Monster

Energy Drink Market Entry Plan

for India

Monster Energy Drink Market Entry Plan for India

clubs, cafes, fitness centers etc. for promotion and sales. The main players in the Indian energy
drinks market and their ongoing activities have been discussed in the next section.

1.2.Competitor Analysis in the Indian Energy drinks market

Redbull energy drink can be considered as the company that basically introduced the concept of
energy drinks in India and developed this unexplored market category. Quite naturally, due to
the first mover advantage, Redbull is by far the leader in the Indian energy drinks market with a
share of more than 60% of the market (Marketing Practice, 2008). The founder of Red Bull Mr
Mateschitz firmly believed that a product can be best marketed through word of mouth
communication and peer recommendations. This thought formed the basic ideology of the Red
Bull advertising campaigns and slowly the word spread around and created a buzz around the
brand. Later, Red bull supplemented it with sports and event marketing, athlete endorsements,
club tie-ups and point of purchase marketing (Marketing Practice, 2008). Some of the sports
events that have found popularity among the Indian population are its Formula 1 campaigns and
the performance in one of the aero shows in India where their team called Flying Bulls
participated. In another event, Redbull organized stunts show across various cities in India by
inviting Red Bull Athlete and current & 4-time motorbike stunt riding world champion, Chris
Pfeiffer (Adgully.com, 2011)
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Some of the players in this category also include some Indian companies like the Mumbai based
Goldwin (makers of Cloud9 energy drink) launched in 2009. It has about 23% market share and
is the second largest in this market category. It comes in a number of variants like wild berry, red
grapes and pomegranate that have found some acceptance in the Indian population.

Monster Energy Drink Market Entry Plan for India

10

Threats

It contains additive ingredients that have not been evaluated by FDA resulting in low
acceptance in India.

Consumer might still prefer natural lemon/ orange based drinks over caffeine based
drinks

Less acceptability for new product offerings in India

Consumer might perceive it as an unhealthy, unnatural drink

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Monster Energy Drink Market Entry Plan for India

15

Considering the above points the Market development Strategy, where the company sells its
existing products in a new market (Johnson et al., 2010) should be employed. With its highly
successful range of portfolio of energy drinks Monster would be able to develop a market for
itself.
After few years of operation Monster could opt for either Market Penetration or
Diversification strategy or a mix of both. In few years it would have gained enough experience
of the Indian market and hence it could decide either to expand the market for its existing
products or customize new products especially for the Indian market.
Another important parameter to be considered is the mode of entry using the correct marketing
mix either through Standardization or Adaptation Strategy. The degree of standardization
versus adaptation has become a key focus area in the international trade domain (Larimo, 2008).
In the present case of Monster strategy to enter India, the use of Standardization is suggested
for entering the Indian market. Some of the main reasons for employing the standardization
approach for Monster are as follows

Monster already has an established product line and hence it would be able to reap the
benefits of economies of scale, research and development and production

The diffusion and distribution of the product would be rapid due to it standardized nature

Monster would have better control over its production lines

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This strategy would result in improved focus on quality

In a contractual agreement with an Indian counterpart, the standardized products would

fare better than customized ones.

At a later stage, Monster can also move to the Adaptation Strategy once it has understood the
market and explored the opportunities related to product customization.

Monster Energy Drink Market Entry Plan for India

20

6. References
Adgully.com, 2011. Red Bull brings back motorbike stunt champion Chris Pfeiffer to India.
[Online] Available at: http://www.adgully.com/marketing/event-marketing/red-bull-brings-backmotorbike-stunt-champion-chris-pfeiffer-to-india.html [Accessed 23 March 2012].
Energy Friend, 2010. The Top 15 Energy Drink Brands. [Online] Available at:
http://www.energyfiend.com/the-15-top-energy-drink-brands [Accessed 24 March 2012].
Faraz, 2010. Coca Cola Launched its energy drink. [Online] Available at:
http://brandactivationideas.blogspot.com/ [Accessed 28 April 2011].
HARRINGTON, D., 2011. Emerging Markets 2011-2012. [Online] Available at:
http://www.espressocoffeeguide.com/2011/04/emerging-markets-2011-2012/ [Accessed 22
March 2012].
Jacobs, K., 2009. INDIA: Energy, sports drinks market set to double. [Online] Available at:
http://www.just-drinks.com/news/energy-sports-drinks-market-set-to-double_id96992.aspx
[Accessed 25 March 2012].
Johnson, G., Scholes, K. & Whittington, R., 2010. Exploring Corporate Strategy : Text and
Cases. Prentice Hall.
Larimo, J., 2008. STANDARDIZATION VS. ADAPTATION OF THE MARKETING MIX
STRATEGY IN SME EXPORTS. In 34th EIBA Annual Conference. Talinn, 2008. Track 7:
International Marketing and Cross Cultural Issues in International Business.
Marketing Minefield, 2011. PESTLE Analysis. [Online] Available at:
http://www.marketingminefield.co.uk/pestle-analysis/ [Accessed 18 Dec 2011].
Marketing Practice, 2008. Red Bull : It Gives You Wiings. [Online] Available at:
http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2008/08/red-bull-it-gives-you-wiings.html [Accessed 22
March 2012].

This document
is S.,
a partial
preview.
Full
document
can be found
on Flevy:
MITRA,
2010. Mallya
targets
energy
drink. download
[Online] Available
at:
http://flevy.com/browse/document/monster-energy-drink-market-plan-for-entry-in-india-225
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100308/jsp/business/story_12190592.jsp [Accessed 25 March
2012].
Reuters, 2011. Monster Beverage Corp Profile. [Online] Available at:
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?rpc=66&symbol=MNST.O [Accessed
24 March 2012].
Roaring Haus Studio, 2011. Red Bull Marketing Plan. [Online] Available at:
http://www.ebrolcreative.com/marketing_gallery/Red_Bull_Marketing_Plan_2011.pdf
[Accessed 24 March 2012].

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