Hydralyte North America launches Shay Mitchell co-branded rehydration product

The Hydration Pharmaceuticals Company (ASX: HPC) trading as Hydralyte North America has successfully launched a co-branded rehydration product with renowned actress Shay Mitchell.

Ms Mitchell was engaged as Hydralyte North America’s brand ambassador in March this year and today’s co-branded stockkeeping unit (SKU) product launch follows an “extensive period of collaboration”.

The collaboration involved flavour testing, packaging design, manufacturing, and marketing strategies.

During the collaboration, Ms Mitchell gave input on key details such as her favourite flavour and packaging design.

The product, Shay Mitchell x Hydralyte Advanced Hydration, is available in Lemon Squeeze flavour.

It will initially be sold in two sizes: a six-stick box, which is designed for traditional retail outlets; and an 18-stick value pack across e-commerce channels.

This larger pack is expected to offer convenience to consumers and generate higher margin sales for Hydralyte North America.

Marketing event underpins launch

To support the launch, Ms Mitchell will host a two-day marketing event in Florida.

According to Hydralyte North America, it has already realised the one-off costs associated with the event, which will bring together 16 of America’s top influencers.

Each influencer has large follower bases on social media, with the potential to deliver “considerable value” via posts and brand awareness.

Ms Mitchell, alone, has 34.9 million Instagram followers, 2.9 million on Twitter, 7.3 million on TikTok and a further 4.18 million YouTube subscribers.

Initial sales

First sales of the product are now available through Hydralyte North America’s e-commerce channels and Amazon US.

Hydralyte North America chief executive officer Oliver Baker said with sales rapidly accelerating via these channels during FY2022, it was a “logical starting point” to launch the product through these avenues.

In the September quarter alone (Q3 FY2022), sales through Amazon US had risen 62% on the previous corresponding period. Customer subscriptions have increased 5-12% per month throughout FY2022.

In the coming weeks, major US retailer RiteAid will also begin stocking the product.

Mr Baker said the company was also “well progressed” in discussions with other bricks and mortar retailers to scale its distribution footprint to meet anticipated demand.

“We are excited about the final product and look forward to initial consumer feedback,” Mr Baker added.