Can Starbucks win over energy-drink skeptics?

While very popular among a minority of fans, top-selling energy drinks are held in low regard by most Americans. This suggests that energy-boosting beverages are a niche product that don’t need to be loved by all to be commercially successful. Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee, which is both well-regarded and widely-purchased, may be an exception.

Americans suspicious of top-selling energy drinks

Red Bull and Monster stand far above their competitors in customer base, according to YouGov data.  Approximately 10% of Americans say they bought these brands in the past month (10% Red Bull, 9.7% Monster), compared to 5.9% of the next most popular brand. Yet both drinks have negative Index scores when looking at the general population.

Index, tracked by YouGov BrandIndex, is a composite of six brand health metrics, including overall impressions of a brand, whether consumers would recommend it to friends, as well as their sense of the brand’s quality and value. A positive Index score means that, overall, a brand is in good standing with the public; a negative score suggests the opposite. Our data indicates that, when it comes to energy drinks, more customers tend to mean worse brand health metrics.

For example, Red Bull and Monster have the most customers of any energy drink by far, but also have some of the lowest Index scores (-3.7 for Monster, -4.3 for Red Bull). These two are also the most widely recognized energy drinks, with Awareness scores of 91.1% and 77.8%.

If we disaggregate the Index score, we can get more granular about these negative opinions. More Americans have negative feelings about Red Bull, Rockstar, Monster than have positive feelings. More say they give poor quality and value, and more would tell friends to avoid these brands than recommend them.

The energy drink niche

Why does America criticize the brands it drinks most? Why are the top-selling energy drinks the least recommended?  It’s because the minority of energy drink consumers have very different opinions from the general public.

Energy drinks are a niche product. According to YouGov Profiles, only 25% of Americans drink one at least once per month, whereas more than half (57%) never drink them at all. While the public has a low opinion of energy drinks, those who drink them are more positive. Among consumers, reputation tracks sales much more closely.

With Index scores of 32.4 and 29.1, Red Bull and Monster have the best overall brand health of any energy beverage among energy drink consumers. However, among the general public, they have nearly the worst.

Can Starbucks cross the energy drink divide?

Energy drinks seem only to be popular among portion of regular consumers but looked at with suspicion by the broader public.

One exception to this pattern is Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee, which was the YouGov Advertiser of the Month in May. The coffee-energy-supplement combo has the top Index score as well as the third-highest Current Customers score. Other energy drinks with positive Index scores, like Celsius and C4, tend to command smaller customer bases.

Perhaps because Starbucks’ energy offering already has other brand associations, it can escape the energy drink stigma that these beverages seem to have among the broader public. For example, among regular energy drink consumers, Monster and Red Bull are the clear favourites. However, Starbucks may be able to persuade those who only rarely consume energy drinks to give them a chance.

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. A brand’s Index is an average across brand overall health, including General Impression, Satisfaction, Quality, Corporate Reputation, Value and Recommendation.

Data from surveys of adults aged 18 years and above residing in the US from September 5, 2023 and September 4, 2024. Learn more about BrandIndex.