Introduction of Monster Energy Drinks into the Australian Market
International Marketing Plan
Introducing Monster Energy Drinks into the Australian Market
Background
Monster Energy is an American brand of energy drink created and marketed by Hansen Natural Corporation. Monster calls itself the meanest energy drink on the planet. It’s a big hit in the United States that delivers twice the buzz of a regular energy drink. Monster’s US portfolio includes the flagship Monster and Lo-carb plus specially blended hybrid energy + juice, energy + soda, and coffee + energy products. Monster is the US 16 oz. segment leader, with sales nearly double that of the next closest 16 oz. competitor.
The energy drink category to a large extent is image driven. The Monster design is aggressive without being intimidating. Monster’s proprietary energy blend is a combination of the right ingredients in the right proportion to deliver what the energy drink consumer is looking for, the “energy buzz!” For more product information, see Appendix I.
Though Monster Energy is not widely advertised in the media, it receives a large amount of recognition from its sponsorship of various sporting events.
Market and Competitive Analysis
Energy Drink Market
The energy drink category is one of the fastest growing worldwide. Sales of energy drinks are taking off in Australia, with the energy drink category being the fastest growing category in Australian convenience stores (See Appendix II). The value growth of energy drinks in the Australian convenience channel was up 22.3% from 2006 to 2007.
The Australian Market
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Key Competitors
The Australian energy drink market is dominated by two big players. In 2006, Red Bull and V Energy held a combined 94% share of the Australian energy drinks market (ACNeilson). Recently, these two have been challenged by the relaunch of Mother Energy by Coca Cola Amtail, which claimed to have captured 12.7% of the energy drink