Social Media Marketing Brand Comparison Paper - Monster vs. RockStar Energy Drinks

1. Monster vs Rockstar
DUEL OF THE ENERGY DRINKS
A SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND COMPARISON
By: Keina Crawford

2. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S● Industry Overview……………………3
● Target Audience……………………...4
● Brand Background
○ Monster…………………………..6
○ RockStar………………………….8
● Social Mention Analysis………….11
● Facebook
○ Monster………………………….13
○ RockStar………………………...14
● Instagram
○ Monster………………………….16
○ RockStar………………………...17
● Twitter
○ Monster v. RockStar……………19
● YouTube
○ Monster v. RockStar…………..21
● Website
○ Monster………………………….….23
○ Rockstar……………………………..24
● Overall Winner…………………………..26
● Sources……………………………………...27

3. Red Bull holds the spot for the top grossing energy drink, with Monster being a close second at
around 39% market share and about $3.7 million in revenue in 2015. Rockstar comes in at third with
about 10% market share and $820 million in revenue in 2015.
The energy drink industry has been under a lot of scrutiny in the past several years, as research has
suggested that the ingredients in the drinks are bad for your health - particularly when too much is
consumed. Both Monster and Rockstar have been involved in many court cases and sued for
everything from hospitalizations to even deaths. Many energy drink manufacturers put labels with
their caffeine content, and warnings against certain people (children, pregnant women, etc), to drink
their products.
And instead of promoting their products in a traditional way, most of the energy drink industry has
taken to the promotion of extreme sports and athletes, as well as musicians and music festivals.
I N D U S T R Y O V E R V I E W

4. In the beginning, these drinks mainly
targeted athletes, but have slightly
expanded to certain energy-specific and
specialized groups. These groups range
from the high-energy to the energy-
deprived, the over-worked and the on-the-
go. Young men, typically in their 20s, are a
huge consumer of energy drinks, as well as
the military, gamers, and the hip-hop
crowd. They have been viewed as a “hip”
drink, being marketed at places such as
sporting events and music festivals.
Although the energy drink industry is still relatively new, (coffee sales
outnumbered energy drink sales 36:1 in 1999), a 2016 Mintel report
showed a 29% growth in products launched between 2010-2015, and a
10% growth in the global market reaching nearly 9 billion litres in sales.
T A R G E T A U D I E N C E

5. Brand Background

6. M O N S T E R
Monster Energy was first introduced
by the Hansen Natural Company in
2002, which later turned into the
Monster Beverage Corporation,
based out of Corona, California.
Coca-Cola recently purchased 17% of
the brand, and Monster will be taking
over their energy drink line. There
are over 30 flavor variations in North
America, including various lines such
as their core, Ultra, Assault,
Absolutely Zero, Chaos, Rehab, Java,
and many more.

7. M O N S T E R
Instead of spending money on
advertising their products like most
brands, Monster prefers to spend that
money promoting musicians, athletes,
their fans, and their team of riders
through sponsorships, gear, VIP access
to events, and more. They call this
“Lifestyle in a can”. Some well-known
areas you may find the Monster brand
at include the X Games, Motorcross,
Nascar, and UFC – just to name a few.

8. RockStar Energy is a brand created in
2001 by Russell Weiner based out of Las
Vegas, Nevada. It switched from being
owned by Coca-cola to Pepsico in 2009,
and currently has over 20 flavors in over
30 countries. These flavors include lines
such as their original, Pure Zero,
Recovery, Punched, Juiced, and many
more.
The drink was formulated to “speed the
recovery time of those who lead an
active lifestyle - from athletes to rock
stars”. They entered claiming to be both
bigger, and cheaper than Red Bull.
R O C K S T A R

9. PICS RockStar sponsors a range of sports and
musicians like their fellow energy drink
competitors. The Mayhem and Uproar
rock music festivals were two huge
events they sponsored, until they were
discontinued in 2015, with rock music
declining in popularity. Other areas
RockStar can be found in include BMX,
skating, snowboarding, MX, and drift,
just to name a few.
R O C K S T A R

10. SOCIAL MENTION ANALYSIS

11. To get a feel for the BUZZ created across social
media for these two brands, I utilized the social
mention analysis tool online, averaging 5 reports
taken at different times of the day to reduce bias.
With over 75% strength, both brands are pretty
effective at getting their consumers to talk about
them on social media. RockStar only slightly beats
out Monster in sentiment, which means that they
are getting more positive comments relative to
negative.
79%
STRENGTH
4.5 : 1
SENTIMENT
26%
PASSION
57%
REACH
79%
STRENGTH
5.5 : 1
SENTIMENT
20%
PASSION
84%
REACH
ROCKSTAR
MONSTER
Both brands could use some improvement when
maintaining repeat advocates, as Monster beats
out RockStar with 26% passion, but this could
also be due to the RUSH of new-comings to this
still-growing industry. Overall, RockStar takes
home the trophy for this one, with a more
effective reach than Monster meaning that they
have more unique visitors relative to their total
mentions.
S O C I A L M E N T I O N A N A L Y S I S

12. FACEBOOK

13. ■25.3 M likes >1400 photos
Instead of typical advertisements and
promotions, Monster prefers to focus on
“the scene, our bands, our athletes and
our fans”. You can find many videos of
events and athletes they sponsor on their
page - ranging from UFC, BMX, X Games ,
and more. They also highlight some of
their sponsored athletes, with posts,
articles, interviews, and spotlights
honoring their achievements. Other pages
on Facebook under the Monster name
include Monster Energy: Girls, Military, &
Gaming, where they cater to that unique
audience.
M O N S T E R

14. ■2.1 M likes, >3300 photos
You can find videos and posts about the sports RockStar sponsors on their Facebook
page, including various motorsports, skating, snowboarding, and supercross. But one
key noticeable difference between Monster and RockStar is how RockStar uses
Facebook to highlight not only their athletes, but also their models. Monster posts some
pictures, but not often or many. RockStar also is unique in that its Facebook contains
buttons on the sidebar with pages embedded from their website where you can “get
some”, “win hot stuff”, and “stay current”. Other affiliated pages include RockStar
Energy: Motors, Drink Baja California (in Spanish), & Nation.
ROCKSTAR

15. INSTAGRAM

16. One quick key difference between Monster and RockStar’s Instagram pages is that
Monster’s is official (the blue checkmark). They include a good mix of videos and posts,
while also utilizing Instagram’s recently released Carousel feature, where you can post a
series of pictures. This is a helpful tool for the many events that Monster sponsors, so that
they can post multiple pictures from the same event without overwhelming their followers
with too many separate posts of one event. Instead of typical contact information that can
be found in a bio, Monster instead has a link to a recent YouTube video they have posted.
This is a good way to get followers using a variety of their platforms. Not only does
Monster dominate in their number of followers, but they effectively showcase their brand
with a smooth black, yellow, and green theme throughout all of their pictures.
@monsterenergy

17. One of the first things you notice when finding RockStar’s Instagram page is their lack
of the familiar check mark inside of a blue circle, also known as a verified badge, that
is so familiar with top brands. But then again, this verification does little for a brand
that has a unique and well-known brand name. On the other hand, there are other
brands with the “Monster” title. Other than that, you notice that they are very similar
to other energy drink pages, showcasing their sports, athletes, and girls...just with 3
MILLION less followers than their competitor. Their pictures are attractive, clean, and
appealing, but Monster has the edge here with their consistent color scheme.
@rockstarenergy

18. TWITTER

19. RECOMMENDATION: Both brands could use
some improvement in consumer interaction,
although both concentrate on their athletes and
musicians which takes a majority of their time.
T W E E T S

20. YOUTUBE

21. Because RockStar is not verified, you cannot see its number of
subscribers. Because of this, the number of views and interactions,
Monster takes the crown for this duel. RockStar does put out a lot of
content though, with over twice the number of videos as Monster, but
sometimes it’s about quality over quantity.
C h a n n e l D u e l

22. WEBSITE

23. At first glance, the Monster website has a
unique interface – different but intuitive.
Instead of clicking through pictures on the
homepage, you get to hold and drag this
series of featured content. Continue
scrolling, and there are very defined
sections that are easy to navigate and flow
smoothly. Using the top left menu button, a
drop down list of further page links guides
you through everything from their sports,
promotions, news and more. A cool
navigation feature is used to explore their
over 30 drink options. Monster’s website is
top-of-the-line, interactive, and engaging to
keep visitors on their site for longer.
MONSTERENERGY.COM

24. At first glance, the RockStar website has a lot of
huge, eye-grabbing graphics along with a sliding,
interactive reel highlighting their athletes, drinks,
and sports. But, the sliders get monotonous, which
can be distracting. Some of the backgrounds are
little overwhelming, such as the way their athletes
page clashes with the background. Their individual
drink advertisements are bright and appealing
though, which is a good way to catch consumers’
attention and alert them of new products. The top
right of the page features a typical (and boring)
drop-down menu off of the navigation bar, where
you can scroll through their page options. The one
thing RockStar has done really well with their
website on is their drink highlighting feature,
which is both engaging and fun.
Rockstarenergy.com

25. ENERGY DRINK DUEL MASTER
O V E R A L L W I N N E R

26. MONSTER ENERGY
Although both brands are pretty comparable across their platforms, (being that the energy drink
industry markets to athletes and musicians), there is a clear brand that dominates each and every
platform. Monster takes home the gold in their social media following, sales, and overall maturity.
Highlights of their social media presence include:
-Number of followers, likes, and comments across platforms
-Their use of the new carousel feature and their consistent color scheme on Instagram
-Verified brand on all accounts
-Interactive and engaging website interface
Both Monster and RockStar were released around the same time into a booming energy drink
industry, but Monster has been the most successful in capturing and maintaining a higher
percentage of the market and social media following, therefore claiming the title of Energy Drink
King.

27. Sources
● http://rockstarenergy.com/,
● Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Wikipedia
● Social Mention
● Trafficestimate.com, Oursites.com
● https://www.caffeineinformer.com/the-15-top-energy-drink-brands
● http://time.com/3854658/these-are-the-top-5-energy-drinks/
● https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/11/12/heres-what-happens-to-your-
body-after-you-down-an-energy-drink-its-kind-of-scary/?utm_term=.5c0eac356e9a
● http://energydrinks.factexpert.com/907-energy-drink-target-market.php
● http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/food-and-drink/energy-drink-launches-grow-29-in-five-years-as-
global-sales-reach-8-8-billion-litres