In our latest interview, we spoke with Oliver Dixon, Co-Founder of Something & Nothing, about how strong brand positioning has helped grow his premium natural soda business from East London to international success.

Oliver's journey to founding Something & Nothing came from a blend of backgrounds in culture, branding, and creative direction. As co-founder of the agency Margaret, he worked with premium brands across fashion, alcohol and culture, gaining a strong grounding in brand strategy.

"I had an agency called Margaret, which still exists, but I'm no longer part of, which I co-founded with two friends, Katie and Emma. I was the creative director of that," explains Oliver. "We're working a lot with high-end brands, premium brands, luxury-ish brands."

As his role evolved from creative director to brand strategist, Oliver was keen to create something of his own: "I became quite obsessed with it and had lots of ideas and theories that clients were maybe not quite ready to take on. I had that itch, which I think a lot of people do in this space, and I wanted to create my own thing."

The inspiration for entering the soft drinks market came from an unexpected source; a period of sobriety after opening a pub in Hackney called The Gun.

"I started a pub with some friends, developing that kind of proposition and brand and how it would sit in that space. But more importantly, as part of that, we drank quite heavily for six to eight months and had a really good time," Oliver recalls. "I thought I need to knock this on the head and look after myself a bit, so I’m going to stop drinking for a while."

Looking for alternatives in social settings, Oliver noticed a gap in the market: "I kind of hadn't really looked at the soft drink space and was like, oh, this is actually right for disruption. Kind of hasn't changed for decades. Everything's still full of sugar, all the flavours are really boring, quite sort of juvenile."

When describing what brand means to Something & Nothing, Oliver references a perspective that resonated with him: "Someone said, your brand is what somebody else tells somebody else it is. And I kind of think that's true. You can spend a lot of time working out exactly what you want people to think, but in the end it’s what they actually tell someone: ‘I like this brand because of this’, that really matters."

For Something & Nothing, building an emotional connection with consumers is at the core of their strategy. Unlike functional drinks that promise health benefits or energy boosts, they focus on quality and taste: "What we're producing is something that just tastes really good. It's better quality than what's out there, and for us an evolution of the soda category."

That thinking extends to their visual branding, which deliberately breaks category conventions:

- Breaking Conventions: "I made the decision to not do anything that soft drinks brands do, which is either suicidal or smart, and hopefully it's turned out to be smart."

- Industry Scepticism: "At the first trade show we did in the UK, someone from the soft drinks industry said, ‘What are you doing? Your name’s tiny on the can. It’s a cucumber, but you don’t even have a picture of one. This isn’t going to work. You’re crazy.’"

- Evocative Imagery: For their cucumber flavour, Oliver "spent days kind of trawling images" before finding "this one by this guy who turned out to actually be an art teacher... the long shadow suddenly became something that we used then and continue to use now because it's very emotive in terms of that time of day."

Something & Nothing’s distribution approach reflects their brand values, beginning with carefully chosen neighbourhood locations before expanding into larger retailers. As Oliver explains: "We always talk about our neighbourhood strategy. It’s about being in the right places that build brand equity, and then expanding from there into larger stores and supermarkets."

This strategy has proven successful internationally: "We've got presence not across Europe, but specifically in Berlin, Germany; Lisbon, Portugal; and Athens, Greece. In the Netherlands, we're in Amsterdam. When we launched, I think we started in 400 stores and then moved to 1,200 after a couple of months because the velocity of sales was really good. Now we're in three supermarkets in the Netherlands, with about 2,000 stores across all of those."

In the US, where 65% of their business now comes from, they are running a similar model, even with only a small team on the ground:

- Strategic Brand Partnerships: Through partnerships and events, the brand has shown how collaboration can extend reach and build credibility in the premium drinks market.

- Quality-Focused Distribution: By working with distributors such as Chefs Warehouse, the brand has learnt that aligning with partners who prioritise quality strengthens perception. When distributors look for soft drinks to sit alongside top-grade produce, the drinks are placed as a natural premium choice rather than just another option.

- Premium Retail Presence: Strong results in high-end retailers such as Erewhon, highlight that premium pricing and positioning resonate with discerning consumers. Becoming the third best-selling soda behind Olipop and Poppi demonstrates both the strength of the brand and the demand for quality alternatives in the functional drinks category.

The distinctive presence of Something & Nothing on shelf creates what Oliver describes as a “sticky factor”: "The consumer picks it up, you see them in a store, they look at the flavour, that’s interesting, then they turn the can around, look at the back and see the health credentials. And they’re like, right, okay, I’ll purchase that."

This visual impact has allowed for impressive growth with very little marketing spend, particularly in the US: "150%, 200% without needing a marketing spend and without needing that team on the ground."

For investors, the brand’s positioning provides a clear differentiator in the market: "That brand positioning is unlike any other brand that’s out there. So from an investor’s point of view, they can see that as a very clear kind of moat that we’re building around us, that no one can really copy."

For entrepreneurs just starting out, Oliver highlights three key principles:

1. Thorough Preparation: "Really thinking through the brand, the different elements, getting the product right, obviously, before you put it into market, I think is really good use of your time. Really sweat it and talk to a lot of people, do a lot of reading, and really understand what you want to do."

2. Stay True to Your Vision: "You have to hold it tightly because you will get advice and information from everybody. As soon as you put something out there, everybody's got an opinion on it, you'll suddenly have a million voices saying a million things that will contradict what you want to do that sound like a good idea."

3. Strategic Flexibility: "If it isn't working and your gut begins to tell you it isn't working, then don't hang on to it for too long. Change it or stop."

Something & Nothing’s journey shows how a distinctive brand approach, rooted in emotional connection rather than functional benefits, can deliver real business value and support international growth even with limited marketing resources.

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