High Beamin for the Fall

August so far has been amazing, huge press and huge samplings.

Mike was on the air with brother Wease 95.1 right at the beginning of August.
This was followed by Scott getting his pretty mug into the insider for 20 questions. We have had at least 4 or 5 people asking where he works out because he is so diesel. Hahaha.

Scott high beamin in his office.

The following week we graced the Democrat and Chronicle thanks to Emily Shearing!
Online version HERE.

The timing of this was impeccable to put it lightly. The article dropped on Thursday and on Saturday/Sunday was Park Ave Fest 2010! Over the few days we sampled thousands of people and had countless people mention the article, the insider or brother Wease!

The calm before.

Behind the scenes during.

I also wanted to mention that the prank we pulled in February was aired on TruTV's Top 20 Most Shocking: Practical Jokers Gone Wild 2.
We came out in the #1 position! As soon as they post the episode online we will link to it... now we are just waiting to hear back from MTV. :D

Now we are heading into the Fall semester for colleges and starting to look into various chains in the area. We should be in about 7 or 8 colleges as well as 2 or 3 mountains for the winter. Of note is Geneseo. We will be in all the cafes, bookstores and 40+ vending machines! If there is anywhere we have missed, ask them to carry Vital Energy.

Along with the colleges we have started out ambassador program. Initially we will be trying it out in only a few schools to work out the kinks and continue to expand it as we learn from this first semester.

Bottoms up,
-Jake

Hot, Wet, Rochester Summer Part III

Finale!

So to start this one off someone who is a power user on break.com decided to take our video and post it up HERE, and for that we have to say thank you so much. Not only did you help spread the word of Vital, MTV saw the video because of the 600k+ views it received in just about a week! They might use the video and even if they don't... WHO CARES. Another national network saw the video and for those counting, that is almost a milli in views between all the websites.

We also got in a new review from Caffeine critic describing how Vital might help save the world and all of humanity. Check out all the hot energy action! REVIEW

Since warped tour was in town and we had some backstage passes, Scottie and I figured it was worth going and scoping things out. Although we couldn't get any Vitals inside we did rock the Vital T-Shirts around the venue and actually had a few people ask if we had a tent set up anywhere... so we must be doing something right if people are starting to recognize us. We also scoped out the Monster truck to see how they did things and surprisingly they were not happy with us wearing Vital shirts in, on or around their setup. :P

On a lighter note though, we got to party hard with Andrew W.K.


And yes I made it on stage to party.

Recently we have been gearing up to approach Weggies and friends. Hopefully we have made a big enough stink and built up the brand enough for them to consider us. If anyone has a few moments and nothing better to do besides creeping on fbook we would love if you decided to send in a product suggestion... they do love to hear of any new and amazing products in the area!
WEGMANS

The most recent breakthrough that we have had though has been with samplings. For us it has been one of the most important ways to get people to try and be aware of the brand. As we have been growing though it is getting harder and harder to commit to small venues. With over 300+ stores and growing between 14 counties we have had to start looking at places with high foot traffic and population density. A few of these are Thursdays in the Square in Buffalo... yes TITS and yes tits are fun, Party in the park and of course 10 Ugly Men.

Tits was/is amazing because of the farmers market there, the free music @ Chase across the street, downtown during the day, 2 stores with product nearby, and no one bothering us about sampling on the street! Oh and of course the free concerts @ 6pm.

In the span of 8 hours we literally hit thousands of people and even gained some fans who helped lure more people to our little sample shop.


Scott and I also decided to set up during the 5k for 10 Ugly Men as well as using the main avenue through Genese Valley Park to set up a table and refresh people on the home stretch to the festival. Public property is loverly and the law enforcement definitely was thirsty and tired after dealing with so many drunk people! Luckily there was a pedestrian crosswalk sign to use as a banner anchor for not only our promotion but to keep the pedestrians safe as they venture into the street.

Sample count... 800+.

So I am finally caught up with the summer recap. We recently have started up a press campaign to get some lime light leading up to the fall months. Tune in next time.

Stay thirsty my friends,
-J

Hot, Wet, Rochester Summer Part II

Soooooo...

For the rest of June we got into as many venues as possible and really focused on sampling everywhere we could.


Ludachrist show @ Pearle. Great DJ duo that does mash-ups out of California. Tons of exposure and great placement during Rochester Jazz-fest.
Thanks to Patrick Gafney and RIPROC for the opportunity!



The last weekend in June was the Rock the Cans event @ Genese Brewing off St. Paul downtown. Soul Asylum, Gin Blossoms, Genny, and Vital. Thousands of people and a lot of fun. Thanks to Genese for letting set up shop.

And of course there was the LPGA @ Locust Hill.

A little haggling and we got to set up right on Jefferson Ave. With the boat, flags, van and samples.


and of course... autographed bottles for an obsessed fan. Someone felt that it would be vital for Pat and Scott to get into VIP with our drinks.

Thank fully the 4th of July was great weather. 90+ degree days and not an ounce of shade. We sampled all over Canandaigua and on the lakes.

Me after standing in the scorching sun for about 4 hours with no shade. Yay heat stroke!

We had a few more shows @ Waterstreet including Minus the Bear and Feul... unfortunately my camera decided to eat all of my photos with Fuel. :(

July 9th we got to hit up the beach @ Angola with the Shore Club and Mickey Rats... amazing weather!

Gotta stay protected while peddling our wares on the beach. There was a lot less wind inside CVS.

For the next update I will finish out July to get up to date.
We had a break through, a great review, warped tour, weggies fun, tits in Buffalo and more.

What you sippin on?
-Jake

Hot, Wet, Rochester Summer Part I

And....
We're back.

Totally my bad for not blogging in almost 2 months (Jake). We have been running around abusing this hot weather. Due to back log, this post will come in a few parts to make your brain not overload from all the hot, sweaty Vital action you are about to read!

This part covers from mid May - mid June.

After the last post we hosted our first NFL special teams clinic. Adam Podlesh of the Jacksonville Jaguars came into town with Tony Yelk and did an outstanding job offering insight and training in how to become a better kicker/punter. After the success of this year we are definitely going to host it again, hopefully we can make it into an actual camp for the players in the area! If you got to be a part of the first year, spread the word!



On memorial day weekend we launched the Vital Vessel. A 22ft pontoon boat and paraded around Canandaigua Lake the whole time. We stopped other boats and visited people on their docks in order to let them try an ice cold Vital. More than one person said that we were "very patriotic" due to the dual American flags prominently on display at the bow of our boat.

The rest of May/June consisted of losing our colleges and starting to hammer our samplings around the Rochester/Buffalo area. Unfortunately April showers were really May showers and made sure to be a real pain in the ass for our outdoor sampling, but we made it work.

On a few side notes, we have the first official Vital pooch, Bob.

We got to see a Saleen S7 (super duper sweet car).

Got the RPD on our side.

Got to watch some sweet free shows at Waterstreet (a perk of being a vendor there).

More sweaty action in a few days that will make you want to touch your toes.
mmmmmmmmm,
Jake

Soon to be on a boat.

This week has been attacking colleges and prepping for summer.

We officially have a 22 ft pontoon party boat and are going to be pimping on the water. All we need now is a helicoptor for air promotions! That should be arriving in 2011.

Last week we rocked Brock the Port at SUNY Brockport. It was a little suspect at first because of the weather but turned out to be a great event. Also, with college finals being in session we have been invading the libraries and letting people know about the product and having them check out the website and video. We are a perfect excuse to not study and talk to some devilishly good looking guys for 5 minutes!

Otherwise we have continued building our relationship with Wright Wisner and riding along with the sales reps to grab some new stores. We are hoping once they adjust to their new software to update our store locator with over 100 new stores!

We are always on the lookout for some new stores and outdoor events and festivals this summer. If anyone has an idea please let us know! If we have a free day we are always trying to get the word out about Vital!

-Jake

PS: Thanks to Scott we have 2 new HUGE coolers on wheels. This means even more mobile sampling on the fly! Next we obviously need this: Cruzin Cooler

Getting to know Wright

Ride alongs. This week we have been getting to know some of the sales reps and riding with them in order to learn what they do. It also allows us to teach them what our product is about and tell them our story. Personalize Vital Energy kiddos. Imagine my face every time you take a sip...

There were some more kick off meetings at another branch and we are spreading the gospel of Vital Energy to the masses. It is working in some places and we still have a lot of ground to cover in others. Now we need to get more POS (point of sales) materials so that we can tattoo the stores we are for sale in and have a commanding presence.

I also chose through careful planning and immense luck to take a vacation to visit family and attend a wedding this past week. Of course at this point, every week from here until eternity is going to be important and have many things going on.

Otherwise, colleges are tipping into summer and we are gearing up for high school sports teams and our May 22 special teams clinic with some 2 members of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Should be a doozy.

Quick and painless,
Jake

Welcome to Running a Business 201

Welcome to your sophomore year of business management.

So unless you are under a rock, we have launched our first YouTube video and it was well received (opinions may vary). We also posted shortly after, a follow up interview with Mike's mom about the whole ordeal.

Video and Interview

Within a little over a week it has received over 150,000 views all around the world and made it to the top of most popular for the day. It has garnered attention on various radio shows including:
Opie and Anthony XM
The Break Room on WCMF 96.5 in Rochester
WDDD in Southern Illinois (interview later today over the phone)

Two national tv shows (cannot name them yet, 2 months out)
And one tv interview over in England (interview in about 2 months).

We never could have imagined it would have played out this way and are so grateful to our friends and fans who helped push it through. Although some of the press is outside our sales region, it will be helpful in the future for expansion. People will recognize the brand and know what it is before we even get there. Locally people have started to be more aware of it, and seem to be buying it more. We aim to build our online and physical presence over the summer. Hot weather = cold drinks!

It is becoming very apparent that traditional media in its current form is dying. Advertisements will always exist, but like the music industry 5 years ago, the internet and social mediums are forcing the industry to adapt. With social internet you are able to extend your brand globally with little more than some time and an internet connection. For us, being a start up and with limited working capital that is HUGE.

We are planning over the summer to start having micro contests and mini giveaways. This means short contests in the range of hours or even minutes for small gifts more often, with larger ones occurring less frequently. We hope to encourage all of you to participate as well. Share photos of you drinking a Vital or doing something fun and original with the bottle. Show us your VITAL-ITY! Durrrr. So please join our facebook and twitter (@vitalenergy) to keep up with the most recent goings on.

We want YouTube to also be a means of us to communicate directly with everyone as a start-up. Video blogs that will parallel our standard blogs 'hopefully' will let people grow with us personally instead of just the brand of Vital Energy. We want to hear your ideas, complaints, and what we can do better, faster, harder, stronger. Daft Punk, great song btw.

While they are in session we are going to hammer colleges and soon after high schools. We only have a few weeks until summer and want everyone possible to try this delicious mystery beverage invading your brains. It wants to be in your mouth.

As for Wright Wisner, we are in their system and in the sales reps hands. Now we are starting the learning process. For the next few weeks we are going to have our kick off meeting where we tell the story of our brand, the idea and concept of the product and why it basically is going to rule the world with a plastic flexing bicep. We are also going to start riding with the sales reps so that new stores can put a face to the brand.

I can't stress it enough, we want you to know who we are. See what it takes to run a business and learn as we go. Get your hand out of your pants and go roadhouse a garbage can to show it who is the boss. No, not Tony Danza.

Sorry its so long, but its so good.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so excited after a long crazy week.
-Vital Boys