Instant Attention + Instant Interest + Instant Demand
= Prime Hydration Drinks flying off shelves in supermarkets
Sounds too good to be true, right? But that’s exactly what Prime achieved with their brilliant marketing strategies. They created a global sensation with their hydration drink, owned by popular YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul. They attracted millions of customers, generated thousands of leads, and increased their sales by 300% in just 1 month.
So how did they become such a force to be reckoned with in the beverage industry so quickly?
KSI and Logan Paul leveraged their massive online fanbase to market their drink and generate excitement.
Prime was marketed through various social media platforms, such as YouTube and Instagram where KSI and Logan Paul have a huge following among youngsters (interesting to note that most of their target market don’t earn a income as yet!). They used their platforms to promote and hype up interest in their drink, and in doing so create awareness and demand for their drink way before the drink was available in South Africa.
They claimed that Prime was unlike any other hydration drink on the market, with four amazing flavours that blew your mind. You could choose from Ice Pop, Lemon Lime, Blue Raspberry, and Tropical Punch, all inspired, they claim, by your favourite childhood treats. Branding was bold, simplistic, attractive.
Checkers became the official supplier of Prime Hydration drink in South Africa after negotiating directly with Prime’s suppliers in the United States early this year, to secure large volumes of stock. They used its established distribution and freight networks to bring Prime Hydration to South African consumers, at supermarket prices.
They only marketed Prime Hydration on Instagram because they wanted to target the Gen Z customers (the demographic cohort that was born between the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s), who are influenced by social media and are the main fans of the drink and its creators. Checkers also partnered with TikTok South Africa, to celebrate the launch of Prime Hydration with events at selected stores.
The rest of the marketing was left to the kids, the trending sensation was on fire dominating Instagram, WhatsApp and snapchat stories. And if the kids weren’t doing enough, the parents assisted by all going online to rant about the cost and caffeine levels.
The original target market was identified as young adults, and those who enjoy online gaming and entertainment. It is marketed as a hydration drink that provides energy, focus, and fun – designed to appeal to customers’ nostalgia and curiosity, using the flavour names to entice their target market.
The cost is a lot higher than most other hydration drinks on the market, so we will have to wait and see if the hype continues. Until then we can learn a lot from how they launched their product which has taken the country by storm.