Prime – Marketing Genius or Coincidental Success?
On the 4th of January 2022, internet superstars KSI and Logan Paul hosted an Instagram live from what seemed like each side of the Atlantic for a ‘massive announcement’, not many expected them to be in the same place, displayed in a comical announcement, and then proceed to announce that they would be launching a joint business venture, a sports hydration drink, ‘PRIME’.
KSI and Logan Paul are the UK and US’ biggest YouTube and internet stars respectively, with a combined 46 million YouTube subscribers and 33 million Instagram followers. They have identified a gap in the drinks market where there isn’t a ‘calorie efficient’ and good for your muscles and recovery product out there for athletes and gym-goers alike and are being extremely bold in taking on global brands such as Lucozade and Gatorade.
The reason that this business move has raised some eyebrows links back to February 2018, after KSI came out victorious in his maiden amateur boxing fight against fellow YouTuber Joe Weller, he proceeded to call out Logan. And after nearly 2 years of arguments, beef and both an amateur and professional boxing bout, KSI came out on top, and it seemed that their beef was settled and there would be no further developments.
But in 2021, KSI’s YouTube group the Sidemen released a video featuring Logan Paul and his friends, gaining over 19 million views, which confused fans and excited them at the prospect of future collaborative content from the infamous pair. KSI then went on Logan Paul’s podcast a month later, becoming the highest-viewed episode of his podcast, clearly demonstrating the demand for this, and he appeared again shortly after the announcement of Prime. This could be deemed an attempt from the pair to gauge the perceived value of collaborating and see whether a joint business venture would turn out to be profitable, which it was.
These videos then caused many cynics to raise their eyebrows and question the integrity of the past few years’ beef and wonder whether it was all one long money-making plan. They have made astronomical profits from their fights, videos, podcasts now products.
Since announcing Prime, they have only been able to sell in the US for now, but they have been extremely successful, as all their products are sold out online, and seem hard to locate in stock in physical stores. They are also premium priced, at $29.99 for a 12-pack of their drinks, which is significantly higher than the market average for the same kind of product. It should be predicted that when the product drops in the UK it will receive the same reaction and they will fly off the shelves.
They have barely spent any money on advertising and marketing, as their brands alone have been enough to make the official Instagram account for the product reach over 880 thousand followers. They did some initial promotional videos on YouTube and other social media, relying on viral marketing to spread the message. Friends and colleagues in the same online industry have been promoting the product too, which will only grow the brand's popularity.
Most of the marketing for Prime would be described as gimmicky by larger corporations and conglomerates, however, it has proven successful thus far. Will influencer marketing continue to be so successful, or will they have to revert to more traditional methods?
