Energy Brands' New P-O-P Has Some Get Up and Go ... Go

Go-Go Energy Drink from Energy Brands Inc. is intended to keep its ultra-hip audience of young dancers grooving into the wee hours, but the company's P-O-P and product packaging are designed to make them stop -- and buy the drinks, of course.The Whitestone, N.Y.-based company is re-introducing the drink as a single-serve product that it's supporting with bold new packaging and an array of colorful P-O-P materials prominently featuring the slinky and chic Go-Go Girl."Go-Go Energy Drink is what we refer to as an 'aspirational' brand," says J. Darius Bikoff, founder and president of Energy Brands, which also produces the Glaceau Water+ line of nutrient-enhanced bottled waters. "The Go-Go Girl is somebody everyone can relate to and, in a way, would like to be like. She really appeals to people who are from a range of art and fashion backgrounds, and people who love to dance. Go-Go is synonymous with energy, so all the P-O-P needs to have that energy. We bring the P-O-P to life by putting the Go-Go Girl front and center on all the merchandising material."To bring her to life, Energy Brands created her look based on the Japanese style of animation, which the company feels reaches its goal of simulating energy. The Go-Go Girl appears in a red dress and go-go boots, demonstrating, as the company describes it, "her on-the-go, up-for-everything independent personality."The Go-Go Girl retail P-O-P program is currently being introduced in New York and San Francisco and will hit other select U.S. markets that have large dance club cultures. The materials include a 3-wide glide rack, suction racks, static clings and Go-Go Girl stand-ups, which will be used at convenience stores and other retail channels. The company is also looking beyond the traditional in choosing where Go-Go Energy Drink will be sold and merchandised."It's all about where people want energy, where people go to dance, whether they're going to a nightclub or bar," Bikoff says. "Or if they're traveling and they want it in the mini-bar in their hotel or at an all-night gas station or convenience store."Made of polypropylene, the 3-wide glide and suction racks are intended for use inside coolers. The glide rack holds three facings of 27 cans and measures 7 inches wide, 4 inches high and 26 inches deep. The suction rack can accommodate 7 facings, and its decal area measures 16 inches by 2 inches.Energy Brands worked with Display Technologies of College Point, N.Y., to produce the glide racks and with Displays by Martin Paid Inc., Denton, Texas, to produce the suction racks. The P-O-P is being produced on an ongoing basis, and Energy Brands will provide its distributors with as many pieces as required to support the product rollout. Retail accounts obtain the displays through their distributors.According to Bikoff, a product like Go-Go Energy Drink has the ability to revitalize the energy drink category, which sometimes can be "a bit serious and almost medicinal or pharmaceutical," he says. "We like to say Go-Go is the fun and confidence in the energy drink category. So, the P-O-P material really needs to accentuate the benefits of the brand. A lot of what we do is very transparent. It's about letting the product stand out and represent itself, as opposed to being hidden or disguised by the P-O-P."The Go-Go Girl's fun image connects with the drink's target audience, Bikoff says. "The Go-Go Girl is very indicative of the generation that is all about energy and dancing and those are the people in society today that are setting all the trends," he says. "Those are the people that the brand connects with."

Energy Brands' New P-O-P Has Some Get Up and Go ... Go

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