![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/603977acd0349019c62646a8_Advertising%20Deep%20Dive_%20Hydration%20Beverage%20%26%20Powdered%20Drinks%20Industry.jpg)
Advertising Deep Dive: Hydration Beverage & Powdered Drinks Industry
Key Takeaways
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60c7bc0338e68af93665a498_Key%20Takeaways%20%E2%80%93%C2%A0Divider%20%E2%80%93%C2%A0Gradient.png)
Hydration Beverage Industry:
Advertising Focus — Social Ads:
- Top Advertising Channel: Social ads, which represent 54% of total spend
- Top Social Ad Channel: Facebook
- Facebook targeting: Predominantly females who reside in Los Angeles, Greensboro, and New York
Advertising Leader — Drink Hint: Hint is the leader in advertising spend in the beverage category, spending a total of $5.3M between January 2020 and January 2021. Hint ramped up advertising spend in January 2021 when they launched a “36 Bottles for $36” campaign showcasing their low price value.
Powdered Drinks Industry:
Advertising Focus — Social Ads:
- Top Advertising Channel: Social ads, which represent 77% of total spend
- Top Social Ad Channel: Facebook
- Facebook targeting: Slightly skewed towards females who reside in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago
Advertising Leader— Liquid I.V: Liquid I.V. is the leader in advertising spend in the powdered drinks category, spending a total of $8M between January 2020 and January 2021. Their top campaign was the “IMMUNITY25” promo code campaign that gave users 25% off their products.
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Brands analyzed in this case study:
![Hydration Beverages & Powdered Drinks](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2b7ff7e8f328538796189_Hydration%20Beverages%20%26%20Powdered%20Drinks.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Between January 2020 to January 2021, brands in the powdered drinks category have spent +21% on advertising compared to brands in the beverage category.
![Hydration Beverages & Powdered Drinks - Total Ad Spend](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2b841d187fe12974eac13_Hydration%20Beverages%20%26%20Powdered%20Drinks%20-%20Total%20Ad%20Spend.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
The beverage category has a fairly even distribution amongst the advertising channels, with social making up 54% of total spend, followed by search (32%).
![Beverages Category - Social Ads Breakdown by Channel](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2b8cc8ca30f205e652e1a_Beverages%20Category%20-%20Social%20Ads%20Breakdown%20by%20Channel.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
For Facebook ads targeting, the beverages category focuses mainly on advertising to females who reside in Los Angeles (13%), Greensboro (6.5%), and New York (5.75%).
![Beverages Category - Gender Breakdown by Spend](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2b942c6601f150be95bc1_Beverages%20Category%20-%20Gender%20Breakdown%20by%20Spend.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Aside from branded keywords (e.g., “brand name” + product), the most commonly used paid keywords are variations of “flavored water”. Top search ads focus on online delivery and free shipping promotions.
![Beverages Category - Top 10 Non-Branded Paid Keywords](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2b9c1c272cd5409f2f7e5_Beverages%20Category%20-%20Top%2010%20Non-Branded%20Paid%20Keywords.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Hint is the dominant brand when it comes to display ads—roughly 19% of all display ad spend comes from Hint (~$1.5M for the time period).
![Beverages Category - Top 10 Display Advertising Sites by Spend](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2ba0f26144c54383da8e6_Beverages%20Category%20-%20Top%2010%20Display%20Advertising%20Sites%20by%20Spend.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Diving deeper into individual brands, Drink Hint is the leader in advertising spending in this category—spending a total of $5.3M between January 2020 and January 2021.
![Beverages Category - Beverage Brands - Ad Spend](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2ba6ff6132245007748fb_Beverages%20Category%20-%20Beverage%20Brands%20-%20Ad%20Spend.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
In September, Hint shifted their focus from Instagram ads to Facebook and Display.
![Beverage - Hint - Monthly Ad Spend](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2bac22f5c5094171ec975_Beverage%20-%20Hint%20-%20Monthly%20Ad%20Spend.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
In January 2021, Hint ramped up advertising spend, with a +191% increase in both Facebook and desktop display for their “36 Bottles for $36” campaign.
![Beverage - Hint - Facebook and Display Ad Spend Increase](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2bb34ec7751e2f3235188_Beverage%20-%20Hint%20-%20Facebook%20and%20Display%20Ad%20Spend%20Increase.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Although Hint had run this campaign before, this time, Hint aggressively marketed their $1 price point, highlighting this message throughout all their creatives.
![Beverage - Hint - Just $1 per bottle](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2bbcb7e81ab55f5f0111b_Beverage%20-%20Hint%20-%20Just%20%241%20per%20bottle.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
During the same time, Hint re-ran several brand awareness campaigns, one featuring an article feature on today.com and one for their Alzheimer's awareness initiative.
![Beverage - Hint - today.com - alz.org](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2c0991612002852e806a0_Beverage%20-%20Hint%20-%20today.com%20-%20alz.org.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
A common theme that occurs in Hint’s ads, regardless of the campaign type, is their emphasis on their product flavour range.
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2c2dfad7862a0e21c2788_Hint%20-%20Product%20Flavors.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
For the Powder category, 77% of total ad spend is being allocated towards social ads, with Facebook having the highest spend at $7.8M.
![Powdered Drinks - Social and Search Ads](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2c38a2b47cb576db434f5_Powdered%20Drinks%20-%20Social%20and%20Search%20Ads.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
For Facebook ads targeting, the powdered drinks category focuses mainly on advertising in metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles (5.75%), New York (4.50%), and Chicago (3.75%).
![Powdered Drinks - Facebook Ads Targeting](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2c90646fe624bfee56683_Powdered%20Drinks%20-%20Facebook%20Ads%20Targeting.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
“Electrolytes” is the most commonly bid on search term, along with variations of “(description) + electrolytes”.
![Powdered Drinks - Search Terms - Top 10 Non-Branded Paid Keywords](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2c96ac5b31213de0a1383_Powdered%20Drinks%20-%20Search%20Terms%20-%20Top%2010%20Non-Branded%20Paid%20Keywords.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Display ad spending is more evenly split amongst competitors in the powdered drinks category, with food-based websites being the most popular target sites.
![Powdered Drinks - Top 10 Display Advertising Sites by Spend](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2cb446feabdb1cc5a5539_Powdered%20Drinks%20-%20Top%2010%20Display%20Advertising%20Sites%20by%20Spend.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
The spending leader for this category is Liquid I.V., with a total of $8M total spend between January 2020 and January 2021.
![Powdered Drinks - Liquid I.V. - Ad Spend](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2cbb71e51e26d41023baa_Powdered%20Drinks%20-%20Liquid%20I.V.%20-%20Ad%20Spend.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Liquid I.V. focuses their advertising efforts mainly on Facebook and Instagram, spending heavily on heavy customer acquisition campaigns (via deals and promotions).
![Liquid I.V. - Monthly Ad Spend](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2cc156b1f2d1222e3cf52_Liquid%20I.V.%20-%20Monthly%20Ad%20Spend.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Their top Facebook campaign for this time period was their “IMMUNITY25” promotion that gave users 25% off Liquid I.V. products.
![Liquid I.V. - Top Facebook Ad - IMMUNITY25](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2ccc08984dddbc1d94e09_Liquid%20I.V.%20-%20Top%20Facebook%20Ad%20-%20IMMUNITY25.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
Another notable Facebook campaign was a series of ads that called out Liquid I.V.’s product availability at Costco.
![Liquid I.V. - Facebook Ad - Energy Multiplier is now available at Costco](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2cd751e51e2446c03e638_Liquid%20I.V.%20-%20Facebook%20Ad%20-%20Energy%20Multiplier%20is%20now%20available%20at%20Costco.png)
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/6095caa2cfa57d5d39bf75a6_Slide%20Divider.png)
The brand also promoted the campaign on Instagram, but rather than using product stills, they ran a video ad that targeted a male, fitness-inclined audience.
![The brand also promoted the campaign on Instagram, but rather than using product stills, they ran a video ad that targeted a male, fitness-inclined audience.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e459e61116466aa9af84140/60a2ce1c6b1f2d3ab5e59c79_Liquid%20I.V.%20-%20Instagram%20Ads%20-%20Male%20Fitness-Inclined%20Audience.png)
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