Shock Jolts Coffee Drinkers With New P-O-P

Shock Coffee is out to awaken consumers to the full energizing potential of hyper-caffeinated coffee through an array of eye-opening P-O-P displays. The Shock Coffee line features eight-ounce cans of ready-to-drink, chilled coffee beverages in triple mocha and triple latte flavors, brewed and ground coffee and Shock-A-Lots, chocolate-covered coffee bean candies resembling M&Ms. All are hyper-caffeinated, serving up 50% more caffeine than other gourmet coffees, according to the company.The line had been marketed for about six years before Jeff Rosen and his partners bought Shock Coffee in 2004. After the acquisition, they decided the product was in need of a P-O-P campaign that would differentiate Shock Coffee from other coffee products. The company enlisted New York-based Display Technologies to produce the displays.The first step was to create a black air pot featuring a bright yellow Shock Coffee logo on a crimson background that could be used to dispense hot coffee.Owners of convenience stores offering the brewed coffee wanted to upsell Shock by about 25 to 50 cents a cup. "So we designed a metal rack that had a cup holder on it, as well as Shock Coffee [branded] paper cups," Rosen says. The rack, with a header featuring the same red and yellow hues and bearing the tagline "Sleep is Overrated," holds the cups and air pot. It can also be expanded to merchandise the eight-ounce cans and ground Shock Coffee.Because the wire rack is modular, retailers can add or eliminate elements to market any one of the above Shock Coffee products. A large white circle on the header lets retailers mark in their own prices.Other P-O-P pieces include stickers for cooler cases or front doors of convenience stores, glide racks that hold up to 36 cans of Shock Coffee and countertop boxes that display up to 24 Shock-A-Lots packages next to a register.In all, Rosen estimates the company has produced 1,200 air pots and wire racks, 20,000 convenience store stickers, 2,000 glide racks and 40,000 Shock-A-Lots counter units. In addition to c-stores, the product is sold at coffee shops, hospitals, even in shoe stores, Rosen says. The displays, however, are chiefly situated in c-stores and coffee shops, where the company also offers occasional samplings. Though Shock Coffee is positioned as different from other coffees, it's marketed next to other coffee drinks, rather than adjacent to energy drinks like Red Bull and No Fear, Rosen says. In addition to P-O-P, Shock Coffee is supported by posters, radio and television in several larger markets east of the Mississippi River. But Rosen believes vehicle wraps are proving the most effective marketing vehicle."We have a Hummer we wrapped in graphics that travels around to all the major trade shows and all kinds of events," he says. "And we wrap the box truck fleets of distributors of Shock Coffee. Personally, I think the trucks are the best bang for our bucks."Currently sold in 25 states, Shock Coffee will likely have a wider rollout in coming months. Rosen reports the company is working on the computer design of endcaps for supermarkets, drugstores and mass merchants. Shock Coffee hopes to introduce those elements within the next four to six months.

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