A force in the functional beverages category, Celsius shares why experiencing NACS is important to the company
The NACS Show kicks off this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center and exhibitors have been preparing to introduce product solutions and their latest innovation to industry peers. The NACS Show affords attendees and exhibitors the opportunity to connect face-to-face where they can share ideas and discuss cutting-edge trends.
One exhibitor, Celsius, is eager to connect with existing and potential retail partners during the show and showcase how the company continues to drive growth to the functional beverages category. The NACS Show is meaningful to Celsius for a variety of reasons, including the strong relationships the company has forged with retailers each year during the show.
“As always, the convenience channel is really critical for our brand,” said Celsius CMO Kyle Watson. “For us, we have such robust relationships with all our partners in that channel. It’s a mutualized symbiotic relationship.”
“It’s about showcasing to our partners and to the industry how much our brand is still continuing to grow the category, especially in the C-store channel,” Watson continued. “That for us really drives how valuable this show is.”
This year, the Celsius team will showcase one of its more recently introduced collections; the 16-oz. Essentials line that comes in six flavors including Mango Tango and Cherry Limeade and offers a jolt of Vitamins B and C, along with ginger root and green tea extract.
It resonates with retailers when they can see, touch and sample new products during the show while discovering and learning more about how products are performing and the new flavors that are available, Watson said.
“It’s great having that one-on-one experience and being able to not only talk about the excitement around the brand, but also showcase some of the product in person,” she explained.
From a marketing standpoint, being immersed in and observing innovation and macro trends across categories is interesting and remarkable, Watson said.
“I love going to the show to see what other brands are doing and what other innovation is there,” she said. “I believe understanding the entire C-store landscape and understanding consumer insights around that channel is important. I love nothing more than being around people, industry people, getting insights and understanding the consumer behavioral insights that you get from shows like NACS.”
Looking at flavor and macro trends, people want more out of their flavor and their experience, Watson noted.
“It’s not only about functionality, it’s about making sure we’re meeting them halfway,” she said. “And we have. One of our biggest differentiations we’ve always had in the category is that we have always led with this fruit forward, refreshing flavor profile, and the category is moving in that direction because people want to be refreshed by what they’re drinking, for the functionality. If you look strictly at usage occasion, there are a lot of times where people are pairing it with food, and we are embracing those trends with our retailers and putting together programs with food pairing. There are a lot of opportunities for usage occasions throughout the day, and NACS is a good place to talk through those opportunities and especially showcase how your brand fits into them.”
Watson noted the evolution of the category as a notable topic to engage in, particularly the growing trends of sugar-free options and the inclusion of better for you ingredients in beverages.
“We need to talk about the evolution of the category,” she said. “We’ve seen this shift into sugar-free, something that is relatively new. Within the C-store channel, we can really see how these better for you health and wellness trends where consumers are caring about what they put in their body are affecting their purchasing decisions at C-store.”
In preparation of the show, the Celsius team ensured it was aligned on the messages they wanted to drive home about the Celsius brand.
“Our brand is continuing to drive category growth, and driving 47 percent of category growth is an impressive thing to go into the show with,” Watson said. “It’s about making sure as a team, we are aligned on the message we want to go to the show with so we’re all singing the same song. I also think it’s getting everybody in the mindset of going there to learn, showing up and representing our brand while making sure we’re getting the right information and connecting with the right people.”
The Celsius team is strategic in the fact that we want to partner individually with all our retailer partners, Watson said. Understanding which topics to bring up with retailers and recognizing what is important to each retailer is critical.
“It’s really important for us to drive that relationship and provide value,” she said. “Going into the show and understanding which topics we can bring up with them that are going to be important to them and their business. We want to make sure we’re out there talking to our partners and showcasing the value we bring to them. A lot of that comes down to the marketing programs we have built in and have been embracing and activating throughout the past few years. We have a lot of amazing properties and brand assets. We look at our big bets and how we’ve been able to activate those at retail with shopper marketing programs and retailer specific initiatives, everything from MLS to Formula One, and with our partnership with Ferrari. Our retailers have been receptive to it. We want to go and tell the whole story about the value our brand brings and continue to drive that partnership that we’ve had with our retailers. That’s important at the show because it’s the one time we get each year to have face-to-face time with them, all at once. It’s critical, and it’s such a great time to reconnect.”
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