COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--O2, maker of a line of oxygenated recovery drinks, saw record growth in Q1 and Q2 driven by a community give-back strategy in the face of Covid-19, which shuttered many businesses in America, including O2’s core customer of wholesale gym retailers.
With nationwide shelter-in-place policies forcing gyms to close across the country, the team at O2 decided to focus on their online business but refused to let it come at the expense of the wholesale gym owners who helped build the brand. As part of the strategy, O2 launched a profit-sharing initiative that allowed gym members to donate 50% of the profits from their purchase on drinko2.com to their local gym owner. This idea, to empower members to support their gym owners in a time of crisis, resonated immediately within O2’s tight-knit fitness community and led O2 to exceed its highest online sales month ever in the first three days of the initiative. The company recorded a record Q1, up over 130% from the same period in 2019.
In April, O2 formed a coalition with other fitness-oriented brands to honor the same 50% profit-sharing commitment and extend the impact, which included well-known brands such as Born Primitive, Puori, Chomps, 2POOD, and Bear KompleX. The marketing impact of the partnerships resulted in O2 acquiring more new customers in April than all of 2019 without any meaningful ad spend, and by the end of the month the coalition had collectively generated over $230,000 to donate back to gyms.
In May, while the majority of O2’s gym retailers were still shutdown, the company created a retention-focused initiative called “Stay for May” to help gyms retain their members while shutdown, and as a result O2 subsequently recorded another record revenue month.
“Any business gets excited about growth, but to see ours come as a result of supporting our community in a time of crisis makes me incredibly proud of our team,” said Dave Colina, CEO and founder of O2. “Not only did we avoid layoffs, furloughs, or salary/benefit cuts, but we moved quickly to repurpose team members and actually ended up hiring people. We’ve spent practically nothing on customer acquisition and have a clear line of sight to profitability in 2020, which is crazy to say out loud.”
The momentum carried over into June, when O2 recorded yet another record revenue month overall and did more sales online in a single month than all of 2019 combined. That same month, the company donated over $17,000 in cash to non-profits and over $150,000 in product to gyms and first responders, further strengthening its bond with the community it serves.
About O2
Now more than ever, people are working out like elite athletes without taking the time to recover like the pros. O2 makes recovery more accessible, enjoyable, and convenient to help solve that problem. Developed by a physician and a CrossFit® trainer, O2 is a non-carbonated, keto-friendly recovery drink blending oxygenated water with electrolytes to help athletes accelerate their recovery without compromising their health. Spend less time recuperating and more time accomplishing. Check out drinko2.com for more info and follow @drinko2recovery on Instagram.
