DEMON DRINKS NEWS RELEASE: Kiwi company driving innovation in Energy Drinks category!

For years, the Energy Drinks category has been dominated by two big players, with a variety of smaller imported players entering and exiting the market in quick succession. Usually these brands have a good marketing launch, create a lot of interest and then fail to invest in securing distribution and brand building. However the paradigm has shifted since New Zealand-based company Demon Drinks launched into the market.
Demon Drinks was started by two friends from Auckland, Andy Smith and Steve Shaw, who spotted a massive gap in the market. Director Steve says: “As consumers, we were dissatisfied with the small serves that energy drinks came in. There was never enough in a can and they were always overpriced. We talked to a few people and everyone seemed to agree that a bigger can for a reasonable price would be a much better option.’’
Demon Energy launched in New Zealand in September 2007 with a monster 440ml format and was an instant hit in the route trade. From there the oil convenience channel came on board, as have most of the main supermarket brands.
However, Demon’s success is not all down to the big-size can format.
“Branding is massive for us. The main players in the market started out as small edgy brands, however inevitably as these brands became mass-market they lost a certain amount of appeal. These once cool drinks are now mainstays that housewives and middle-aged businessmen drink. There is nothing on the market that was really cool and male-oriented. Demon fills that niche perfectly.”
Not content to rest on their laurels, Smith and Shaw set up an incredibly tight new product development channel, launching in quick succession a 250ml can and a sugar-free variant. Then they started to target females with the Angel brand – a sugar-free energy drink in striking white packaging and an unconventional 300ml format.
Shaw says: “Angel was a no-brainer – there were no energy drinks in the market specially designed for the females. We are constantly hearing from people how much they love the packaging and that Angel not only looks super-stylish but tastes good too – something our competitors have struggled with.” On a store basis, Angel Energy is currently outselling the Red Bull Sugar Free products (ACNielsen data, latest four weeks to 16 June 2008 – UPSPW Total Supermarkets).
Then things started to get really innovative. Demon Killa Troppo was launched in May – the first energy juice to be manufactured in New Zealand. Killa Troppo is a delicious flavour of mangoes, oranges and passion fruit with an innovative mix of 60 percent real fruit juice combined with guarana and taurine to give the Demon Energy appeal. This is a giant step away from the usual energy drink flavour profile and one that has paid off for the company.
Andy says: “Killa Troppo has blown us away. People just love it. Sales are outstanding and in some stores it already outsells the traditional variant. It has broadened the market by overlapping the juice drinks and energy drinks categories to offer consumers a fruit drink that tastes fantastic and provides a great energy hit.”
Building on the success of the recent flavour innovation, Demon Energy has just released Demon Killa Cola. I wonder if this has anything to do with Relentless being launched by Coca-Cola, the competitive nature of Shaw and Smith or the “No Limits – No Laws” attitude that drives the entire business. Funnily enough, this drink tastes remarkably similar to a certain global giant… but I am assured that that’s where the similarities end.
“Cola is an immensely popular flavour and we know from our research that people are tired of the boring old brands and would welcome a fresh cola combined with a great energy component – the result is Demon Killa Cola.”
Cheekily marketed with a tag line of “Like ya normal cola but with balls”, this product is already causing a stir. If initial sales are anything to go by, Killa Cola looks like another good move from the boys at Demon Energy.
When asked how they keep up with so much growth, Smith replies: “We have a great, ever-expanding sales team and we also now have a dedicated marketing and design team. Everyone loves the brands and works exceptionally hard to help make it a success.”
So what’s next for Demon Drinks?
“We are working on increasing our distribution and of course we have a few things up our sleeve with regards to NPD,” Smith smiles, revealing no more.
No doubt the team at Demon Energy will be very busy.
For more information on stocking Demon drinks please call 0-9-477 5660.

© Copyright FMCG August 2008

All material appearing is copyright and cannot be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher.

Please contact the copyright officer: Ph 0-9-845 5114, Email copyright@mediaweb.co.nz.