With the August launch of its private label energy drink, GazZü, convenience store chain Circle K is looking for another success story to follow that of Joker Mad Energy, a beverage born out of its partnership with Hansen Beverage Co.

In terms of the presence of energy drinks in the convenience channel, Russ Kidd, category manager, packaged beverages for Circle K’s Southeast region, says that the category has been growing at about 50 to 70 percent over the past five years and is continuing to grow at more than 40 percent. He expects that momentum of growth to continue and then slow to about 30 percent in the next five years.

“It is still a continuously popular segment within the beverage category,” he says, “especially in convenience stores. And why, is because most people stop at a convenience store when they’re thirsty versus going anywhere else.”

In terms of the importance of having a private label energy drink, Kidd attests it’s “very important.”

“For us it’s just a natural fit. We are a convenience store national chain and were on the forefront of energy drinks before it really started to skyrocket; we felt that this was going to be a drink of the future,” he says. “And we’ve already had great success with Joker Mad Energy.”

Kidd says that Hansen owns the trademark for Joker Mad Energy while Circle K was the exclusive US distributor.
But with the creation of GazZü, Kidd was looking for something to call his own. “At the time, I was looking for a company to partner with to develop an energy drink that we owned 100 percent,” he says. He found that partner in BooKoo Beverages, Inc. (Addison, Texas, USA). “One of the things we try and do at BooKoo is try to prove to people that an energy drink doesn’t have to taste like a failed lab experiment to be functional, and we’ve been able to extend that to GazZü,” says Dan Lee, president, BooKoo. “And even though we produce GazZü for Circle K, it’s their baby.”

Kidd explains that with this product he was looking to “develop an energy drink that did not look like a private label and that had all the attributes of a national brand launch.”

“If you look at GazZü it’s a great-looking product,” says Lee. “Nothing about the image, the graphics, speaks to anything cheap. This has a very premium, national brand look.”

The can’s label looks out of this world--literally. A large G pops on a sea of black, almost resembling a milky way, notes Kidd, and brightly colored graphics--red for Cherry, orange for Mango Orange and green for Original--have a gothic feel, which create the brand’s premium look.

Packaged in a 16-ounce can with many of the ingredients found in energy drinks— such as vitamins B6 and B12 and taurine--GazZü is intended to appeal to both genders, a trait most other energy drinks don’t have, notes Kidd.

“When you look at the energy drinks that are out there, most of their names are macho or manly,” he says. “We wanted a name that transcended both genders and that wouldn’t be offensive to anyone, so we came up with GazZü.”

When coming up with the flavor profile for the energy--drink, Kidd turned to his consumers. “We took all of our flavor profiles and tested them against different demographics across the US and that’s where we came up with the flavor profile,” he says. A low-carb version is scheduled for release soon.

Available in single-serve, for now, GazZü is sold in four of the six Circle K business units--Arizona, Midwest, Southeast and Great Lakes with the Gulf Coast and West Coast to follow in the near future.

Kidd plans to give the brand the help it needs in finding an audience through prominent positioning in Circle K stores and aggressive pricing. “Any time you have a private label you can be a little bit more aggressively priced than any other brand,” he says, adding that one of the benefits of having a private label beverage is that it affords more of a margin. GazZü will be priced at the same price as other energy drinks are in the Southeast, which is around US$2.39, relays Kidd, but Circle K will promote the private label at a buy-one-get-one-free discount.

In the next few months, Kidd hopes to launch a sampling campaign across the Circle K business units to get the product into people’s hands. He also plans on launching a website for the energy drink, gazzu.com, within the same time period.

The long-term goal for the new energy drink? “To get GazZü on the list of the top 10 energy drinks sold in the US,” Kidd answers.

 
VITAL STATS
CIRCLE K, SOUTHEAST REGION
HEADQUARTERS: Charlotte, N.C., USA
GOALS: To have GazZü become one of the top 10 energy drinks sold in the US.

 
From Beverage World September 15, 2007