Xyience drink line to target new, more active consumer group
As the official energy drink of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fellow Las Vegas-based company Xyience has always been associated with mixed martial arts.
But Xyience is launching a new business strategy to build on its MMA association and target consumers in individual participatory sports such as running, cycling, crossfit training, triathlons, surfing, tennis and rock climbing.
To separate its brand from rivals in the competitive energy drink category, Xyience is planning a multiplatform campaign to link its identity with active, healthy lifestyles.
The new campaign is based on consumer research that began more than two years ago, said John Lennon, Xyience CEO. The research yielded conclusions that Xyience drinkers tend to skew a little bit older than many energy drink consumers, have a higher percentage of females, were educated and enjoyed healthy lifetsyles, Lennon said.
“We’re beginning to look at other sports. The research showed a lot of the people who are energy drink drinkers are not necessarily fight fans and we want to reach those people,” Lennon said.
Xyience has hired BRAINtrust Marketing + Communications of Las Vegas to create the ads that will appear via TV, radio and outdoor space.
The new Xyience campaign will be tested in its core markets across the U.S. and will be unveiled in late March.
Xyience ranks seventh in sales in the energy drink category. The top three are Red Bull, Monster and Rock Star. Xyience also produces a line of nutritional supplements, which account for 5 percent of the company’s sales. The Xyience energy drink product is produced in Dallas and distributed to all 50 states.
To advance Xyience’s healthy lifestyles campaign, the company will also push its “Power to Win” promotion, which invites amateur athletes to apply for financial help to help pay for everything from running event entry fees to coaches to classes to learn Zumba, said Aimee Wenske, who is working on marketing for Xyience.
Those local athletes in 15 core markets will serve as Xyience amabassadors to help promote the brand and associate it with healthy, active lifestyles.
Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Follow @BicycleManSnel on Twitter.
