Monster Energy Drink’s Marketing Strategy

            Since the official product launch in 2002, Monster Energy Drink (based out of Corona, California and owned and operated by Hansen Beverage Company) has risen from the darkness of weak unknown product to become the top profit-earning product in its category. In all of three years the brand easily climbed to the top of the rankings of energy drinks and nestled itself next to the other top performers Rock Star and Red Bull. In the year 2005 alone, stockholders witnessed 333% gain from a share worth $18.20 to an amazing $78.81 at the end of the year. This multi-million dollar beverage company has a firm grip on the energy drink revolution. You may never have the chance to ask the executives of Monster what the secret of their success is, but it is not that difficult to analyze and discover what the magic touch is that brings home the wealth that they have become so accustomed to. The marketing tactics that Monster employs on its customers are what really sells the drink.

            Monster Energy Drink is fortunate enough to have one of the largest budgets for advertising and promotional ventures in its realm of competition. But, the strategy used by Monster is what sets it apart from the rest. The target market we are looking at here primarily consists of males from the teen years to the ages of around forty who follow the lifestyle associated with extreme, action, and motor sports that are popular today. When targeting this group of people it is best to appeal to these males’ natural desires and ambitions. Monster does this well. However, Monster does this all too well.

The tools of marketing that they use enhance and exaggerate these natural male reactions. They force false images of the opposite sex into the minds of these men (and teenagers as well) and cause them to form these delusions of grandeur over all other females that involve the sexual desire of men. Take for example the wallpaper downloads on monsterenergy.com. You can also take into account the countless number of women that have posted sexually provocative pictures of themselves on the free public postings available on the official Monster website. Or possibly even the extremely attractive models that are present at every event that Monster promotes or hosts wearing very little clothing at all. This breeds that false image of women and sexuality aforementioned. This is an unfair image that is unwittingly imposed on all women by the males affected by this. After the emotions of lust are implanted in the male brain they cause the males to form expectations of women’s appearances and attitudes that are not common among most women. Again, this is not fair for women everywhere.

            Not only are attractive women used to sell Monster Energy Drink, but the allure of the action sports realm also remains key in Monsters promotions. The brand is known for its high dollar sponsorship of large key events in many different aspects of sports. They have been key label sponsors in the Dew Action Sports Tour, the X-Games, the Monster Energy Pipeline Pro, and more. This provides important outlets for Monster to hype their product as the one thing that gives athletes the edge they need over the competition. Their motto holds that they really are the key to the extra advantage athletes strive for. Found on monsterenergy.com it states: “Tear into a can of the meanest energy supplement on the planet, MONSTER energy. We went down to the lab and cooked up a double shot of our killer energy brew. It’s a wicked mega hit that delivers twice the buzz of a regular energy drink. The MONSTER packs a vicious punch but has a smooth kick ass flavor you can really pound down. So when it’s time to unleash the beast within, grab a MONSTER and GO BIG!” All this hype and allure causes the target market to fall into feelings of jealousy and envy for the professionals they look up to. It teaches them to believe that through Monster they can achieve the same level of performance and skill that their heroes have already attained. However, it was not truly Monster Energy Drink that caused the athletes to evolve to the level they are at now. So now instead of training the right way and practicing in order to advance and grow in their skills they find it much easier to attempt to bypass all of that with Monster. It causes another false image of unattainable skill that falls along right next to the false image of the sexuality of women.

            Monster finds yet another way to exploit the feelings of jealousy and envy in its market by allowing aspiring athletes an easily obtained sense of success. On the same claim that through Monster one can gain the skill and performance of professionals Monster finds a way to make young men fell as if they are able to be as famous and successful as their top sponsored athletes. Through the amateur sponsorship system Monster has established over the internet on monsterarmy.com it has become possible for just about anyone to feel as if they are achieving fame through their label. All one has to do to receive a sponsorship from Monster is to submit a simple resume of contest results and pictures of themselves in the sport they specialize in and hope for favor in the eyes of the overseers of this process. More often than not they will receive the sponsorship, which includes free Monster Energy Drinks by the case and a few free shirts and hats. This does not sound like much at all, but that is not all that is gained. From personal experience I can say that through sponsorships young men gain notoriety and popularity. If you have some you are looked upon by your peers as if you are somehow more important than they are. Although if you have none you are disregarded in terms of peer appreciation and not given the benefit of a doubt on your skills. To somehow add all this up, it is safe to make the statement that through these meaningless and somewhat abundant sponsorships that are desired so much by men trying to be like professionals, Monster segregates its market from “those who can” and “those who can’t”. All it does is add fuel to the fire of jealousy that burns within all males and enforce the concept of natural male dominance.

            It helps as well when discussing the sponsorship of athletes to describe power of the Monster logo. The claw torn M logo that is present on every can of every beverage in the line of Monster Energy Drinks is the same logo that can be found on every sponsored athlete. Whether it come in the form of a sticker on a motorcycle or skate board or on apparel the athletes wear, the logo is easily recognizable and helps the target market to associate the athletes with the brand with no problem. This puts the label on everything that the target market aspires to be and yet increases the hold Monster retains on its loyal customers.

One key unit that has yet to be explored is just as much physical as it is psychological. Rest assured, Monster finds a way to spend every dollar in its budget to help sell its product. The most common way they do this is through the age-old tactic of free promotional giveaways. These can be found in the form of the countless contests they put on regularly that involve putting the winners in situations where they feel the glory and fame they have always desires. For instance, a contest put on in 2006 that launched in 35,000 convenience stores coast-to-coast across America involved 20 all expenses paid round-trips for two to Hawaii to be a V.I.P. at their world class surfing event, the Monster Energy Pipeline Pro of Surf. This is essentially the Super Bowl of surfing and easily drew the attention of surfing fans all over America. Promotions like this cause people to spend dollars upon dollars on Monster Energy Drinks. It is an effective tool that once again draws on the wishes of men to live like the pros and become famous. This sticks with the hopeful envy that Monster draws on in every aspect of their marketing campaign.

            The other form these free promotional giveaways come in is just that. At all events Monster host and even those when they are just merely present as well as various places elsewhere you can find Monster representatives handing out cans of Monster Energy Drink with no situations. This is where Monster plays not on human emotions, but human physiological functions instead. Monster has a very high amount of the ingredient caffeine, an additive that is known to hold an addictive nature similar in effect to the addictive nature of tobacco. When these free giveaways are successful consumers will get hooked on the product without realizing they are. This is a small part of Monsters strategy but it is very effective when used in cooperation with their subtle molding of the male mind. Through generosity they build trust with the consumer and harbor a control over their market while the market is none the wiser. It is a strategy that preys on the instincts of the mind and falls directly within the confines of a psychological concept known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This is a system developed by Abraham Maslow that accurately explains the needs that Monster Energy Drink fulfills for men. The theory states that once human beings basic needs are met they will seek to meet the needs of the next most important thing in their life. Monster falls into the fourth tier of the hierarchy, the human need for self-esteem. This area of self-esteem includes confidence, achievement, and respect of/by others. It is safe to say that Monster helps people to meet these needs whereas men feel they cannot meet them without it.

            The attitudes, morals, and values that a man can gain or lose all through the advertising of Monster cannot only directly affect himself but also others around him. It is easy to get lost in the allure and glamour of the life associated with this action-oriented beverage and it is not always so easy to escape. Monster is continuing to see its rise to the top all while carrying the weight of its target markets aspirations and dreams on its back. Monsters popularity and fame are only as attractive as the marketing department can make it. Right now, there is no other energy drink on the market with the drive and following at the level of Monster. They will without a doubt surpass all other competition in the future, although they may alter the viewpoints and emotions of men all over America forever. Monster is a highly successful company and it is all due to ingenious and effective advertising management.

The name Monster is truly fitting for a product that really does “unleash the beast within”. This is a product that empowers its’ users with energy when they are depleted or in need, but with a price that not only they must pay but those around them must pay as well. It is clear that the side effects of Monster are variable and widespread and hard to detect, and they do well to challenge the ego of men who partake of it. It is amazing how one product can alter a mans’ view of a woman and sexuality altogether as well as create false senses of success and fame. The envy, jealousy, and lust that Monster toys with can easily change a man into something he is not.