Monster Gets Wings

During a road trip across the United States my friend Noodle and I undertook last year, I became fascinated by the hold exerted by the world's most powerful brands over the landscape and imagery of the world's most powerful country. As you drive across the freeways of the sandy Southern States the placards of the most iconic brands merge into one with the equally iconic desert backdrops of the classic American western. It was in the more humid metroplotitan surrounding of South Beach, Miami that I witnessed the impressive spectacle of bikini clad girls perched in the back of huge monster trucks, handing out massive amounts of ice cold Californian energy drink Monster to the crowds surrounding the trucks.

My mind flashed back to this classically American incident this week upon reading that over the past few months Monster has overtaken Red Bull in the American energy drinks market (in terms of quantity sold), and the same looks to set to happen this side of the Atlantic. The rise of Monster has to be rated as one of the most astonishing accomplishments in branding over the past few years, not least because the speedy rise of the Red Bull brand was astounding in its own right. Red Bull gained its strength through massive extreme sports sponsorships, excellent advertisement campaigns, not to mention buying whole mainstream sports franchises throughout the world. Red Bull's marketing efforts extent to owning top flight European and American football/soccer teams, an ice hockey team and, perhaps most impressively, a Formula 1 racing team.

In some respects Monster has competed through imitation, successfully replicating Red Bull's extreme sports sponorship. However, it is through the age old combination of bigger sizes and better value pricing that Monster has forced itself on top. The pint sized can appears to be the decision maker in almost all marketplaces for the energy drink. Across university libraries and amateur sports teams the bigger drink is winning all the hearts and minds. Stop at a garage and it will be Monster be peddled at the counter to the weary driver.

So what is the future for Red Bull? Inspite of Monster rise, Red Bull remains a growing brand, and has introduced larger cans to continue this. Perhaps the one place Red Bull can expect remain on top is as an alcoholic drink mixer. Vodka Redbull and Jagerbombs have almost become brands in their own right (the Vod:Bull event promoter is becoming increasingly successful across the university campuses of Britain), and having cans any larger is completely unpractical for most bars, pubs and clubs. But while Red Bull continues to dominate this sector, it is nice to reflect that even in the most competitively branded market place, those offering sheer good value and more for your money can still win out.