If you were comparing the beverage brand PRIME to a childhood toy franchise, which one do you think would be the best fit (and why)? Prime Hydration grew 510% YoY, reaching just shy of $660 million in U.S. tracked channels. If you combined with non-tracked channels (and international markets), that number would likely be north of $800 million in 2023. Furthermore, it was announced before the end of 2023 that the brand sold its one-billionth bottle in less than two years. PRIME is (or maybe the appropriate verb tense now would be “was”) a rocket ship brand. But as PRIME blasts towards officially reaching billion-dollar brand status, in terms of U.S. tracked channel retail sales in 2024…it inevitably faces the immoveable object in business finance called the “law of large numbers.” So, when you see these PRIME haters regurgitating NielsenIQ retail sales data that shows sales volume being down over the last four weeks in early March 2024…that is what’s going on, as the brand is now facing tougher comparatives. And I think I saw similar PRIME hydration retail sales data trends in the UK, so regardless of what side of the pond you’re on…it’s likely a similar storyline being propagated across mainstream (and social) media. But this content isn’t about simply providing you retail sales data trends…those numbers were just a required contextual base of knowledge that allows me to explore possible underlying drivers more easily without having everyone confused. Also, to spice things up…I’ll bring most of these underlying driver possibilities to life through a storytelling analogy with children’s toys. That being said, the celebrity/creator packaged goods trend is one that sees the most popular talent of today…becoming the biggest CPG brands of tomorrow. It’s because when you hit on the “right celebrity + right product” element, you can pull forward brand awareness to a level that takes competitors years or many millions of dollars. The major benefit of the creator packaged goods trend is that Logan Paul and KSI are masters of at winning consumer attention through today’s kingmakers…aka digital platform algorithms. Moreover, PRIME benefited from the “Liquid IV Effect” democratizing the hydration category…and because a large share of the most diehard audience of Logan Paul and KSI are under 18 years old, they’ve proven to be extremely powerful individuals in creating commercial value by injecting a level of youthful energy that made the beverage category fun, thus introducing it to a new younger demographic that wasn’t originally passionate about the sports drink market. Which brings us back to the connecting PRIME and kids toys with consumer behavior principles. And why I made the analogy with kid’s toys is that there’s well-marked patterns that created massive successes in the past. Think about key features that drive toy franchise fads…limited supply (or perceived supply constraints) that create rarity, elements of collectability, low price, and usually “made cool” because of an influential group. Do those sound like they relate to the PRIME growth story as well?

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