NORTHERN PLANNER

By the way, remember this slightly confused post on cultural strategy for energy drinks? It needed a lot of pruning, which goes to show why you need to think hard about this stuff rather than going off half cocked.

Anyway, here's something a lot simpler.

The energy drinks market is very macho. With the exception of the current Lucozade stuff it's about joy in pain etc, while Lucozade isn't really seen that much in gyms and stuff because it's mostly a lifestyle drink, a fact they've embraced.

There's nothing in the category for women. Who tend to avoid to avoid energy drinks because they think they're full if calories. This is part of something quite rich to delve into.

On the practical level, food has become fetishised for body concious young women. Fad diet after fad diet leaves them either half starved from eating next to nothing, or disappointed when they realise the 'cheat diet' that lets them eat what they want doesn't work.

On another level, the macho, no pain sports turns women off. They're not ultra competitive like men, they just want to look good – get into those jeans, work that killer black dress. One of the big trends in health is the increasing desire for physcial perfection. It ain't going away.

That takes us to an interesting place for a watery looking , natural 'good' sports drink. It can puncture all the bullshit around fad diets AND quash the qualms about calories…..basically with the truth that you should burn more than you chew. Instead the the hollow emptiness you get from dieting, if you burn calories instead, you get a wonderful positive buzz.

On a higher level, instead of all that pain, suffering and winning stuff, you could embrace the truth that women train to look great and that is nothing to be ashamed of.

Suddenly you're in a world of independent, sexy, empowered, women who are a million miles away from the crash dieting, famous for doing nothing airheads you see in OK Magazine. 



You're tapping into Generation Y women who don't see a conflict between beauty and brains, see the irony in the glamour industry and enjoy the fact that 'men just don't get it'. They also dislike the 'assault on pleasure' discussed in the last post. They also at once dislike and mock the lunkeads in gyms who can't help but ogle them and don't get why they would never be interested in a million years……….

With some time and effort, that could get quite provocative and interesting………………