Launch is vital to engineer publicity

The metalwork teacher behind health drink Vitalise explains his promotional strategy to Caroline Madden

A metalwork teacher, a hurling star and a kickboxing champion are in a bar . . . No, this isn't the start of a bad joke. It's actually the scene of a product launch that took place on Wednesday in popular Dublin haunt Dakota.

The product being launched was a new health drink, TaHIRO Vitalise. As well as various vitamins and herbs, the drink's key ingredient is the noni fruit from the South Pacific, which is believed to support the immune system. Until just now you probably had never heard of Vitalise, which illustrates the purpose of a product launch - to attract media coverage and to get people talking about it: in short, to create a buzz.

With so many new products constantly hitting the shelves and vying for consumers' attention, getting a product launch right can make all the difference between sinking into obscurity and gaining a cult following. Even if the product is excellent, without a properly-executed launch it may never take off. Therefore it is critical to present the product in an eye-catching way and make it stand out from the crowd.

Vitalise director Joe Arthur, who also happens to be a metalwork and engineering teacher, and a team of other Irish distributors of the drink (which is owned by US company Tahitian Noni International) decided to go about this in a number of ways. Firstly they succeeded in getting a number of Irish sports celebrities on board to endorse the product, including hurler Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, kickboxing champion Christina McMahon and mountaineer Ian McKeever.

Secondly, the launch was timed to coincide with the announcement of Vitalise's partnership with Ryanair. The no-frills airline has agreed to distribute the drink onboard all of its flights, which represents a major coup. Arthur explains how the Ryanair connection came about.

"When the product became available to the Irish market, I straight away looked at what avenues were there to maximise exposure," he says.

Although healthy beverages comprise one of the fastest-growing segments of the drinks industry at the moment, the Irish market is relatively small by European and US standards, so Arthur set about targeting businesses that would give the product more exposure.

"I thought - who better than Ryanair? If it's on board Ryanair it's going to be exposed to 15 million people over the next year," he says.

The airline obviously agreed that it would be a good partnership as it is now selling the health drink onboard its flights. Arthur claims that this is actually the second partnership forged between the brand and the airline's colourful chief executive Michael O'Leary. Apparently O'Leary's Cheltenham Gold Cup winning horse War of Attrition's diet is already supplemented with Tahitian Noni Equine Essentials, which is rich in antioxidants and is believed to increase energy levels.

Although an official product launch event may last little more than an hour or two, preparations are vital and the lead-in can take months if not years. Arthur made contact with Ryanair last May and it has taken until now before the time was right and everything was in place to make the official announcement.

Even when a product has been fully developed (as was the case with Vitalise, which was developed by Tahitian Noni in the US) and ready to go, a huge amount of planning and thought is required before it can be launched.

Together with the other Irish distributors, Arthur had first to identify exactly what they wanted to achieve with the launch.

"We had to set out very clearly what our objectives were so that we could then be specific in our approach," he says. Essentially the aim was to maximise exposure and media coverage, by holding a photoshoot and providing journalists with an opportunity to interview the sports celebrities involved.

They also considered who they wanted to target with this product, and realised that while it was likely to attract younger consumers, people of all ages could benefit from the drink, so they tailored their approach accordingly. Finally a public relations company was hired to ensure that the official launch went off as smoothly and as professionally as possible.

Now that Vitalise has been launched onto the market, what's the next step? At the moment the drink is only available for purchase on the Ryanair flights and on the website www.vitalise.ie, but Arthur's aim now is to expand into the retail market, so Vitalise should soon be hitting the shelves of a convenience store near you.