You've got to keep reinventing. You'll have new competitors. You'll have new customers all around you. The U.S. energy drinks market is arguably the most competitive beverage sub-category. It reached ~$15B in 2020 and sustained its high-single-digits growth rate, despite the “COVID-19 Effect” basically slowing consumer mobility to a crawl, essentially cutting off the #1 sales channel for energy drinks with fuel and convenience retailing.

Monster Beverage is the #2 brand in the market, behind Red Bull, and has held that position for pretty much all of the 2000s. That being said, complacency is the worst thing you can do within the energy drinks market and brands like Bang Energy showed Monster Beverage exactly what could happen if you are left sleeping at the wheel.

So, why is the 2021 strategy that was unveiled during the annual shareholder’s meeting making me feel blah?