Roughly one year after tweaking its formulation and packaging format, energy drink ZOA is revamping its product lineup once again with new flavors, a refreshed can design and a marketing campaign built around the tagline “Fuel Something Bigger.”
What’s the news?
ZOA Energy — backed by a founding team of Dany Garcia, John Shulman, Dave Reinzi and international box-office star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — is kicking off the new year with a slew of changes.
Around this time in 2022, off the strength of a strong first year on the market, ZOA announced the release of two additional flavors and a new 12 oz. can format. This year, the brand is going further, adding three new flavors – Frosted Grape, Strawberry Watermelon and Cherry Limeade — to the core lineup and one flavor — Coconut Lemonade — to its three-SKU sub-line of pre-workout energy drinks, called ZOA+, which launched last March.
The formulation itself has also been tweaked: both ZOA’s natural caffeine (160 mg per serving) and vitamin C content (100% DV) have been increased by 33%, according to the company.
“It is of utmost importance that our formulas be highly functional and delicious,” said Dave Rienzi, Co-Founder and Chief Health Officer, in a press release. “With our updated 12 oz. ZOA formulation, we deliver more energy with every can for your daily life and to fuel something even bigger. Additionally, we couldn’t be more excited for our new visual identities to get into the hands of our loyal customers and reach new consumers as we continue our expansion into additional markets and territories.”
Outside the can, both ZOA and ZOA+ have been reimagined with a new design that enlarges the brand name and imagery and orients it vertically. The SKU name has been shifted from the bottom to the top of the can, while “healthy warrior” has been trimmed off the “energy drink” callout and the circular, tribal-style logo has been integrated into the brand name.
The revamped product line will be supported by a commitment to more than double the brand’s previous marketing investment, according to a press release. Spread across channels including digital, out-of-home, and paid social media, ZOA’s new marketing campaign, dubbed “Fuel Something Bigger,” will look to “inspire the way people are consuming and using energy, directing consumers to reach their full potential, to grow, inspire others, set new goals and start a movement beyond themselves.” That will be supplemented by ongoing activations throughout the year, including “influencer programming, social contests, seasonal promotions, and experiential pop-up moments,” and through its previously announced official partnership with the XFL, of which Johnson and Garcia are co-owners.
John Shulman, a co-founder and Chief Positivity Officer at ZOA, noted that the brand was “listening to our consumer” by offering “continuous innovation.”
“‘Fuel Something Bigger’ is much more than a marketing campaign – it’s truly our brand ethos,” Shulman said.
What’s the context?
As typical with his professional ventures, Johnson has made no secret of his high ambitions for ZOA since partnering with LA Libations and Molson Coors to launch the company in 2021. And, as with many of the actor’s works, it has been a broad success thus far.
According to NielsenIQ data from Goldman Sachs, ZOA grew volume over 117% in 2022, against a price drop of -1.5%. Last February, the company secured a $10 million line of credit with Gerber Finance for working capital to support continued growth. Johnson has added some personal muscle to the marketing efforts, starring in a TV ad broadcast during the Winter Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 and leveraging his starring role as comic book anti-hero Black Adam into a LTO licensing play.
Despite the strong start, however, ZOA’s makeover arrives as it faces an increasingly crowded field of competitors that have moved aggressively to claim market share and further the concept of next-gen energy drinks that cater equally to fitness enthusiasts and everyday consumers. In December, Keurig Dr Pepper announced a long-term strategic partnership with C4 Energy producer Nutrabolt to the tune of a $863 million investment for a 30% ownership stake, along with distribution rights. Elsewhere, CELSIUS, another brand that has made major strides across the same cross-section of fitness influencer and casual consumer audiences that ZOA has targeted, has aligned on a distribution pact with PepsiCo backed by a $550 million injection.
Molson also isn’t the only beer giant eyeing the energy space: Anheuser-Busch-backed GHOST has vastly outpaced ZOA over the past 52 weeks through December 31, according to NielsenIQ data, growing volume over 1136% compared to over 117% for Johnson’s brand. Dollar sales for ZOA were $42.8 million, lagging behind the likes of KDP-aligned A Shoc ($52.3 million), GHOST ($195 million), Nutrabolt ($318 million) and Alani Nutrition ($320 million), with brands like CELSIUS, Bang, Red Bull and Monster even further out of reach.
Starting the new year with an inside-out revamp suggests that Johnson and his team recognize tweaks may be needed to keep up the pace.
“We are passionate about what we’re building with ZOA, and fueling something bigger with our enhanced product and bold new design,” said Johnson. “We are building a passionate and motivated ZOA community and we’re inspired to help people reach their full potential, with ZOA energy being one of the catalysts for them to do so.”