SMOOTHIES AND ENERGY DRINKS : ME-TOO PERILS

What do smoothies and energy drinks have in common ? They’re both non-alcoholic drinks. They’re relatively expensive. Portion sizes are often small. Both have benefits. Yet smoothies are proudly natural, while energy drinks are rarely so. One is thick, the other thin. One is marketed because of taste, the other sometimes despite it. One is consumed earlier in the day, the other later. Anything else ? Yes. Have you noticed the similarity in their market dynamics ? Energy drinks shot up when one brand led the way and most others copied it. As with Red Bull, so with Innocent. There have been an amazing number of me-toos as well as me-too-leapfrogs in countries where the brand leaders had yet to enter. Most fell, are falling or will fall by the wayside. Brand leaders need competition, but above all competition that differentiates and takes the market forward. Hansen did that with Monster in the United States. The UK smoothie market has already floored a succession of heavyweights as well as lightweights. Good luck to the genuine innovators, but beware the slipstream. Consumers want copyright not copycats.