PRIME Hydration has generated historic hype recently with people fighting in the aisles of UK supermarkets trying to get their hands on the “Hydration drink”.
PRIME was launched a year ago by popular YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul and the drink has been making headlines ever since, as people clamber to get their hands on the beverage. The massive demand for the drink has meant most places have been sold out with UK stores rationing the amount that consumers can purchase.
This scarcity of supply has caused some stores and consumers to purchase the drink to then sell onwards with some bottles being sold online for upwards of £100 each. One listing on eBay had the 500ml grape-flavoured drink listed for £2,500.
How did two Youtubers with no previous beverage experience create so much hype around their drink brand to take on the sports drink industry that has big players such as Coca-Cola, Gatorade and Powerade?
We explore some of the key pillars of their marketing strategy that has allowed the business to rack up over $250 million in retail sales in its first year alone!
1. Know your target audience well
The PRIME duo understood their audience, which gave them the know-how to effectively engage them, including:
- Using bright colours in their product packaging
- Getting the product to influencers their audience love
- Forming brand partnerships that engage their audience
- Creating viral content that has their target audience sharing videos, tagging friends and driving eyeballs to the brand.
Know your audience – it’s the foundation of any successful marketing campaign. All good marketers know that your goal should always to be to reach your ideal customer with the right message at the perfect time.
The phrase “knowing who you’re trying to reach” refers not only to understanding the needs of your audience but also to what they want, and how they like to engage.
This is essential, especially when competing online, where everyone is trying to stand out!
By effectively understanding their audience, the brand has created an engaged community of brand lovers. One benefit of having such an engaged audience is all of the UGC (user-generated content) with fans sharing pictures and videos of themselves with the drink to their social channels.
2. Create engaging social media content
The two influencers have over 50 millions online subscribers between them and they have been able to leverage this clout through the effective placement of engaging content on their channels.
The brand captured attention through cleverly placed events that captured attention such as getting Johnni DiJulius screaming “Drink PRIME” before base jumping from a helicopter.
They also did guerrilla tactics to gain viral traction such as having KSI and Logan Paul dress up as PRIME employees in Walmart. These videos got millions of views, pushing awareness of their drink and demand even further.
This has been further supported by both the YouTubers taking part in a range of events from appearing in the WWE to headlining boxing events. Taking part in these large events has allowed the influencers to benefit from product placement with them taking every opportunity to push the PRIME brand. Whether it’s from drinking from the bottle on every TV interview to wearing PRIME branded clothing. Tapping into these large audiences has allowed them to get millions of views for the brand with Google Searches for the product jumping massively.
The PRIME team also constantly create new flavours and variations, so they always have something to talk about and their target market has another product to get their hands on.
3. Implement a strong influencer marketing strategy
The brand got their drinks in the hands of highly influential YouTubers, TikTokers and Instagrammers. This allowed PRIME to tap into various influencers’ highly cultivated audiences creating mass awareness and engagement.
The various content creators would make videos with the product generating awareness, engagement and desire for the PRIME brand.
Getting the PRIME Drink in the hands of these key influencers allowed PRIME to quickly build trust and credibility with their target customer through authentic recommendations, storytelling and influencer-generated content.
4. Build strong brand partnerships
The duo have developed great partnerships with key brands across the world such as Premier League team Arsenal Football Club.
This partnership with a reputable sports brand has built credibility with its key target audience allowing them to be seen as a genuine hydration product. Having the branding around the stadium has allowed them to tap into millions of viewers throughout the world who watch the Premier League.
The drink is also now available on every home matchday to supporters at the Emirates Stadium. This has provided PRIME Hydration with another cult following with Arsenal’s loyal supporters
The PRIME duo also announced a partnership with the UFC, allowing them to tap into another target market outside of Gen Z. The agreement was for PRIME to become the official “Global Sports Drinks of the UFC”, having the brand featured on the octagon and gaining access to over 900 million households across 175 countries.
View this post on Instagram
5. Scarcity marketing tactics
Having limited availability created a rush to get the product, which then in turn created a demand to get your hands on it.
Supply and demand is the key, says Eddie, who is Managing Director of The 10 Group
“Limit the supply, and then you create the demand. This is called scarcity marketing. It’s a technique to encourage customers to make a purchase before the discount goes away or before there is a perceived limited supply.”
“When something says there are ‘only three of these [items] left’, this taps into something called loss aversion… we don’t want to miss out on a product we believe is in limited supply,” Eddie says. In his seminal text: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Robert Cialdini states that “Opportunities seem more valuable to us when their availability is limited”.
Social experiments have found that products in short supply are usually rated as “more desirable … in the future, more attractive as a consumer item, and more costly than [a similar product] in abundant supply,” according to Cialdini.
Want to elevate your social media marketing strategy in 2023?
At Hoopla Marketing, we create custom social media marketing campaigns that drive really results! We analyse your business and use this insight to develop social media advertising campaigns that drive sales! Take a look at our social media advertising guide to find out more.