Competition in energy drinks, sports drinks and vitamin enhanced beverages
Kyle Holloway
Spring Hill College
INTRODUCTION
Alternative beverages such as sports drinks, energy drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages developed into an important competitor for the beverage industry and saw rapid growth in the mid-2000s. Alternative beverages compete on the basis of differentiation from each other in the market and traditional drinks, such as carbonated soft drinks and fruit juices. The largest sellers of alternative beverages are the global food and beverage giants, such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo., that have already built respected brands in snack foods, carbonated soft drinks, and fruit juices prior to joining the
…show more content…
The quality can be judged via taste preferences, the effectiveness of the drink (i.e. the amount of energy the consumer gains from the energy drink), or what certain companies endorse (i.e. Monster and Red Bull endorse extreme sports and Coca-Cola endorses healthy lifestyles). These preferences help support an extremely loyal consumer base making the market hard to enter and gain market share from other established companies. This combined with the already higher costs of alternative beverages – energy drinks costing nearly 400 percent higher by volume than equivalent carbonated soft-drinks – leads to weak competitive pressures from buyer bargaining power.
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
One of the most important factors for success in the alternative beverage industry is innovation. As Gamble mentions in the case, “Product innovation had been among the most important competitive features of the alternative beverage industry since the introduction of Gatorade in 1967.” (Gamble, 2011, p. 269) This is certainly still the case, as companies who come up with new, innovative ideas are usually rewarded with large market share as seen with products like Red Bull, Gatorade and Five Hour Energy shots. Each of these products holds a commanding market share as copycat products fight for the scraps. In 2009 Red Bull held a 40% of dollar sales market share for energy drinks in the US; the next closest competitor,
Introduction, growth, maturity and decline are the four stages of a product’s life cycle. Energy drink manufacturers are seeing increased sales and market share for their products in the larger non-alcoholic beverage marketplace. The energy drink industry, as a collection of drink and smaller energy shot products, also is fighting lawsuits related to adverse effects, Food and Drug Administration
Energy drinks are drinks that don’t contain alcohol, and often lightly carbonated. They are designed to give the drinker a burst of energy by adding of a number of ingredients, most notably caffeine. They are mostly found in grocery stores, corner stores and gas stations, usually displayed beside the soft drinks, juices and sports drinks. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, reports that more teens are downing energy drinks; in 2003, 16% regularly consumed the drinks, while in 2008, that percentage jumped to 35%. Another study of college student consumption found 50% of students drank
There are many different views on energy drinks. Energy drinks have evolved over the years changing many of the symptoms. Not just the energy drinks themselves have changed, but many things about them have changed too.
Gatorade is the juggernaut of sports energy drinks in that it is that leading choice for athletes and teams in professional sports. It claims to “refuel” and “replenish” an individual who loses vital nutrients during vigorous athletic training, most commonly do to sweat. In my personal opinion I believe it most certainly could achieve what it claims to do based on the nutrition facts on the back of an average 20 once Gatorade bottle. By knowing that Carbohydrates is the way our body gets energy, I can judge that the 38 grams of Carbohydrates in Gatorade is going to successful in terms of providing energy. Unfortunately, I am not a scientist so I look to scientific journals to further investigate the claim that Gatorade makes.
This report was written to assess the company Red Bull and their energy drink Red Bull Energy Drink, in a manner in which the market/industry, environment, competitors, customers, and the brand were all analysed by using secondary research. A SWOT analysis was also conducted. Through this research and analysing, it was found that Red Bull is the dominating leader in the energy drink market and sells the most units of its product worldwide. However the company does have close competitors in Monster Energy Drink and Rock star Energy Drink. Although Red Bull has massive internal strengths in being leader in the market share and sponsorship of events, it also has weaknesses in lack of innovation and diversity. Their
Reality is most Americans have consumed an energy drink or at least know what energy drinks are. Their popularity on the rise energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster are the hottest-selling component of the beverage industry, but experts in the medical field are warning the population about the possible health hazards they pose and demanding for better regulation. The highest consumers of energy drinks are adolescents and they are mostly likely to abuse the consumption of the beverage. With the health hazards the beverages have on adults they even place a greater threat to adolescents. The sugar and caffeine in the beverages is disturbingly high. Professionals such as doctors are voicing their concerns about the harmful effects of the beverages however; the government is doing nothing to fix the problem facing the health of the population.
Consumer Behavior Monster Energy Target Market Because the energy drink is still part of a new and developing industry, the energy drink target market is different than in some of the other beverage industries. Monster energy drinks have become a very popular, “hip” part of society, but the market at which they are aimed is not as wide and expansive, or diverse, as some might think. Early in energy drink history, when they were first being sold in the United States, athletes were the primary consumers. This shows that even initially energy drinks were directed at a select crowd, a group of people with specific interests. Although the consumer base for energy drinks has now expanded beyond that of simply athletes, the target market is
There are (3) reasons why I have chosen energy drinks as my NAB. First off, there is a growing market for energy drinks. Red Bull and Monster Beverage Corporation, together, form over 80% of domestic energy drinks volumes by estimates. Dollar sales for energy drinks grew almost 6% to $6.67 Billion in measured channels in 2013, which propelled sales growth for convenience stores (Team, 2014). A growing thirst for caffeinated “energy” drinks, which include the likes of Red Bull, Monster, and Rock star, has spurred a heart-thumping surge in sales. Globally, the energy drink industry has gone from a $3.8-billion business in 1999, to a $27.5-billion
If one has to analyze the profitability scheme of Red Bull Energy Drink, perhaps it can be safely said that it is in a very uncompromising situation. First and foremost, the stiff competition have paved the way for the emergence of many small time players (Helm 2005). With every bottled drink that aims to steal the limelight nowadays, Red Bull should capitalize more on its creativity and ingenuity—this is of course, in relation to advertising and marketing. The company should never disregard that Coca Cola and Pepsi are still top competitors (Helm 2005). More so, even if the two share equally different components as with Red Bull, still, it is evident that the two continue to partake into the market share. Meanwhile, the notion that energy drinks offers no variety in taste is an important marketing aspect that the company should take into full consideration (Laing 2005). In 2001, Pepsi had already released AMP Energy Drink (“Amp Energy Drink” n.d). It is the company’s maidens venture into the energy drink arena. Evidently, AMP’s raison d’ etre is to capitalize on Mountain Dew’s established image. The concept would be to introduce something new, yet very familiar (“Amp Energy Drink” n.d).
A slow growing market is a great way to characterize the energy beverage category in late 2007. This industry was increasing in profits still but was not increasing in profits as quickly due to factors such as market maturity, increasing in prices, competition and new hybrid products (Kerin & Peterson, 2010). The market was still very small but was dominated by Red Bull due to it being one of the first energy drinks, which caused it to dictate the market and have more of an advantage than the other energy beverages. So in late 2007 the market for energy drinks was still
A promising characteristic of consumers in this category is that many of them tend to prefer smaller, trendier, and cooler ' companies. There are lot of these consumers that would much rather give their money to an independent/private company than to a large corporation. Companies such as Red Bull and Odwalla have come to be some of the strongest brands in the sports nutritional category simply by being renegade ' brands. Because the parity of products that are in this market, success requires building a strong brand around the product. There are not too many variables with which to work (mostly taste and nutrition) which can cause some companies distress. This however is not a flaw but a benefit of the category because it does allow for a strong brand building that can create strong consumer loyalty.
Energy drinks are soda-like beverages that are chemically designed to boost your energy, performance, and increase stamina. Most of these drinks contain caffeine, sugar and many other ingredients including taurine, guarana, and ginseng. These products are generally marketed toward teanagers, students, athletes, and active people in general. As the popularity of these drinks increases so does the amount of reports they are receiving about the dangers of drinking these caffeinated substances. Energy drinks can be dangerous; therefore knowing the how they work and what is in them is key to consuming such substances safely.
In Brazil, there is not as much of a market for energy drinks as there is in places like the United States. Still, introducing 5-hour energy shots to Brazil could cause the desire for energy drinks to grow in that country. That would open up an entirely new market for energy drinks that could make millions or even billions of dollars for companies that manufacture energy drinks throughout the world. In order to clearly understand how marketing will take place in Brazil and the issues that must be addressed, there are four specific areas that will be considered here. These will be the social-cultural environment of Brazil, the economic environment, the political environment, and the technological environment. Since all of those areas play a role in how an energy drink could be marketed and how much success it might have, they all must be discussed before any decisions are made.
Energy drinks have outperformed the growth in carbonates in the last few years, and present a substantial opportunity for beverage manufacturers to extract further growth from their sales. There are many driving forces of change and critical success factors in the energy drink industry. Companies such as Coke Cola and Pepsi contend with criticism from health officials due to the excessive caffeine in most high-energy drinks. However, before the 2000’s consumers were accustomed to carbonated soft drinks as the traditional beverage. The shift to an energy drink, sports drink, and vitamin enhanced waters increased sales while becoming an alternative beverage choice for a fast-paced mobile society. Therefore, this industry endures many
Red bull has dominated the energy market for a decade now. Its popularity and stylish design has allowed it to be charged at a premium price. Red Bull is a stylish and vibrant energy drink that is priced at least five times higher than the ordinary soft drink. Red Bull strongly believes that it offers its consumers something more than a beverage; it believes that it offers them a ‘way of life.’ It provides its consumers with energy and related brainpower to make the most of their time. Due to all of the above reasons, Red Bull can afford to price itself at such a high price. Therefore, it is important that Red Bull chooses those markets where the people have the financial capacity to purchase their product