There are lots of energy drinks on the market whose benefits come at a cost: synthetic ingredients. For Guru Energy, offering a natural energy drink made up of a short list of plant-based active ingredients, with zero sucralose and zero aspartame, has led to more than 25 years of success.
Guru has continued to grow in not only brand recognition but also revenue, thanks to a fundamental principle: deeply understanding its customers and using those insights to build authentic brand connections. Guru’s success is proof that customer understanding can become your greatest competitive advantage.
Carl Goyette, Guru’s president and CEO, and Shingly Lee, vice president of marketing, joined Shopify to share how they’ve used customer insights to build a brand that commands fierce loyalty in an increasingly saturated market.
How to build brand loyalty worth millions
Ahead, find tips for understanding who your customers are and how to reach them where they are.
1. Build a foundation on understanding your customers
While most brands stop at basic demographic data, Guru’s success stems from diving deeper into the psychology behind purchasing decisions. “When I came into this role, it wasn’t even just about the consumer, but it all starts with our positioning and really understanding which consumers or groups and segments of consumers are most capable of loving what your brand does,” Shingly says.
This approach goes far beyond age, income, and location to explore what Shingly calls “psychographics”—the attitudes, interests, and lifestyle factors that actually drive behavior. Guru invests heavily in understanding their customers’ motivations, barriers, and the emotional triggers that influence brand switching.
“I personally read through almost every single review on the brand … direct messaging, along with Shopify’s platform on more of the demographic and behavioral data,” Shingly says. This hands-on approach to customer feedback creates a continuous loop of insights that inform everything from product development to marketing messaging.
2. Allow customer insights to drive brand positioning
“One of the first things I did coming into this role was combing through our consumer DMs and understanding a clear [usage] occasion,” Shingly says. “We identified that the pre-workout occasion with the running community really resonated with our consumers.” After this discovery, Guru went on to partner with one of the biggest run clubs in Quebec, where the company is based, to “effectively sample, get community feedback, do VIP drops with their community and almost co-create with [them] from there,” Shingly says.
3. Stay focused on your competitive advantage
In crowded markets, the temptation to appeal to everyone can be overwhelming. Guru has taken the opposite approach, using customer insights to become laser-focused on specific segments rather than trying to please everyone. “In the world of marketing, focus makes you bigger, not smaller,” Shingly says. “Brands that try to be everything to everyone often end up being nothing to no one.”
This philosophy extends throughout the brand’s marketing strategy. Instead of broad campaigns, Guru identifies communities where its brand naturally resonates and concentrates its efforts there. One example was product placement in an adventure-based reality TV show that aligned with the community’s passion for outdoor activities and exploration. “We were able to have access to that new generation,” Carl says.
This focus has paid off. Guru is the No. 1 organic energy drink brand in Whole Foods, nationally, and the No. 3 energy drink brand in Quebec, behind Monster and Red Bull.
4. Balance short-term performance with long-term brand building
One of the biggest challenges brands face is justifying brand-building investments that don’t show immediate returns. Guru addresses this by creating clear roles for different marketing activities and measuring success across multiple timelines.
“I am a deep believer that it’s not one or the other, and they both work together, both short term and long term,” Shingly says. “And really, it’s around balancing that scale between the two."
Their approach assigns specific purposes to different content types. Brand awareness campaigns build emotional connections and communicate values, while performance marketing drives immediate conversions. This strategic framework ensures that every marketing dollar serves a clear purpose in the customer journey.
Brand building and performance marketing don’t compete for resources, they work together to create a complete customer experience that drives both immediate sales and long-term loyalty. For new founders, Shingly offers this advice: “They should think about brand building almost before they even push out the MVP.”
5. Use customer understanding to shape distribution strategy
Guru’s customer insights inform its distribution decisions. Rather than pursuing every possible retail opportunity, it focuses on channels where its target customers naturally shop.
“Retailers gain nothing if you’re switching one consumer from one energy drink brand to the other,” Carl says. “But if you can demonstrate that you actually grow the category because you bring new people in, that’s very obvious, and we’ve been very successful at doing this.”
Many Guru customers tell the company, “I don’t drink energy drinks. I drink Guru.” This distinction allows Guru to position itself as a category expander rather than a share-stealer, making it a more attractive partner for retailers.
After 25 years in business, Guru continues to meet customers where they are and listen to their needs. Carl attributes their longevity to maintaining focus on their core mission while adapting tactics to changing market conditions. “Strategic planning is absolutely fundamental,” Carl emphasizes, “which will allow you to last at least 25 years. And we think we have many decades ahead.”
Most importantly, Guru has built a brand that customers actively choose to be associated with, creating organic advocacy that traditional advertising can’t replicate.
Tune in to the full Shopify Masters interview to discover customer surveying tips and the ins and outs of Guru’s successful influencer marketing strategy.
