Beverage Marketing Memo: High-Energy Jolt Soda is Back and Hitting the Streets of Southern California With A 'High-Energy' Gorilla Marketing Campaign

Carbonated energy-drink brand Jolt Soda wants to rev-up its brand power and product sales, and it's developed a high-energy, creative way to do so.

The energy-drink category brand is hitting the streets of Southern California with a multi-elemental gorilla marketing or street campaign designed to create fun and excitement around the Jolt Soda brand and line of high-energy beverages.

Using a vehicle that looks like it belongs to an urban police department's Swat tactical team, accept that it has the words ABSURD ENERGY in bold letters on the sides along with colorful pictures of Jolt Soda, the Jolt street team is visiting 125 high-traffic areas in the Southern California counties of Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino, between now through May.

The gorilla marketing street team (pictured at left in Hollywood) will give away more than 150,000 full-sized samples of Jolt Soda during the eight week campaign. Additionally, the street team is handing out thousands of retro-style Jolt branded free T-shirts and decals to people who come in contact with the Jolt Patrol roaming brand builders in their Swat Team-inspired vehicle.

The Jolt Patrol has numerous fun games and activities going on as part of its traveling marketing campaign, all designed to reintroduce the Jolt beverages to consumers using humor and irreverence. The result: Jolt hopes to start building an image as the irreverent or humorous energy drink brand.

One activity that's capturing the hearts--and hands--of consumers who encounter the Jolt patrol is called Grocery Cart Bowling. The Jolt Patrol marketers and funsters set up inflatable Jolt Soda cans and then let the consumers use shopping carts to bowl the makeshift bowling pins down.

The gorilla street marketing campaign is part of a more comprehensive relaunching of the Jolt brand by its owners, Wet Planet Beverages.

Another aspect of the brand relaunch and gorilla marketing campaign in Southern California is that Wet Planet has signed Jolt Soda up to be a sponsor of the Los Angeles division of the 11-team league World Adult Kickball Association. Yes, professional kickball.

Among the gorilla marketing activities Jolt will conduct, will be to have Jolt-branded coolers available to supply players at all the local kickball games with plenty of free high-energy soda.

Jolt brand ambassadors also will give free samples of the energy beverage to fans watching the kickball games, along with giving them store indicator cards that will list the names and addresses of stores within a two-mile range of where the games are being played, and a coupon for a discount on the drinks.

Jolt Soda has been around since 1985 when it was first launched. However, it's has some difficult times brand-wise, as well as getting a bit lost in all the clutter created by the dozens of new energy drinks introduced in the last decade.

But not anymore if the crative gorilla marketing campaign works. Jolt plans lots more activity like its gorilla marketing street patrol campaign and kickball team tie-in in Southern California.

Jolt also has launched a gorilla marketing campaign at numerous college and university campuses. The campaign hires students as Jolt Ambassadors. The student reps offer samples of the drink at various campus events as well as hold contests and giveaways of free Jolt brand items like the T-shirts and decals.

There currently are seven flavors of Jolt Soda: Power Cola, Cherry Bomb, Orange Blast, Blue Raspberry, Wild Grape, Passion Fruit, and one sugar-free variety called Ultra.

The goal is to re-energize the Jolt brand and do so in a way that grabs consumers' attention, offers them participation with the brand, makes them laugh and smile, and creates an edginess for the brand in the consumer's mind. After all, the drink's name is Jolt.