US-based Monster Beverage Corp is planning to launch its Predator energy drink line in China as part of a greater emphasis on the ‘affordable’ segment in Asia.
Monster CEO Rodney Sacks and president Hilton Schlosberg confirmed the company’s plan to roll out the Predator line in APAC markets including China, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh and Pakistan over the next 12 months.
Sacks said there is an ‘enormous market’ for affordable energy drinks in countries such as China and India, adding that Monster did not want to have to sacrifice its flagship brand’s premium positioning to establish a foothold in these markets. He added, “The premium segment is really dominated principally by Red Bull and ourselves at Monster, but there was a lot of opportunity and enormous white space available to us to grow into with a product that was affordable to consumers in those APAC countries, and where the premium products were just beyond the reach of their earning capacity.”
Monster differentiates itself from its competitor Red Bull as it offers Monster as a premium product, and offers another brand, Predator as an affordable (mass market) product, whereas Red Bull does not change its brand to fit to a different market category instead it adjusted its packaging or content accordingly.
Predator will be sold in lower-income countries where affordability is important, but will not be sold in high-income countries like the US or Europe where the affordability segment is much smaller or does not exist, fearing that it may cannibalise its own Monster brand.
