What to do when your base market is young (mostly) guys who arent caring about their health or vitality, just needing their energy fix before partying on all night? The developers an Innov8 came up with a very clear vision. They produced a a product that would reach out to all other everyone else, people who areturned off by the carbonation, high-sugar content, jitters and more extreme marketing campaigns put forth by Hansen and Coca-Cola.
The CEO of Snapple Beverages and the President of A&W Brands and the CEO of Yoo-hoo/Orangina are the sevelopers behind the hydrive brand – and so far their drinks dont dissapoint. From releasing a sports-endurance drink to tacke Gatorade, to a strong vitamin(Water) infused drink going after that crowd, to a straight on caffeinated water, their drinks cover all the bases.
As I mentioned in my previous review, I found it amusing that rather than dealing with extreme sports sponsorship, these guys took an interesting route sponsoring the speed dating site Cupid.com/PreDating, doing an integrated partnership that includes sampling at speed dating events, advertising and sponsorship.
Todays sample is Kiwi Lime flavored Energy Drink From Spring Water, which is , gotta say, a really really bad name. I understood why they did it that way, because their consumer research indicated Spring Water was the key ingredient here.an antioxidant energy drink, which contains
Nutrition:8
In bottled waters, the test is not what you can taste, but what you cant taste. The purer and more natural it is, the better off people will think of you. When the Coke plant was recently caught numerous times filling Dasani bottle with city tap water. ( just one example of the story)
Needless to say, the fewer and purer the ingredients the better. This one does not do too badly, only adding in 2 preservatives to the water, along with the usual energy drink mix ( tons of taurine and L-carnatine and all the Bs for the day) and like all the hydrives, has a good 145mg healthy dose of caffeine hiding somewhere in it too.
Taste: 8
Truthfully, I ws not so impressed with the taste of this one. I expected something more, or something less. This drink reminded me of the times my dad would stretch out the Kool Aid packs by using 1 packet per gallon of water, leaving it flavored-but-not-really. This drink definitely had taste, but not so much that I was dying to drink more, and not enough that I felt very satisfied. I did feel completely quenched after drinking, as this drink is also fortified with electrolytes. I guess I am old fashioned as I like my water to taste like water.
Packaging:8
Like vitamin water and the rest in this category, the sealable PET top is niceThis special “gripper” style of bottle formulated for Hydrive’s drinks is completely proprietary and so hopefully wont be immediately stolen by giant faceless monster corporation ( Coke).Packaging is now “dual front,” so it’s not as crucial how bottles are placed on shelves. I do not care for the opaque green and greenish starburst very much – certainly does not stand out and yell Drink Me You Crazy Diamond like their other drinks do.
Website:http://www.hydriveenergy.com: 7
Pretty basic, but chock full of information; from their press release to a FAQ for those of you who dont know about caffeine and hangovers. I do like their store locator. Unfortunately, there is not a place near me at all that has one. Fortunately, the Hydrive Gods sent me a box of all theri flavors to give a try – thank you SO much, as this is one that I had previously only found when visiting back east. Another cool thing about the site is the ability to get free samples from the site too, Well, almost free – you just need to pay fror shipping (around 6 bucks for postage and handling). Still, for 2 bucks a bottle it is worth a try.