BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Celsius Holdings Inc., the creator and marketer of calorie-burning beverage Celsius, has announced that it is partnering with Smash! Brands to help drive commercialization efforts. Smash! Brands, the commercialization unit of GBS Growth Partners LLC, will assist the company in building its distributor and retailer network.
The initial focus will be on the California and Texas markets, and will eventually expand into other major markets across the United States.
"Smash! Brands has the experience and connections to help us expand our customer base and accelerate the growth behind Celsius," said Gerry David, president and CEO of Boca Raton, Fla.-based Celsius Holdings. "We're excited to partner with Smash! Brands as they focus efforts on building our retail presence and help drive sales."
He added, "We have worked diligently over the past few months on an aggressive growth strategy. We've completely repositioned Celsius, including bringing on Tony Little as our new fitness ambassador, redesigning our graphics and packaging, implementing a new consumer communication/digital marketing plan, executing a strong demo/special event marketing strategy and engaging 5W Public Relations, one of the country's largest and most respected public relations firms based in New York. We feel that adding Smash! Brands now to expand availability will leverage our consumer efforts."
Smash! Brands specialty is driving brand availability across channels, critical to creating traction for a brand. In the past, it has worked with brands such as Coca-Cola, Cinnabon and Honest Tea and more recently with Wolfgang Puck RTD Coffee, Rebootizer and Hangover Joe's.
"We chose Smash," said David, "because they have the ability to take Celsius beyond the traditional channels like convenience stores. We feel strongly that being available at health clubs, colleges and office buildings, will help us build a loyal base of consumers who drink calorie-burning Celsius everyday."
John Blackington, managing partner of GBS Growth Partners, said, "We have followed Celsius Holdings since it was created. It has a great brand with strong consumer loyalty, and now has a strong growth strategy and a focused leadership team to drive that growth. We know how to expand their market presence and are looking forward to working with them."
Leading the Smash! Brand efforts will be Dan Wilder in Texas and Randy Smith in California. "Both Dan and Randy have strong experience building brands and creating traction," added Blackington.
GBS Growth Partners, Dallas, was founded in 2004. It is a leading strategic advisory and commercialization group in the food and beverage industry.
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