I hear this tastes and looks similar to RB and RS. I understand they are going after Rockstar's market in bars as a BIB.

I share a few accounts with Rockstar and this Excell has pushed them right out (they keep the RB there on the merit of its marketing and demand). But wow! RS out in a heartbeat! I've never even heard of this stuff.

BIBs can be attractive to bar owners on cost, got it. But if other brands like RS, 180, 69 and Monster do not offer BIB, and are not historically as strong as RB on the marketing side, won't even the most basic BIBs just eat them alive in this industry?

There has never been a successful BIB. Roaring Lion was supposed to be the next big thing but it came and went quickly. The problem is there is literally no branding with a BIB.

The beauty of an on-premise account for a Red Bull or a Rockstar is NOT in the sales from these accounts . It is in the marketing. Every time an open can of Red Bull/Rockstar sits on the bar at a club it is an advertisement that will ultimately drive much more business off premise (where the real meat and potatoes of the category is).

BIB offers no such branding/marketing opportunites and thats why they can not succeed. A customer doesn't know if they are getting donkey piss or excell (to use your example). In fact most times the customer probably thinks they are getting a Red Bull/Rockstar, only building up THESE brands more instead of the one that just came off the gun (EXCELL, Roaring Lion, or some concoction made up in some guys basement).

There will always be bar owners looking to save a buck or two who are going to try the next cheapest thing so I am sure there is a market for a BIB. But you do not build a brand through a BIB and that is something more important to companies like Monster/Rockstar etc who make there living in the off premise channel and build their brand in the on-premise.

So, are you saying that this lack of branding can eventually leave the BIB Co bankrupt?

Those were some very good points you made, Sox Fan.

Roaring Lion WOW!?!?!? for a company who has a REALLY GREAT product it seems that their owners have no idea how to run a business. Did any of them go to business school? I think first year first semester MBA students could make this a real brand and hit the almighty Red Bull square in the taurines. I heard they used to run Red Bull or something. If they did I guess we know why they aren't running Red Bull anymore: complete incompetence and a Roaring disappointment.