Coca-Cola launched their new Mother Energy brand into the Australian market in 2006. The firm was struggling to compete in the growing and now lucrative energy drink market against the dominant competitors of V and Red Bull. Coke planned that Mother Energy would be able to win a substantial market share, even though it was a late entrant.
The launch campaign was very professional. The TV commercial had similar elements of the Madagascar movie (which was current at the time), Coke leveraged their retailer relationships and achieved a high level of retailer up-take for the new product along with significant in-store promotion.
The product itself was designed to appeal to the youth culture. The packaging of the can resembled a tattoo and the brand name “Mother” was designed to sound tough, being a variation of a popular swear word in movies.