KSI, the internet celebrity approaching 6 billion views on YouTube, and his co-founder Logan Paul had announced their Prime drink was to become Bayern’s isotonic partner in a deal which the club’s chief marketing officer said will help their ambition to “reach a new audience.”
It was the latest eye-catching move for a brand that is growing inexorably despite the concerns of health officials and bans from its high-caffeine product being sold in Canada and New Zealand.
And the relationship with football has become a key pillar of a business that has generated more than £200m from sales in a little more than 20 months.
Arsenal were the first big club that Prime partnered with in July of last year, Barcelona joined up earlier this summer and now big-name players such as Erling Haaland and Alisha Lehmann are coming on board.
So far it is a link-up that is working for all sides as Prime looks to rival the likes of Lucozade and Gatorade and football clubs experiment with ways to engage with Gen Z fans.
“Arsenal, Barcelona and Bayern Munich will understand the appeal of KSI and Logan Paul to their younger fans and they will see it as a way to build engagement with that fanbase all the while providing Prime with a global platform to enhance brand awareness,” Ben Peppi, the commercial expert at JMW Solicitors, tells Mirror Football.
“These clubs would be wise to learn from Prime’s team too as to what insights and opportunities could be afforded through the influencers’ own power.”A large slice of Prime’s success is zoned in on an issue football chiefs have long been worried about: engaging young people. Executives, without much substance, have complained of kids turning away from the sport because they have waning attention spans (rather than many families being priced out by exorbitant ticket prices and TV subscription fees).
“It is a myth,” Peppi says, to suggest that teenagers do not have the attention span required to immerse themselves in the game. They are just consuming it differently and, he says, “it is the duty of broadcasters, clubs and rights holders to deliver that content in a meaningful manner.”
Yet there is a belief that such crossovers will benefit clubs. “Exciting partnerships with challenger brands at the forefront of Gen Z culture will no doubt aid the club’s development in engaging these fans as long as they are being activated correctly,” Peppi adds.
From the outset Prime’s primary audience has been teenage boys who subscribe to the social media channels of both KSI and Paul and the distinction of them being founders of the drink rather than ambassadors has been vital.
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Its bright, garish packaging and similarly fluorescent flavours, unpalatable to most adults, have had a magnetic effect. So too the bans and strategy of making it rather hard to buy in its early months, to such an extent it was being resold online for the price of a bottle of good wine.
“They are founders, not just brand ambassadors,” Peppi adds. “A savvy marketing plan – notably scarcity and ‘limited edition’ tactics – has helped turn Prime into an online sensation, aligning to the ‘drop culture’ methodology employed by brands targeting the Gen Z community.
“While having two big names as the face of the product is incredibly important and a significant contributor to Prime’s success, marketing buzz does not guarantee success – the operators in the company are smart and their success has not just happened by chance.”
There is also a sense that Prime is positioning itself smartly in a market expecting impending flux - in the Premier League, at least. With plans to ban gambling companies from appearing on the front of shirts from 2026 there will be plenty of opportunities appearing.
Various flavours of Prime for sale in a shop window in London.
And Prime’s raison d’etre has been clear: to challenge the likes of Gatorade and Lucozade in the saturated energy drinks market.
At the same time many clubs’ commercial departments are becoming smarter around what brands they should be affiliated with - especially after the backlash from fans over the rapid cryptocurrency boom and bust.
“Supporters are more socially aware and there is now an expectation to use resources available to align with brands and businesses that match not just the club's values, but that of its community too,” Peppi says.
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