Body Armor Launches in San Diego

Already distributed in several markets along the West Coast, Body Armor, a new highly functional beverage, recently launched in San Diego. As the company is planning for a nationwide rollout by the end of this year, company founder Lance Collins said that he hopes that the city will become a model market for Body Armor, one whose young and active population best reflects the image of the brand.

Body Armor partnered with Crest Beverages LLC to distribute the product throughout San Diego Country. Though Crest is primarily a beer distributor, the company is attempting to regain a foothold in the non-alcoholic category having carried a number of non-alcoholic brands in the past including Mystic, FUZE and Red Bull.

To support sales of the beverage, Body Armor will accompany the San Diego launch with heavy field marketing and a social media platform each of which will be an essential aspect of plans for future launches, Collins said. And though the company was “still dialing in the exact location” for shelf placement of the product, Collins said that Body Armor will attempt to land in the same space as functional brands like Neuro, Activate and Muscle Milk.

“We’re in an exclusive white space and carving our own niche,” Collins said. “From a branding standpoint, we’re very strong. The trademark of Body Armor has tremendous bandwidth and begs the core proposition of what we’re trying to sell – nutrients, protection, restoring.”

However, Collins explained that as the cost to enter new markets is drastically more expensive than in the past, marketing efforts for Body Armor will be highly focused and directed to its key demographic of 18 to 35 year old millennials, many of whom make up the population of San Diego.

“We know [millennials] consume new and interesting products, eat well, enjoy life, have active lifestyles and are heavy users of this kind of product,” said John Kenneally, executive vice president of sales for Body Armor.

As part of the San Diego launch, representatives from Body Armor made a presentation at Crest Beverages headquarters to educate sales executives about the product. Included below are photos from the presentation.