There's no replacement for real-world experience. 10 years ago, startup beverage brand SoBe made the right marketing choices, and the result was the acquisition by PepsiCo for about $370 million. Among many tricks, SoBe built a grassroots following with a heavy dose of branded promotional products featuring SoBe’s now iconic lizard logo.

Fast forward to today, and founder John Bello is at it again with new brand Adina Holistics. In a beverage marketplace crowded with sugary drinks, vitamin waters, and organic teas, Adina had a challenge catching the consumer's attention with the 90-calorie natural drink. Step one - creation of a memorable logo, one with possibilities to expand into the realm of mascot. Aiming to convey the brand's tagline of “Drink no evil”, and a product philosophy grounded in the benefits of Ayurveda -- a system of alternative medicine from India -- the team, in the end, chose a monkey. More than 100 designs were tried with focus groups. The early versions tried to convey calmness, but evolved into one with more character and energy.

With the new branding image firmly in place, it was time to build up demand. To get his line of herbal elixirs noticed, he is going back to his old tricks – namely giving away plenty of branded products. This time around, he is leveraging his monkey logo and sayings like “Drink no evil!” “At SoBe we gave away 400,000 T-shirts via our in-store offers over five years,” says Bello. Why do it again? “Simple logic: This is a consumer reward and continuity device.” Adina Holistics consumers can collect three under-the-cap “herbalisms” noted on tear-off pads to get a free “Show me the monkey” or “Got herb?” T-shirt.

The offer is “one point-of-sale piece that always gets put up because it is something that the store owner or manager is doing for the consumer; something for nothing compliments the store and the consumer gets a T-shirt as a bonus,” says Bello. “Most companies are too small or too big to make this happen. At Adina, it is job number one, all day, every day.”

So far, more than 5,000 shirts had been requested. “They are already being offered on eBay,” says Bello. Part of the trick is having cool giveaways and a cooler logo, says Adina Chief Marketing Officer Bruce Burke. “We have an icon that appeals to young and old. It goes beyond just the beverage and lends itself to promotional products. We know we have a very nice symbol for years to come.”