Promo Products Boost Beverage Sales

College students are known for their ability to work hard and play hard. So it's no surprise that the makers of Code Blue, an all-natural recovery drink, wanted to target the college demographic in a recent marketing blitz.

 
In an effort to appeal to this important segment of the market, the company loaded up its brand-new Code Blue Recovery Ambulance with the drink and branded merchandise and traveled to Boston for CollegeFest, an annual back-to-school gathering for college students.

Code Blue wanted to build on the great feedback it received at its first CollegeFest appearance a year earlier, as well as reach incoming freshmen, expand its existing campus-rep program and add fans to its Facebook page, says Code Blue Founder and CEO Jeff Frumin.

Part trade show, part festival, the 25-year-old CollegeFest brings together more than 17,000 brand-loyal students and connects them with nearly 100 national and local brands; promotional items and prizes are given away, and live music performances entertain the crowds.

"Kids love the free stuff and leave with bulging swag bags," says Vincenzo Saulle, vice president of business development at Mr. Youth, the youth marketing agency that owns and organizes CollegeFest. In addition to elevating brand awareness, CollegeFest is a great way to discover students' likes, dislikes and how they respond to the brands that exhibit there, Saulle says. The event is always held in Boston, home to nearly 200,000 college students – one of the largest student populations of in the country.

The beverage sector is the most competitive sector at CollegeFest, says Saulle. "Kids are the right age for the beverages, and the show is a good place to give away large numbers of drinks to concentrated numbers of students," he says. Typically 20 to 30 drink brands, including energy drinks, waters and teas, exhibit at the show each year.

Code Blue's CollegeFest setup centered on the branded Recovery Ambulance, equipped with large coolers filled with ice-cold cans of the beverage. Reps handed out free medicine-cup samples of Code Blue, and every student who registered received a full can of the recovery drink. Every half hour, a drawing was held for a Code Blue Recovery Kit, containing branded medical scrubs, a T-shirt, a hat and a six-pack of Code Blue. Prizes of a semester's worth of Code Blue were also awarded. The Recovery Kits were very popular, and Code Blue gave students the opportunity to register on Facebook to win one.

Between 5,000 and 6,000 "prescription" flyer cards providing detailed information about the product, along with coupon books, were distributed at CollegeFest. There was significant Code Blue branded signage, and two of the three company founders attended, along with some campus reps and marketing staff. Four social-media reps carried branded Code Blue iPads to register students and take photos in front of the ambulance to post on Facebook. Students could comment and immediately share photos with friends.

Frumin says education about the product, especially the recovery concept, is critical to the success of Code Blue, which he calls a "healthier, more functional Gatorade. Students are interested in what is healthy." He notes that Code Blue is made with natural ingredients like vitamins C, B12 and B6, and has three times more electrolytes than Gatorade. In addition, it's the first ready-to-drink beverage containing sustamine, a liquid glutamine that aids muscle recovery. "Code Blue is not an energy drink," Frumin says. "Rather, it's more about hydration."
While the company focused on the sports-recovery message at CollegeFest, Frumin says, reps also told students they could use the drink any time they were dehydrated (read: hungover). Indeed, the informational hangtag on the Code Blue can reads, "Feel Better Faster."

The appearance at CollegeFest gave company sales a shot in the arm; sales doubled in nearly every account following the event, with some accounts witnessing a tripling of sales. Sales jumped 50% in the two weeks following CollegeFest, largely due to the brand's appearance there, students returning to campus and general Code Blue marketing efforts, says Frumin. In addition, Code Blue doubled its number of campus reps to some 50 students, and Frumin received "countless" inquiries via e-mail; most were along the lines of, "Hey, I saw you at CollegeFest, where can I buy you?"