Two of Canadians’ favourite vices have been combined by three former CPG marketers looking to start their own company.
Matt Schnarr, Dan Tzotzis and Adam Deremo came up with the idea of a chocolate bar that packs a caffeinated punch. “The thing we were first going after is that energy drinks are going like crazy. They’re very profitable but they don’t taste very good and they’re pretty expensive. We wanted to beat them in taste and beat them in price,” said Schnarr.
The guys conducted online market research across Canada and the U.S., as well as kitchen testing to gage public opinion, which confirmed their hunch that Awake would be well received.
Awake bars have begun to roll out in gas stations, drug stores and convenience stores across the country, including Shoppers Drug Mart, Canadian Tire Gas and Shell, and will be fully launched over the next couple of months.
The marketing campaign targets the brand’s key 18- to 25-year-old demographic and includes a cross-country bus tour and local events targeting college campuses. Social media, student posters, a T-shirt giveaway to recruit brand ambassadors, and product sampling are “ways of leveraging our brand evangelists,” explained Schnarr. “We’re a small brand with a limited budget so we need to have our consumers speak on our behalf.”
Schnarr and his partners veered away from TV and traditional advertising because their university student target group is more focused on online communications and word of mouth.
Seattle ad agency Tether did the strategy, concept, packaging and online work, and came up with the idea of using an owl as the brand mascot. High View Communications had the PR mandate, and the Awake team consulted with Capital C and Tony Chapman. They appeared on the Dragons’ Den TV show to pitch the product; the episode will air in mid-October.
