Sports Drinks | Juices | Energy Drinks

Tahitian Noni International a year ago broke into the functional beverage industry with the launch of Hiro, healthy alternatives to the myriad of unhealthy energy drinks on the market. Utilizing healthy ingredients, Hiro Energy in particular successfully remedies the common “crash and burn” that most other drinks have. All Hiro drinks are healthy, only 10 calories, and delivers a punch of energy without the guilt. GREAT!!! Right???

There was an explosion of activity and buzz when this Hiro launch was announced. Buzz was mostly centered on TNI Execs suggested Hiro marketing strategy- a network marketing product that can reach the masses by allowing Hiro to be sold in retail stores. Think of the possibilities! Finally, a way to reach the 85% of consumers in the world who are not interested in network marketing! Hiro was a gold mine. The build up to launch was so skillfully done, that excitement was palpable. TNI distributors were a hive of activity, salivating at the prospects of another exponential burst of record-breaking growth.

Then came the launch… and more importantly the price and compensation of Hiro was unveiled…

After the initial shock, I believe the jaws of thousands of distributors collectively dropped as reality set in. The saying, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” blasted them back into reality. Ecstatic applause quieted to uncertain looks and raised eyebrows. Distributors started asking themselves, “do they take us for idiots?”

It turns out, TNI priced Hiro right out of the regular consumer market. Recommended retail price is $3.60 a 8 oz can, a very difficult item to sell in such a competitive market. Yea, its good, but is it THAT good? To compound matters further, commission on the product was sliced in HALF! How about pouring salt in the wound?

A year later, and after putting themselves back together, most TNI distributors will say yes, Hiro is good. The research and technology that went into the production of the drink, and the healthy ingredients, including Tahitian Noni Juice, warrants the higher price. It is however unlikely that an everyday shopper will see this value and pull out an addition buck fifty when a Red Bull costs a mere 2 bucks.
It became clear that the company had really no interest in selling Hiro competitively to the regular market. It is still a network marketing product, and the high cost must be justified to a potential buyer and sold by a TNI distributor, the old fashioned way. Why didn’t the Execs just say so in the first place?

Why was anyone surprised? After the letdown, it turns out that the distributor base of TNI distributors actually are drinking up Hiro. It is certainly a great product, it didn’t hit the store shelves as it was proposed by the company- but it did boost overall sales at TNI considerably. Hiro turned out to be a smart move by the Execs. It seems they have surrendered to the idea that explosive growth for TNI with network marketing may be a thing of the past, but they can utilize their huge distributor base… or in this case “customer” base with new and innovative products. Slicing commission in half on Hiro didn’t hurt the bottom line for TNI either. More to the company, less to the distributor, reminiscent of when commissions were cut by 20% the previous year.

Some TNI distributors argue that this is the Execs new strategy- to just take advantage of their immense distributor base as customers. The most recent leadership convention unveiled another new strategy….”Drink More Tahitian Noni!” That’s right, get the customers to spend more per month. After 10 years, suddenly a person should double his usage? Riiiiight.