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Bionic Products, a Nevada based company dedicated to developing and marketing breakthrough energy drinks, has just sealed the deal on an exclusive agreement with a California marketing company to begin a network marketing campaign for their two new premium, all natural energy drinks, Bionic- Tonic and LadyPink.

The company did not release the name of the California marketing group, but Bionic Products President, JD Pulver, released a statement saying, “negotiations were finalized in Las Vegas on Friday for the roll out of the network marketing program with a California based marketing group. Bionic Products Bionic-Tonic and LadyPink will have the exposure to an established network of over 5,000 representatives from day one of the launch.”

Hardy Bottling Company of Tennessee has just completed the first production of the new cans which will be shipped to the company’s new distribution center in Las Vegas this week to begin the process of shipping it out to consumers. The new distribution center was specifically designed to ship out large numbers of orders for the new network marketing program which they hope will generate an increased number of drop shipment orders daily.

Along with the roll out of the new drinks, and the network marketing program, the company will upgrade and enhance their website to offer new features to its consumers. The new web program will allow consumers to receive free samples of the drinks as well as shot size boosters as well as order directly from the company.

While the market is fairly saturated with energy drinks, this one seems to be a pretty promising one. As I said, it is all natural, has no carbs, no calories and no sugar. The company claims that there is minimal crash and that it can aid in weight loss and even digestion. Only time will tell if the products take off, but the name is cool, the cans look great and the names of the drinks are enticing. Hopefully I can get my hands on some and let you know how they are.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Verve Energy Drink has a brand new spokesperson, AMA-PRO Superbike Racer, Johnny Rock Page.

Page, who is also a successful entrepreneur with his own clothing line Johnny Rock Clothing, says that he lives by the motto, “Dream Big, Anything is Possible.” Recently, page won the Unlimited Superbike Expert and Unlimited Supersport Expert races at the 2007 Daytona Nationals. This year, he continued his streak, winning the CCS Race of Champions.

His most recent endeavor was signing on as the spokesperson of one of the fastest growing, energy drinks, Verve. Verve’s motto, “The Insanely Healthy Energy Drink” fits Page perfectly. At 39, he is still fit, active and enjoys competing.

“I’m very excited about this partnership and honored to represent such a great product,” said Page. “Verve not only gives me the energy I need, but the vitamins as well, which allows me to race longer without the ensuing crash linked with other energy drinks.”

Verve has been very active about increasing its presence in the sports world. In the past year, they became the official drink of the NBA Phoenix Suns and the WNBA Phoenix Mercury. Verve has a great reputation of being an all natural and healthy alternative to the typical energy drink out there.

While Rock is not as well known as the NBA and WNBA teams, the X-Treme sports like superbikes, have a large following, especially with the demographic that is buying energy drinks, so this is a smart move by the company. Rock is also in talks to have his own reality show, so this deal might get them even more exposure on national TV.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Crunk Energy Drink has just announced a new flavor for the summer of 08. The citrus lemon lime flavor has just hit the shelves! If you are not familiar with Crunk, it was created in 2004 by rapper/producer Lil John along with Sidney Frank, the late music industry mogul who was also the mastermind behind Jagermeister and Grey Goose.

The regular flavor Crunk is available in both full sugar and sugar free and while the new Citrus version is not yet available in sugar free, I’m sure that its not to far behind. But if you like a lot of high fructose corn syrup than this 16oz energy drink in the citrus flavor might be for you. While the drink is available in some retail markets, there is also a huge sales force of independent distributors behind the product.

This is a very interesting drink with a strange variety of ingredients including, taurine and inositol, instead packing in Vitamin C, Vitamin E, B Vitamins, Calcium, magnesium, selenium, , green tea leaf, damiana, licorice root, l-tyrosine, horny goat weed, n-acetyl l-cysteine, gingko, panax ginseng, grape seed extract, skull cap, white willow bark, ashwaganda and milk thistle. It is packed with a decent amount of caffeine with 194mg per can-about 3 cups of coffee- more than red bull and monster.

Lil John is very excited about the new flavor and the new marketing campaign that will go along with it. “We takin Crunk!!! to another level,” Lil’ John has said. “Citrus is the best damn tasting energy drink you will ever have!” - and the drink has a full multi-level marketing program for rollout.”

“We are planning to implement a full blown marketing campaign including events, street teams, sampling and regional radio. Promotions will also include looking for the freshest DJs that can create the craziest CRUNK!!! Citrus mix and the most CRUNK!!! Citrus Girls for our 2009 calendar,” says Kevin Doyle, Vice President of Marketing.

This company has been around for a while, but it seems that recently they’ve really begun taking off. Along with the new flavor, they also began opening up new markets in 2008, opening in over 5 new markets so far this year. With Lil John’s name behind the product, it will be interesting to see if this is something that could lure younger, college aged entrepreneurs into the network marketing world. And definitely check out the website! Its great!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Telecommunications company Lightyear Network Solutions LLC, (Louisville, KY) a company that provides internet based pone service, is opening its doors to market a brand new product……an Energy drink. Say what?

Josh Henderson, who is president of Lightyears Alliance division, announced last week that the company will now brand its own drink. The announcement served as the official launch for the new drink, Lightyear Xstream Energy.

Lightyear Xstream Energy contains caffeine and yohimbe, which claims to boost the metabolism. The non-carbonated beverage will be available in mango and pomma punch flavors.

Lightyears sales representatives – over 37,000 strong, will begin selling the bottle this week. A shipment of 12 bottles will cost $29.99 and the sales representatives will make a 30 percent commission on sales of the drinks.

While it is unusual for company to veer away from their main source of revenue, Lightyear has a strong background as a direct sales company. The company was founded in 1993 and originally called UniDial. They have been a profitable company since then. The company wanted to use its direct sales background to branch out. Following the success of other direct sales company’s focused on energy drink products, the Lightyear Sales reps felt that the energy drink was the best fit for the company. So the question is….are the the 37,000 reps going to be selling the telco service or the energy drink? According to the company, both but clearly the reach of the energy drink will out weigh that of the telco service so could the reps become “distracted”? This is a very unusual approach for a direct sales company to take but one that if it does pay off, could breed other types of hybrid sales strategies. We think this move is so far removed from the company’s core business that it’s actually a mistake but we would love to be wrong!

The drink will not be available in stores and can only be obtained through a Lightyear Sales Representative.

Popularity: 5% [?]