Energy Drink Brands: Marketing Considerations
Marketing for energy drinks varies by packaging, location, and distribution channel (e.g., supermarkets). The packaging for energy drink brands is in bottles or cans. Companies produce these products using their packaging to appeal to a specific consumer base.
For example, Monster Energy’s primary customer base is teenagers, extreme athletes, and gamers. Their cans have darker packaging and what some would consider a dangerous image as their logo.
The market for energy drinks is primarily in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Africa. North America is the location with the highest sales of energy drinks. This continent is home to large brands, such as Monster and Bang. In North America, it is not uncommon to see multiple energy drink brands in the same store.
Energy drinks advertise speed and agility to the consumer. Their man ingredients are amino acids, caffeine, and taurine; all products people either purchase or produce naturally. Between long work commutes and sporting events, these drinks promise to bring as much caffeine as one cup of coffee.
No continent sells more energy drinks than North America. This location is known for its consumption of them during and after physical activity. North Americans consume energy drinks during social gatherings as much as they consume water. There is also rising popularity in mixing them with alcohol.
Energy Drink Brands Target Audience?
As mentioned above, the target audience for Monster energy drinks is teenagers and those in extreme sports, such as motocross. The brand’s packaging is the primary appeal to this customer base and has been since its formation in 2002. This company’s marketing campaign is designed around that customer base and word-of-mouth sales.
The target audience for Red Bull is independent professionals with an average to higher income. Red Bull markets their product by appealing to the consumer first, then sales. This brand has grown from being the only energy drink on the market to being in more than 170 countries around the world. This success is because of their marketing strategy.
Newer Energy Drink Brands:
Bang Energy targets the Gen-Z audience through influencer-based marketing strategies. This brand’s marketing team knows Gen-Z consumers prefer to see content from everyday people, not just celebrities. To the brand’s advantage, agents have contracts with social media influencers. In 2020 Bang Energy sales began competing with larger companies, such as Red Bull.
Like Bang Energy, ZOA is created with performance-based ingredients for a strength workout or a cardio session. However, owners of ZOA are leaders of the pack in the fitness world, like Dwayne Johnson. What sets this drink apart is that all its ingredients are also health conscious, appealing to the movement of taking care of our bodies better.
5-Hour Energy appeals to the consumer on-the-go with the hectic schedule. Every commercial for this product has a businessperson or a busy parent juggling a chaotic schedule. Someone will suggest a 5-Hour Energy shot and the consumer smiles with a sigh of relief. The brand has recently used influencer marketing which led to 22.9 million impressions from the campaign.
Are There Specific Strategies?
The marketing strategy for energy drinks is based on the consumers the brand wants to appeal to. The brand’s marketing team looks at the lifestyle of the intended audience, including their habits and goals. For example, ZOA energy was founded by leading performers in the health and fitness world. Their target audience is performers that want clean, health-based energy.
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