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Monster
vs Rockstar DUEL OF THE ENERGY DRINKS
A SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND COMPARISONBy: Keina Crawford
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S● Industry Overview……………………3
● Target Audience……………………...4
● Brand Background○ Monster………………………
…..6○ RockStar……………………
…….8● Social Mention
Analysis………….11● Facebook
○ Monster………………………….13
○ RockStar………………………...14
● Instagram○ Monster………………………
….16○ RockStar……………………
…...17
● Twitter ○ Monster v.
RockStar……………19● YouTube
○ Monster v. RockStar…………..21
● Website○ Monster………………………….
….23○ Rockstar…………………………
…..24● Overall
Winner…………………………..26● Sources………………………………
……...27
Red Bull holds the spot for the top grossing energy drink, with Monster being a close second at around 39% market share and about $3.7 million in revenue in 2015. Rockstar comes in at third with about 10% market share and $820 million in revenue in 2015.The energy drink industry has been under a lot of scrutiny in the past several years, as research has suggested that the ingredients in the drinks are bad for your health - particularly when too much is consumed. Both Monster and Rockstar have been involved in many court cases and sued for everything from hospitalizations to even deaths. Many energy drink manufacturers put labels with their caffeine content, and warnings against certain people (children, pregnant women, etc), to drink their products.And instead of promoting their products in a traditional way, most of the energy drink industry has taken to the promotion of extreme sports and athletes, as well as musicians and music festivals.
I N D U S T R Y O V E R V I E W
In the beginning, these drinks mainly targeted athletes, but have slightly expanded to certain energy-specific and specialized groups. These groups range from the high-energy to the energy-deprived, the over-worked and the on-the-go. Young men, typically in their 20s, are a huge consumer of energy drinks, as well as the military, gamers, and the hip-hop crowd. They have been viewed as a “hip” drink, being marketed at places such as sporting events and music festivals.
Although the energy drink industry is still relatively new, (coffee sales outnumbered energy drink sales 36:1 in 1999), a 2016 Mintel report showed a 29% growth in products launched between 2010-2015, and a 10% growth in the global market reaching nearly 9 billion litres in sales.
T A R G E T A U D I E N C E
Brand Background
M O N S T E R
Monster Energy was first introduced by the Hansen Natural
Company in 2002, which later turned into the Monster Beverage Corporation, based out of Corona,
California. Coca-Cola recently purchased 17% of the brand, and Monster will be taking over their energy drink line. There are over
30 flavor variations in North America, including various lines such as their core, Ultra, Assault, Absolutely Zero, Chaos, Rehab,
Java, and many more.
M O N S T E RInstead of spending money on
advertising their products like most brands, Monster prefers to spend that money promoting musicians,
athletes, their fans, and their team of riders through sponsorships, gear,
VIP access to events, and more. They call this “Lifestyle in a can”. Some well-known areas you may find the
Monster brand at include the X Games, Motorcross, Nascar, and UFC
– just to name a few.
RockStar Energy is a brand created in 2001 by Russell Weiner based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. It switched from being owned by Coca-cola to Pepsico in 2009, and currently has over 20 flavors in over 30 countries. These flavors include lines such as their original, Pure Zero, Recovery, Punched, Juiced, and many more.
The drink was formulated to “speed the recovery time of those who lead an active lifestyle - from athletes to rock stars”. They entered claiming to be both bigger, and cheaper than Red Bull.
R O C K S T A R
PICS RockStar sponsors a range of sports and musicians like their fellow energy drink competitors. The Mayhem and Uproar rock music festivals were two huge events they sponsored, until they were discontinued in 2015, with rock music declining in popularity. Other areas RockStar can be found in include BMX, skating, snowboarding, MX, and drift, just to name a few.
R O C K S T A R
SOCIAL MENTION ANALYSIS
To get a feel for the BUZZ created across social media for these two brands, I utilized the social mention analysis tool online, averaging 5 reports taken at different times of the day to reduce bias.
With over 75% strength, both brands are pretty effective at getting their consumers to talk about them on social media. RockStar only slightly beats out Monster in sentiment, which means that they are getting more positive comments relative to negative.
79%STRENGTH
4.5 : 1SENTIMENT
26% PASSION
57% REACH
79%STRENGTH
5.5 : 1SENTIMENT
20% PASSION
84% REACH
ROCKSTAR
MONSTER
Both brands could use some improvement when maintaining repeat advocates, as Monster beats out RockStar with 26% passion, but this could also be due to the RUSH of new-comings to this still-growing industry. Overall, RockStar takes home the trophy for this one, with a more effective reach than Monster meaning that they have more unique visitors relative to their total mentions.
S O C I A L M E N T I O N A N A L Y S I S
■25.3 M likes >1400 photosInstead of typical advertisements and promotions, Monster prefers to focus on “the scene, our bands, our athletes and our fans”. You can find many videos of events and athletes they sponsor on their page - ranging from UFC, BMX, X Games , and more. They also highlight some of their sponsored athletes, with posts, articles, interviews, and spotlights honoring their achievements. Other pages on Facebook under the Monster name include Monster Energy: Girls, Military, & Gaming, where they cater to that unique audience.
M O N S T E R
■2.1 M likes, >3300 photosYou can find videos and posts about the sports RockStar sponsors on their Facebook page, including various motorsports, skating, snowboarding, and supercross. But one key noticeable difference between Monster and RockStar is how RockStar uses Facebook to highlight not only their athletes, but also their models. Monster posts some pictures, but not often or many. RockStar also is unique in that its Facebook contains buttons on the sidebar with pages embedded from their website where you can “get some”, “win hot stuff”, and “stay current”. Other affiliated pages include RockStar Energy: Motors, Drink Baja California (in Spanish), & Nation.
ROCKSTAR
One quick key difference between Monster and RockStar’s Instagram pages is that Monster’s is official (the blue checkmark). They include a good mix of videos and posts, while also utilizing Instagram’s recently released Carousel feature, where you can post a series of pictures. This is a helpful tool for the many events that Monster sponsors, so that they can post multiple pictures from the same event without overwhelming their followers with too many separate posts of one event. Instead of typical contact information that can be found in a bio, Monster instead has a link to a recent YouTube video they have posted. This is a good way to get followers using a variety of their platforms. Not only does Monster dominate in their number of followers, but they effectively showcase their brand with a smooth black, yellow, and green theme throughout all of their pictures.
@monsterenergy
One of the first things you notice when finding RockStar’s Instagram page is their lack of the familiar check mark inside of a blue circle, also known as a verified badge, that is so familiar with top brands. But then again, this verification does little for a brand that has a unique and well-known brand name. On the other hand, there are other brands with the “Monster” title. Other than that, you notice that they are very similar to other energy drink pages, showcasing their sports, athletes, and girls...just with 3 MILLION less followers than their competitor. Their pictures are attractive, clean, and appealing, but Monster has the edge here with their consistent color scheme.
@rockstarenergy
RECOMMENDATION: Both brands could use some improvement in consumer interaction,
although both concentrate on their athletes and musicians which takes a majority of their time.
T W E E T S
YOUTUBE
Because RockStar is not verified, you cannot see its number of subscribers. Because of this, the number of views and interactions, Monster takes the crown for this duel. RockStar does put out a lot of content though, with over twice the number of videos as Monster, but
sometimes it’s about quality over quantity.
C h a n n e l D u e l
WEBSITE
At first glance, the Monster website has a unique interface – different but intuitive. Instead of clicking through pictures on the homepage, you get to hold and drag this series of featured content. Continue scrolling, and there are very defined sections that are easy to navigate and flow smoothly. Using the top left menu button, a drop down list of further page links guides you through everything from their sports, promotions, news and more. A cool navigation feature is used to explore their over 30 drink options. Monster’s website is top-of-the-line, interactive, and engaging to keep visitors on their site for longer.
MONSTERENERGY.COM
At first glance, the RockStar website has a lot of huge, eye-grabbing graphics along with a sliding, interactive reel highlighting their athletes, drinks, and sports. But, the sliders get monotonous, which can be distracting. Some of the backgrounds are little overwhelming, such as the way their athletes page clashes with the background. Their individual drink advertisements are bright and appealing though, which is a good way to catch consumers’ attention and alert them of new products. The top right of the page features a typical (and boring) drop-down menu off of the navigation bar, where you can scroll through their page options. The one thing RockStar has done really well with their website on is their drink highlighting feature, which is both engaging and fun.
Rockstarenergy.com
ENERGY DRINK DUEL MASTER
O V E R A L L W I N N E R
MONSTER ENERGY
Although both brands are pretty comparable across their platforms, (being that the energy drink industry markets to athletes and musicians), there is a clear brand that dominates each and every platform. Monster takes home the gold in their social media following, sales, and overall maturity. Highlights of their social media presence include:-Number of followers, likes, and comments across platforms-Their use of the new carousel feature and their consistent color scheme on Instagram-Verified brand on all accounts-Interactive and engaging website interfaceBoth Monster and RockStar were released around the same time into a booming energy drink industry, but Monster has been the most successful in capturing and maintaining a higher percentage of the market and social media following, therefore claiming the title of Energy Drink King.
Sources
● http://rockstarenergy.com/,● Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Wikipedia● Social Mention● Trafficestimate.com, Oursites.com● https://www.caffeineinformer.com/the-15-top-energy-drink-brands● http://time.com/3854658/these-are-the-top-5-energy-drinks/● https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/11/12/heres-what-happens-to-your-b
ody-after-you-down-an-energy-drink-its-kind-of-scary/?utm_term=.5c0eac356e9a● http://energydrinks.factexpert.com/907-energy-drink-target-market.php● http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/food-and-drink/energy-drink-launches-grow-29-in-five-years-as-
global-sales-reach-8-8-billion-litres
