly Clark. If you like what you heard, tell a friend. Write a review. Thanks for listening.

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[Jackie Cooper]

Hi, I'm Jackie Cooper, Global Chief Brand Officer at Edelman and the host of Touch of Truth, a new podcast launching on the Adweek Podcast Network. My dad gave me this incredibly smart piece of advice. Meet everyone once. As a result, I've met some of the most fascinating and inspiring people on the planet. Now on Touch of Truth, we're coming centre stage and sharing the mic to experience stories of truth, insights and visions for the future that will challenge your way of thinking. Touch of Truth is available wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes come out every Tuesday. I do hope to see you there.