Surfside names Christina Stella SVP of Adult Beverage

Surfside hired advertising veteran Christina Stella as SVP, Adult Beverage to lead category strategy and expand partnerships across suppliers, distributors, retailers and agencies. The move comes as the company says its Adult Beverage division has grown 134% year over year in the first half of 2026.

Why it matters: - Surfside is trying to grow deeper into the adult beverage category, where independent liquor stores and specialty retailers are still hard for brands to reach and measure at scale. - The hire adds a senior operator with commerce media and supplier-partnership experience as Surfside pushes its retail media and closed-loop measurement offering. - Surfside says the division’s growth and Stella’s role are aimed at making the independent channel more addressable, measurable and valuable to suppliers.

What happened: - Surfside named Christina Stella SVP, Adult Beverage. - Stella will lead Surfside’s Adult Beverage division and oversee category strategy and growth. - Stella will also focus on partnerships across suppliers, distributors, retailers and agencies. - Surfside announced the hire on August 20, 2026. - Surfside said the Adult Beverage division posted 134% year-over-year growth in H1 2026.

The details: - Stella joined Surfside from Provi, where she spent five years helping build the company’s advertising business. - Her most recent role at Provi was SVP, Supplier Partnerships. - Stella worked with beverage alcohol suppliers, distributors and retailers on data-driven marketing solutions. - Those efforts were designed to connect brands with retail buyers and influence purchasing decisions closer to the point of purchase. - Earlier in her career, Stella held roles at Instacart, BuzzFeed and Blis. - Stella brings more than 15 years of experience across digital media, advertising technology, commerce and strategic partnerships. - Surfside says its Adult Beverage offering is built around three core capabilities: first-party purchase data, onsite and offsite media activation, and measurement tied to commerce outcomes. - Surfside currently works with more than 100 Adult Beverage suppliers, including Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Moët Hennessy, Sapporo and The Macallan. - The company’s network includes more than 8,000 independent, regional and specialty beer, wine and spirits retailers. - Surfside says it is using data and media infrastructure to help brands identify relevant consumers, influence shopping behavior across digital and physical environments, and measure advertising outcomes. - Surfside included a link for more information: More information.

Between the lines: - The hire suggests Surfside wants to move faster in a category where retail fragmentation makes measurement and audience targeting harder than in more centralized channels. - Stella’s background in supplier partnerships signals a focus on revenue growth through tighter ties with the brand and retail side of the business. - The company is positioning itself as a commerce media bridge between advertising spend and in-store sales, not just a media vendor.

What's next: - Surfside plans to expand its Adult Beverage capabilities and partnerships with Stella leading the division. - The company is also pushing brands to look beyond traditional media metrics and toward clearer links between ad exposure and commerce outcomes. - Surfside’s next test is whether it can keep scaling its network and prove that its measurement tools deliver business results in a fragmented category.

The bottom line: - Surfside is betting that a stronger Adult Beverage team and more measurable retail media can turn a fragmented category into a bigger growth engine.