Marketing Energy Drinks to Americas Youth Essay

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As I started roll uping information for this paper. I shortly realized that the energy drink industry is a really little ( 18 per centum ) portion of the drink industry. but a really dominant portion to state the least. Interestingly. the major participants in the industry. Monster Energy. Red Bull. and Rockstar. have deliberately veered off from the conventional mediums used to advance merchandises. They alternatively have chosen selling mediums that appeal more to their mark markets and the “live life on the edge” lifestyles that they live.

Monster for illustration. shies off from mass market advertisement ; alternatively they focus all of their gross revenues attempts and marketing musculus on patronizing action athleticss jocks. creative persons and musical. events and Tourss. All of this ties in with the company’s overall doctrine that Monster isn’t merely a drink. but a lifestyle trade name ( Landi ) . “The key is for us ( Monster ) to retain what we do best. which is marketing in an unconventional manner and maintain that feel for the trade name. ” said Rodney Sacks. CEO of Hansen Natural Corp. “Monster is all about action athleticss. hood stone music. partying. misss. and populating life on the edge” ( Landi ) .

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The companies that produce energy drinks are utilizing the current popularity of action athleticss such as motocross. skateboarding. BMX. etc. . to showcase their merchandises and to further trade name consciousness. It’s non coincidental that the demographic that participates in these athleticss and idolizes its professional jocks are besides the same demographic that consumes energy drinks. You’ll see really few Television commercials or print ads advancing energy drinks but when you turn on the ESPN produced X-Games. merely about every jock participating is sponsored by Red Bull. Monster. or Rockstar.

John Lee. manager of athleticss marketing for Monster Energy Drink says. “We don’t make publish ads or telecasting. We purely have promoted our trade name through jocks and the events that the jocks compete in. ” With our current coevals ( Gen – Y ) of immature Americans being the first to truly turn up with the Web. it is of import for marketeers to encompass the usage of the cyberspace as a critical selling tool and communicating medium ( Ness ) . “This group has a batch of lifetime in front of them and that makes their Lifetime Value ( LTV ) high for sellers. ” says Greg Ness. Chief Strategy Officer. Burst Media.

Cape was besides speedy to indicate out that. “one-third of current college pupils spend 10 or more hours online per hebdomad and one-fifth spend 20 hours or more online. ” Ness concludes. “Their clip on-line exceeds the sum of clip they are passing watching Television or hearing to the wireless. ” Monster has late get downing utilizing the cyberspace as a recruiting / selling tool of kinds when they introduced the “Monster Army. ” The Army is a “grassroots selling outreach community that besides locates energetic jocks seeking sponsorship opportunities” ( Campanelli ) .

In the past few old ages. more than 50. 000 jocks ( recruits ) have signed up as members of the Monster Army where more than 1. 000 of them are presently sponsored through the plan. “It’s been a really successful plan. our Army members are out at that place distributing the word about our merchandises. stating 10 of their friends who in bend tell 10s of their friends. it’s a sweet sand verbena effect” ( Lee ) . In add-on Monster has besides late announced an sole relationship with the Loop’d Network. a societal media platform entirely for on-line athleticss communities. The Loop’d Network presently boasts more than 200. 000 members worldwide ( Campanelli ) .

The history of energy drinks is much deeper than most would conceive of. Japan is credited for open uping the energy drink phenomenon. but the first mass produced energy drink was called Lucozade. and was launched in 1929. in the UK ( Research Wikis ) . It wasn’t until Red Bull. which was foremost launched in 1987. and introduced the United States to the universe of energy drinks a decennary subsequently that the energy drink industry truly took off ( Reuters ) . Red Bull might hold had the first large impact on the market in 1997. but Monster. launched in 2002. by Hansen Natural Corp. has clearly made a strong feeling on the market.

With its initial market portion of 12 per centum in 2003. Monster now has a 30 per centum clasp on the market while Red Bull maintains 25 per centum ( Reuters ) . Past portraitures of energy drinks were for the most portion all negative as energy drinks are non regulated by the FDA and most contain big sums of sugar. Na. and caffeine. among other things. Some trade names and spirits have a caffeine content that can run from a modest 50 mg. to an dismaying 505 mg. per can ( Reissig ) .

For illustration. an 8. 3 oz. can of Red Bull contains 76 mg. of caffeine which is about twice what a 12 oz. can of Coke contains ( LeBlanc ) . A 16 oz. can of Monster contains about 14 teaspoons of sugar and 200 Calories ( LeBlanc ) . So what are all of these “negative” energy hiking drinks making to our organic structures?

A recent survey done by Wayne State University in Detroit showed that ingestion of energy drinks increased blood force per unit area and bosom rate degrees in healthy grownups that drank two tins a twenty-four hours ( LeBlanc ) . With all of those negative facets there must be something good in energy drinks. There is a long list of good ingredients that can be found in most of the energy drinks on the market today.

They include ; vitamin B-complex. antioxidant vitamins C and E. the amino acerb taurine. bee pollen. inositol. glucuronolactone. and herbal infusions from ginseng. guarana. gingko biloba. horny caprine animal weed. milk thistle. yerba mate. damiana. rosemary. skullcap. black seed. royal jelly. and white willow. among others ( Berry ) . The overall benefits that energy drinks are said to bring forth include emphasis alleviation. sobering effects. an improved love life. increased staying power. sharper physiological reaction. heightened watchfulness. virility. and they’ll excite your metamorphosis ( Berry ) . The demographic that energy drink companies are after is instead wide.

While their figure one consumer fits the description of a immature white male between the ages of 16 to 25. energy drink companies are broadening their selling skylines and are now looking at work forces. adult females. and kids between the ages of 12 and 40 ( LeBlanc ) . “Younger childs see imbibing energy drinks as something their parents might disapprove of. ” says Jim Karwowski of Power Brands. A market that has yet to be to the full tapped into is the female consumer. While the figure of female consumers has grown 74 per centum over the last five old ages. adult females are still considered the minority population when it comes to energy drinkers.

About 20 per centum of work forces say they drink energy drinks while merely 10 per centum of adult females say they do ( Francella ) . I’ll be utilizing information gathered from a figure of different research documents every bit good as studies produced from drink industry insiders to confirm my findings on the selling techniques being used to entice America’s young person into going loyal consumers. Method: During this survey I coded 60 magazines. I reviewed issues of Racer X Illustrated and Motocross Action Magazine looking for ads from energy drink companies. My end was to happen print ads straight from the energy drink companies themselves that promoted their merchandise.

Once found ( if found ) . I would measure what the ad was approximately and what demographic the ad was aiming. I watched and coded 10 Television commercials ( via YouTube ) in an effort to calculate out if the messages shown were directed towards a peculiar market. The lone “corporate made” Television commercials I was able to happen were from Red Bull and Rockstar. I found a assortment of homemade Monster commercials but none that would hold been endorsed by the corporate office. With Red Bull. four of the ads were animated and four were of Red Bull sponsored jocks.

The two Rockstar commercials were based around music. one holding a more psychedelic expression while the other had a guitar participant assisting a isolated adult female. My end here was to measure what the ads were approximately and what demographic the ads was intended for. I reviewed and coded four web sites. three from energy drink companies and one from an action athleticss publicity company. My nonsubjective while measuring these sites was to see what groups of people. whether it was work forces or adult females. and what age scope was the information intended for. I found a huge sum of information to dissect and code from companies that are within the drink industry.

These are companies that do merchandise reexamine. market analysis. and merchandise debuts. among other things. Two common messages that I repeatedly found in these articles revolved around college childs utilizing energy drinks to blend with intoxicant and the overall maltreatment of energy drinks. My aim here was to acquire an thought of how many college childs fall into one of these two groups. Although my options were limited due to a deficiency of certification from other academic research workers. I was able to happen. measure. and code information from four other academic research documents.

I was able to happen these paperss after an thorough hunt utilizing Lexis Nexis. Psychinfo. and the Social Science Citation Index via the Joyner Library. I came across a immense stock list of other academic research documents that were based on similar topics. but to derive entree to more than the first paragraph I would hold had to subscribe up for subscriptions and wage fees. I’m trusting that my frugality will non negatively impact my class and trust the information that I was able to obtain and measure will fulfill the demands of this paper.

While measuring and coding the different mediums I looked at the overall tone of the stuff. Was the tone really rough and bold. which would perchance be directed more towards college aged males? Was the tone really light hearted and merriment which would be more appealing to a younger population and/or adult females? Or in conclusion. did the ad have some sexual overtones and insinuation which could either be directed at immature work forces or adult females? Consequences: Bing a endorser of Racer X Illustrated and/or Motocross Action Magazine for the last 30 old ages. I have found that I look at many of the ads in those magazines in a instead asleep. non-consuming province of head.

I’ve seen the ads so many times that I know all about the companies and their merchandises so I don’t pay much attending to them. To my surprise. after looking at 60 different magazines that were printed over a span of five old ages. I didn’t happen a individual ad that was specifically publicizing the existent energy drink. I found a big assortment of ads that were advancing energy drink sponsored events. but none for the drinks themselves. The bulk of the sponsored events were either motocross races. action athleticss events. or alternate stone concerts ( the Vans Warped Tour ) and bands ( Linkin Park ) .

If I was to depict the age. sex. and race of the attendants of these events it would likely be preponderantly 16 – 25 twelvemonth old. white. males. Although I didn’t happen any merchandise ads in the magazines it was about impossible to turn a page and non happen images of riders or bikes that didn’t have the name or logo of an energy drink demoing. I felt the four animated Red Bull commercials could be perceived as seeking to aim the really immature viewing audiences and the female market every bit much as anything else. They were light hearted. amusing sketchs that weren’t large. bold. and overbearing.

The four Red Bull commercials having their sponsored jocks were really action packed and intense. They included Robbie “Mado” Madison leaping his bike onto the roof of a edifice in Las Vegas. “B-boy Ronnie” freestyle interruption dance. large moving ridge surfboarder Ian Walsh. and stunt plane pilot Kirby Chambliss. While the alive commercials carried the pitch. “Red Bull Gives You Wings. ” the commercials with the jocks concluded with the jock stating. “Welcome to my World. the World of Red Bull. ” These action driven commercials were in my sentiment made for the bang seeking male consumer between the ages of 16 to 25.

I besides found that Red Bull’s selling program has the trade name prosecuting traditional advertisement such as Television commercials as its last stage of merchandise market development ( Hein ) . “Media is non a tool that we use to set up the market. ” says Red Bull’s Vice President of Marketing. David Rohdy. “The thought is to reenforce. non present the trade name. Merely when a market is deemed mature does the company get down a media push. ” concluded Rohdy. Red Bull typically creates two new Television musca volitanss each twelvemonth and runs them in their “mature markets” ( Hein ) .

The four web sites that I reviewed and coded were the corporate web sites of Red Bull: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. redbull. com/ . Rockstar Energy Drink: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. rockstar69. com/ . Monster Energy: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. monsterenergy. com/ . In add-on to the three top merchandising energy imbibe trade names I besides looked at Alli Sports: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. allisports. com/ the booster of some of the biggest action athleticss series and events in the universe. Subjects that were consistent with all four of the sites were action. young person. and energy. energy. energy. The Red Bull site was the most clean cut and professional looking site out of the three drink sites.

I’m non stating that the Rockstar and Monster sites were stingily made. or have an unprofessional visual aspect. but the Red Bull site expressions like something you would show to portion holders of the company. It has the least sum of “boldness” of the three drink sites. but is packed full of good filmed picture cartridge holders demoing off their sponsored jocks. I don’t cognize if the fact that the corporate base for Red Bull is in Austria has anything to make with the web sites ocular entreaty. but it’s decidedly a different attack than its competition took.

With the expression and handiness of this site and its characteristics I felt like it was geared for an older more mature audience. I didn’t see the sight selling the sexual entreaty of adult females every bit much as I did on the Rockstar site. I think Red Bull’s site would appeal to both work forces and adult females ages 15 to 40. The Rockstar site was decidedly the edgiest of the three drink sites. Merely on the place page entirely you see ads for assorted soldierly humanistic disciplines battles and heavy metal concerts that the trade name is patronizing. If you look farther down you can watch a short picture cartridge holder of five beautiful. large breasted adult females presenting on bikes and race autos.

There’s besides links that talk about the assortment of merchandises they offer every bit good as links to the assorted music and athleticss events that they sponsor to include the sponsored sets and jocks that participate in those events. I felt that the Rockstar site was decidedly geared for immature. white. males. ages 15 to 30. Overall I thought that the site had a really rough tone to it and adult females likely wouldn’t appreciate it. With a mix of the combatants and stone concert publicities blinking on the screen a spectator might even experience some fury edifice inside while sing the site. The Monster site was all about velocity.

The place page had a invariably altering expression that showcased many Monster sponsored race drivers. The site overall was neatly laid out. It didn’t have as clean and chip of a expression as Red Bull had but it wasn’t every bit busy as the Rockstar site was. The site was easy to voyage and was really appealing to the oculus. I feel the overall expression of the site and the message that it gives was directed more towards the immature. white. male between the ages of 15 and 35. The site is really dark. as the background is black. and has a hardcore feel and tone. I think adult females might be turned off by that.

One characteristic on the Monster site that is ask foring to a broader fan / consumer base is the Monster Army. I think the thought of being a portion of something is a merchandising point for many of today’s young person. I think the Monster Army is an appealing environment for both sexes with an age scope of 12 to 40. The Alli Sports web site focuses on the publicity of the action athleticss events that they promote. Although Alli Sports doesn’t have direct sponsorship trades with any of the taking energy drink companies. all of the jocks that are sponsored by those companies participate in Alli Sports produced events.

The same demographic that participates in BMX. motocross. wakeboarding. skateboarding. and other alternate action athleticss that Alli promotes besides consume energy drinks. I feel the Alli site is geared more towards the fans of action athleticss which could be male or female between the ages of 12 and 40. It’s a really bright web site and has a low key and merriment overall tone to it. Both the articles I found from industry insiders every bit good as the academic research documents that I found voiced similar issues and concerns.

One issue of concern and importance addressed the usage of energy drinks by college pupils. I was unaware of the fact that many energy drinks are on the list of nutritionary addendums banned by the NCAA. Caffeine is a stimulation and college jocks will neglect a drug trial if the concentration of caffeine in their sample is 15 mcgs per millilitre. That would be the equivalent of banging five to 10 cups of java before a game ( Moritz ) . Another concern that research workers have is the increasing figure of college pupils that are devouring intoxicant assorted with energy drinks.

In the autumn of 2006. 4. 271 college pupils from 10 universities in North Carolina were surveyed about their ingestion of energy drinks. intoxicant. and the combination of the two. The consequences of the study showed that 697 of the pupils had consumed one or more energy drinks within the last 30 yearss. and one-fourth of the pupils said that they mixed intoxicant and energy drinks. Looking at the sum of energy drinks consumed by the two sexes it was discovered that work forces drank on mean 2. 49 energy drinks per month while adult females drank 1. 22 drinks per month.

Students who were immature. male. white. intramural jocks. and fraternity members or pledges. were significantly more likely to imbibe energy drinks that those in other demographics ( O’Brien. Miller ) . With college students’ taking heavier category tonss and the of all time present concern of one’s classs. caffeine maltreatment has been on the rise on college campuses. There has been an addition in studies of caffeine poisoning from the mass ingestion of energy drinks every bit good as an overall an addition in the figure of pupils that are covering with caffeine dependance and backdown issues ( Reissig ) .

The toxicant control centre in Chicago has handled 265 instances of caffeine maltreatment affecting energy drinks in the last three old ages. The users’ mean age was under 21 ( LeBlanc ) . Interpretation: Based on information I reviewed. I feel that the energy drink industry is really strong and will go on to turn. I think the marketeers of the energy drinks are making a great occupation at acquiring visibleness for their merchandises and they’re focussing on a fit consumer demographic that has immense disbursement power. The young person and college pupils today are easy influenced and have a strong influence on the merchandises their equals buy.

The surveies show that because these energy drink companies are deriving trade name trueness from their consumers at a immature age that the odds are in their favour that they will go womb-to-tomb consumers. Taking the unconventional path to selling may or may non be any cheaper than making normal Television musca volitanss that Coke and Pepsi do. Either manner. the leaders of the energy drink market are doing it work for them. From a fiscal point of view. I think the return on investing will come faster in the energy drink industry than it of all time has in any other facet of the drink industry.

Selling 8 oz. tins for over $ 2 a can is a speedy manner to do money. Red Bull. Monster. and Rockstar are ruling the energy drink industry when it comes to consumer penchant with white male’s ages 12 to 40. but what about the ladies? The industry has yet to rub the surface of the immature female consumer market. Granted. there aren’t excessively many professional female jocks take parting in alternate athleticss yet. but there are other lines of attack that the industry needs to see. I remember seeing a bumper spine once that said. “Girls Kick Ass.

” It is that same kick buttocks outlook that has made energy drinks every bit popular as they are today. I think it will merely be a affair of clip before we see one of the power participants in the energy drink industry come out with a merchandise specifically marketed towards adult females. Possibly a black Monster can with a hot pink claw grade instead than the green 1. who knows? ! I foresee the FDA acquiring involved sooner than subsequently with ordinances on how much sugar. Na. and caffeine can be in each merchandise. I don’t experience that blending energy drinks and intoxicant is that large of a job and personally hope Torahs don’t get created to forbid such mixes.

I think that if an person is traveling to devour intoxicant irresponsibly. they are traveling to make it regardless on the fact that an energy drink is or isn’t portion of their drink choice. Bibliography: Campanelli. M. and Lee. J. . eMarketingandCommerce. com ( 2007 ) . “Social Media Tips from Monster Energy” ( accessed June 9. 2009 ) .

Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. emarketingandcommerce. com/view/106 Landi. H. . Hall. M. . and Sacks. R. . Beverage World ( 2009 ) “Monster Energy: A Mighty Force” ( accessed June 9. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. beverageworld. com/content/view/35687/

Scribd. BevNet. Research Wikis ( 2006 ) “Research Wikis Energy Drink selling Research” ( accessed June 10. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. scribd. com/doc/3259151/ResearchWikis-Energy-Drinks-Marketing-Research Rajan. A. . Reuters ( 2009 ) “Hansen’s Monster Takes the Fight to Red Bull’s Turf” ( accessed June 10. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. reuters. com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE5313N320090402 Francella. B. . CS News Online ( 2008 ) “Energy Drink Gross saless Growth Runing Out of Steam? ” ( accessed June 10. 2009 ) .

Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. csnews. com/csn/index. jsp Search: “Energy Drink Sales” Berry. B. . Agri-Food Trade Service ( 2008 ) “The Energy Drink Segment in North America” ( accessed June 11. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. Ats. agr. gigahertz. ca/us/4387_e. htm LeBlanc. P. . Austin American Statesman ( 2008 ) .

“The Buzz on Energy Drinks – Energy Drinks Booming in Popularity” ( accessed June 11. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. solon. com/ Search: “The Buzz on Energy Drinks” Hein. K. . and Rohdy. D. . Brandweek ( 2001 ) “A Bull’s Market – the Selling of Red Bull Energy Drink” ( accessed June 11. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m0BDW/is_22_42/ai_75286777/ ? tag=content ; col1 Moritz. A. . Tribune Business News ( 2008 ) .

“Think Before Using an Energy Drink: Colleges” ( accessed June 11. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //proquest. umi. com. jproxy. lib. ecu. edu/login? COPT=REJTPUc2 Search in the ProQuest Research Library database: “Think Before Using an Energy Drink: Colleges” Reissig. C. J. . Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Baltimore. MD ( 2009 ) “Caffeinated Energy Drinks – A Turning Problem” ( accessed June 11. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //web. ebscohost. com. jproxy. lib. ecu. edu/ehost/search? vid=1 & A ; hid=6 & A ; sid=5b788385-77d0-43c3-8372-037638da0fc6 % 40SRCSM2 Search in the PsycINFO database:

“Caffeinated Energy Drinks – A Turning Problem” O’Brien. M. C. . Wake Forest Univ. Bowman Gray Sch Med. Dept Emergency Med. Winston Salem. NC ( 2008 ) “Caffeinated Cocktails: Energy Drink Consumption. Bad Drinking. and Alcohol- Related Consequences Among College Students” ( accessed June 11. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //apps. isiknowledge. com. jproxy. lib. ecu. edu/summary. make? qid=2 & amp ; product=WOS & A ; SID=1BONI6HlgO3hemOl6fP & A ; search_mode=GeneralSearch.

Miller. K. E. . SUNY Coll Buffalo. Res Inst Addict. Buffalo. NY – Journal of American College Health ( 2008 ) “Wired: Energy Drinks. Jock Identity. Masculine Norms. and Risk Taking” ( accessed June 11. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //apps. isiknowledge. com. jproxy. lib. ecu. edu/summary. make? qid=5 & amp ; product=WOS & A ; SID=1BONI6HlgO3hemOl6fP & A ; search_mode=GeneralSearch Ness. G. . Chief Strategy Officer. Sundog. cyberspace ( 2006 ) “Marketing to College Students 101 ( accessed June 11. 2009 ) Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. parhelion. net/sunblog/posts/marketing-to-college-students-101/ .

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