Three South Carolina entrepreneurs bring 120,000 smiles to market

June 18, 2014

New company’s product breaks state sales records; consumers, retailers and distributors line up for more

COLUMBIA, SC – Happiness for three South Carolina-bred entrepreneurs came in the form of a carefully-planned business strategy that outlined the market debut of their new flavored alcoholic beverage.

Elation for this trio – a well-known club and radio DJ, a serial entrepreneur and an international business lawyer – was the meteoric and unprecedented public reception to their fruit-flavored alcoholic beverage named ‘Happy Juice Express’, which hit South Carolina stores this month: selling nearly 10,000 cases at wholesale in its first 10 days. (Note: 12 bottles per case)

The product – which contains 12% ABV in a 24-oz bottle featuring a slightly mischievous smiley face logo – is self-explanatory: bright red juice, non-carbonated, with a smooth blend of punch-packing fruit flavors (To learn more, go to http://gethappyjuice.com/).

“We’re already outselling our competitors for June in some territories, “ said DeAnthony Hill, one of the founders of Carolina Global Inc., which owns the Happy Juice Express brand and formula and includes co-founders Brian “DJ B-Lord” Myers and attorney Samuel Wilson, all natives of South Carolina.

Happy Juice Express, which is brewed in La Crosse, Wisconsin, was originally scheduled to be launched June 10 at an exclusive launch party in Columbia, S.C. However, earlier that week, a local distributor accidentally leaked a few cases to a convenience store in Orangeburg, S.C. who quickly displayed the product on an end cap and posted a picture of it online.

Within 30 minutes, the store was inundated with phone calls from fans of DJ B-Lord, who has a loyal – and massive –social media following of fans who’d all heard him promoting the new beverage on the radio, at parties, clubs, and online. His own picture of that same bright-red Happy Juice Express store display received thousands of likes on Facebook within hours.

“We decided to seize upon the accidental leak by creating a scavenger hunt style roll-out in our other territories,” Myers said. Each day, new posts on Facebook (facebook.com/gethappyjuice); Twitter (@gethappyjuice); or Instagram (instagram.com/gethappyjuice) listed a store name, address and a phone number. This strategy created a viral phenomenon and each store was flooded with requests for Happy Juice Express, which typically sold out within hours.

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Another store that participated in the “leak” sold ten cases in 30 minutes on Friday June 7, and then immediately called their distributor for more. Requests over that weekend were so voluminous that the store owners put a sign in the window saying that more ‘Happy Juice’ would arrive on Monday morning. The following Monday, June 9, at 10 a.m., customers were waiting outside the store for Happy Juice Express to arrive, and purchased the next ten cases in less than 30 seconds.

As hundreds more cases moved off the shelves – most within minutes of the online posts – retailers were calling for more and distributors started re-ordering.  “It was an explosion; the phone wouldn’t stop ringing,” Wilson said.

The product – which is now in 500 stores and expected to be in more than 1,000 by month’s end – is set for distribution statewide across South Carolina in convenience stores, gas stations, nightclubs (bartenders are selling Happy Juice by the glass, as a mixer and by the pitcher already) and other independent retailers.

Additionally, the product has already started selling in grocery stores and the company will be ready to announce its launch into its first national big box chain before the end of June.  Through the immediate impact of the beverage launch – along with the popularity of Happy Juice branded t-shirts, hats, tote bags and sunglasses, the brand owners anticipate a complete saturation of the 21-35-year-old demographic in South Carolina – approximately one million people – before the end of the summer.

 

 

ABOUT CAROLINA GLOBAL INC. FOUNDERS

 

BRIAN MYERS p/k/a DJ B-LORD:

· Tireless Marketer & Entertainment Guru

· Grew up in Holly Hill and Florence, SC

· Proud South Carolinian

· Nationally-recognized DJ and on-air personality

· Founder of Flight School Radio, syndicated radio program in Columbia, Florence,

  Charleston and Myrtle Beach, SC

· www.mightydamnfresh.com

· www.flightschoolradio.com

 

DEANTHONY HILL:

· Serial Entrepreneur & Mastermind

· Grew up in North Myrtle Beach, SC area

· Graduate of West Brunswick High School (Shallotte, NC)

· Founder of B.A.D. Marketing, a national marketing and promotions services provider for

   Fortune 500 companies, national touring providers, entertainment networks, record

labels, mobile phone companies, lifestyle brands, sports franchises and more

· www.badincorporated.com

 

SAMUEL WILSON, ESQ.:

· International Businessman and Consigliere

· Grew up in James Island / Charleston, S.C.

· Graduate of James Island High School

· Graduate of University of South Carolina

· Founder of law firm and practicing international transaction attorney (licensed in New

York State)

· www.thescwfirm.com