Prime Hydration’s 12 Marketing Strategies That Made It a Global Sensation

If you’re into sports, you must have heard about the new energy drink, Prime Hydration.

The product has recently gained a lot of attention and media coverage, with its demand so high that the supply has become scarce, making the item even more in demand.

The internet is buzzing with the news of youngsters clamoring to get their hands on the energy drink, and willing to pay exorbitant rates just to buy their favorite flavor. 

What do you think it’s all about? What makes Prime so popular?

In this article, we are going to talk about Prime Hydration and discuss its marketing strategies. At the end of the article, you’ll have some general ideas of the promotion tactics Prime applied to become a viral brand.

What is Prime Hydration

Prime Hydration is a B2C sports beverage brand that sells fruity sports energy drinks. 

It was founded by YouTube influencers Logan Paul and Olajide Olayinka William (KSI) in 2022, and it majorly operates in the UK and US.

Prime has been in the market for hardly a year, yet it has generated over $250 million in sales, making it the sixth bestselling sports drink in the United States.

Despite facing tough competition from well-known brands like Gatorade, Prime is in high demand and its stock gets sold out quickly.

Let’s explore the 12 best marketing strategies Prime has employed to promote its brand and products.

1. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is Prime’s core promotion channel. It’s the first medium through which Prime Hydration created brand exposure and reached its target audience.

Let me give you a bit of a background to explain it.

Logan Paul and KSI were YouTubers first and business partners later. Prime Hydration wasn’t their first collaboration, and neither did they start their business right away. 

The duo initially collaborated on a YouTube channel project in 2018, and for two long years, they worked on their channel, attracting millions of people. 

Their YouTube channel eventually gave them a ready pool of potential customers, allowing them to introduce Hydration Prime to over 40 million people in one go.

Whether this marketing tactic was an unplanned move or part of their long-term strategy, it doesn’t really matter much. What matters is that their strategy worked brilliantly and helped them enter the market.

Takeaway

Social media is a powerful lead generation and nurturing platform. More than half of the world is on social media these days, and it’s an excellent marketing channel for brand promotion.

While it does take a little bit of time and patience to fully utilize social media channels, once you are in, you can build a strong customer base.

2. Endorsement

Endorsement is another best marketing tactic Logan Paul and KSI employ to generate leads and convert buyers into loyal customers.

If you remember, I mentioned earlier that Logan Paul and KSI were YouTubers and sportsmen before they started their joint venture. 

Logan Paul is a professional wrestler and KSI is an artist and boxer. They have been running their individual YouTube channel for a long time and have a strong fan base and influence.

When Logan Paul and KSI entered into a partnership, both brought their influence, expanding their subscriber list and eventually the brand reach.

As well-known personalities, their endorsement offered a layer of authenticity to their product, making it easier to promote and sell their products to their target market.

People still purchase Prime because of Logan and KSI endorsement.

Takeaway

Endorsement is an effective brand awareness marketing strategy. 

16% of millennials and Generation Z find new brands through celebrity channels, and three out of ten purchase products based on their recommendation.

3. Market Segmentation

A major part of Prime Hydration’s success is also attributed to the correct classification of its target market. The brand’s market segmentation is clear, precise, and remarkably accurate, which enables Prime to optimize its advertisement and target the right audience to generate the desired results.

Let’s look at the facts.

Most Prime consumers are either Logan and KSI sports fans or young adults from the UK and US who can afford premium drinks. 

Even though the beverage is intended for adults, the majority of customers are teens.

Prime categorizes its audience by status, demography, and interests, and designs its promotional activities specifically to attract teenagers and sports lovers who meet their criteria. As a result, people love Prime despite its acquired taste.

Takeaway

Market segmentation can help you narrow down your target market and optimize your campaigns.

If you know who to target, you can pick your promotional content and channels accordingly.

4. Branding

Prime Hydration branding is designed to serve three main purposes—Target Generation Z, share the brand values, and make the bottles stand out.

Its brand packaging is bold, bright, and eye-catching, which is exactly the thing to attract a teenager’s eye. Its logo also shows a classic combination of bold and playful text that’s widely used in sports drinks to represent power and youth.

Prime has additionally named its product differently to appeal to the younger audience. With a creative twist of words like Glowberry and Mata Moon, it has set its products apart from regular beverages.

To summarize, Prime’s bold brand scheme makes its products visible and memorable.

Takeaway

Branding helps you give your product an identity to gain your audience’s trust. 

If people are familiar with your brand, they will likely purchase your products and services.

5. UGC Content

Prime Hydration, despite its popularity, is still a new sports drink.

While it has built a strong customer base with endorsements, it has mainly gained traction on social media with user-generated content.

When the product was launched, tons of Logan and KSI’s fans bought Prime and posted videos on their personal social media accounts. 

This move generated a buzz on the internet and created a massive demand for energy drinks, bringing huge sales to Prime.

To date, Prime gets good publicity from user reviews.

Takeaway

User-generated content is a cost-effective marketing strategy. 

With this medium, you get free advertising and convert more leads into customers.

6. Product Scarcity

One of Logan Paul and KSI’s smart marketing techniques to boost product sales is scarcity. They often keep the inventory limited, which increases their product demand and generates quick sales.

Demand and supply are inversely proportional. If the product quantity is less, it causes a fear of missing out, driving people to purchase the product before it runs out.

This psychological principle works every time whether the item is an essential or a luxury product.

The recent launch of Glowberry Prime drink is the best example. Prime has supplied a stock limited stock in the market and placed a pre-order option to increase the product value.

Takeaway

Product scarcity generally impacts the customer’s purchase decision.

If you sell limited items, it makes people want to buy them more.

7. Influencer Marketing

Logan Paul and KSI frequently utilize influencer marketing to target new customers. As popular YouTubers themselves, they understand the importance of influencer marketing and often team up with social media celebrities from TikTok, Instagram, and other channels to promote Prime.

Some of the notable social media influencers they have partnered with include fitness expert Adam Bornstein, Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie, and Tanner Fox. 

They also periodically collaborate on “Let Taste the Drink” episodes and participate in similar activities with fellow internet celebrities to increase brand visibility—like Logan’s collaboration with Mr.Beast here.

Takeaway

Influencer marketing is a billion-dollar industry. Small businesses and large organizations both use this channel to create brand awareness.

Over 85% of companies set aside some marketing budget specifically for collaborations. 

8. Product Line

Prime Hydration’s product line plays an important role in its marketing strategy. Its products align well with the brand image and keep Prime connected to current trends.

For example, people today are more health conscious, and Logan and KSI leverage that trend to frequently highlight healthy ingredients. The versatile fruity flavors also keep the customer interested and Prime in the news. 

The combination of flavor and ingredients is designed to provoke a sense of curiosity, urging people to purchase them just to try the flavor.

This is one of the reasons Prime gets a good response whenever it releases a new edition or flavor.

Takeaway

Your Product line makes up the four Ps of marketing. It directly influences your advertising, distribution strategy, and customer base, and helps you expand your business.

Make sure to consider all angles while choosing your product line. 

9. Engagement Activities

Prime’s founders regularly post engagement activities to nurture leads and customers. Through online interactions, entertainment, and guerrilla marketing tactics, they keep their fans engaged and connected.

For example. Last year, Logan Paul posted a video of going undercover as a Walmart employee to record people’s reactions. The four-minute YouTube video garnered around 10M views and 15k comments.

Other good promotion tactics Logan Paul and KSI use are behind-the-scene posts and marketing stunts. Those activities range from shopping and inventory stocking to funny videos and challenges.

Takeaway

Brand engagement is a common content marketing tactic to generate leads and gain customer loyalty.

Nurturing activities receive more response comparatively and result in 50% higher sales.

10. Website Design and SEO

One other good lead generation strategy of Logan Paul and KSI is website optimization.

If you explore Prime’s office site, you’ll immediately notice certain SEO traits in the layout and content.

Its navigation menu is clean, with everything accessible on the top bar. The product description is also straightforward with clear text to ensure everything is transparent and there’s no confusion.

There’s even a tab for drink verification to let people know the official distribution channels.

Prime has invested well in web design and SEO to increase the site visibility and improve the shopping experience.

Takeaway

Google is a major source of product information and online shopping. Around 59% of shoppers search reviews on Google before making a purchase.

With website optimization, you can increase your site traffic and make your products accessible to potential customers online.

11. Product Distribution

Prime’s distribution strategy focuses on exclusivity. The product is sold at only a handful of stores in the US and UK and at a slightly premium price to create product scarcity—as explained above.

Prime also strategically stocks the drinks at specific sections of supermarkets and gyms to target athletes and health enthusiasts. 

Both limited stock and product placement improve Prime’s brand value and have made it a “must-have” drink among teenagers. 

It has also resulted in the creation of a secondary market where drinks are being sold at thrice its original price. 

While Prime founders have fervently criticized the running of the secondary market, it has undoubtedly boosted the product demand.  

Takeaway

A well-thought-out distribution strategy can make your products easily accessible to your customers and make the shopping experience better.

It can also be utilized to create artificial demand, like Prime Hydration does.

12. Sponsorships

Logan Paul and KSI have a sports background, and both leverage it to promote their brand. They have made several sponsorships deals in the sports to expand their market base.

For example. They have partnered with Arsenal Football Club and UFC to make Prime an official drink supplier. The move has exposed Prime to a large audience and offered it a platform for publicity and sales.

This strategy also enables Prime to target its major competitor, Gatorade. 

In July 2023, Spanish football club Barcelona signed a deal with Prime, allowing the latter to take over Gatorade’s place. It was a major move on Prime’s part to undermine their rival and get a good deal.

Takeaway

Sponsorship is the best way to get access to a large audience and gain instant visibility across multiple channels.

You can accomplish multiple goals with this strategy and improve your brand image.

Final Word

When you look at Prime Hydration’s core marketing strategies, you’ll notice they aren’t exactly unique or new.

Logan and KSI have employed a usual mix of conventional and modern tactics that almost every other brand typically applies to attract their target market and generate sales.

But what brought Prime to the limelight was a smart use of those traditional and non-traditional approaches. The founders built their audience first and then launched their products at the right moment. 

This is how Logan and KSI made their startup venture a raging success within a year.