That’s G
In my lifetime the sports drink category has expanded tenfold. Growing up, I remember one choice; Gatorade, the ultimate thirst quencher. It was its own category; nowhere ever before has sports science been placed in a bottle but then other companies started to take notice. In 1998, Powerade was introduced by the Coca-Cola Company. Powerade was a solid competitor. It tasted like Gatorade, it looked like Gatorade, its name ended the same as Gatorade, plus it had the power of the Coca-Cola distribution channel to promote it. Still, Gatorade held its ground.
The next challenge for Gatorade was All Sport, Pepsi-Co’s answer to Powerade. Who remembers All Sport? If you tried it, trust me, you remember it. It was one of the worst ideas for a drink ever. All Sport was a sports drink that tasted similar to Gatorade and Powerade expect it had that one special something. It was carbonated like soda. Wow, Pepsi must have done their research because there has to be tons of evidence out there to suggest that athletes love to drink soda immediately upon the completion of a run. You see it all the time especially from marathons; they just love the taste of soda around mile 24. To make it even worse All Sport was not slightly carbonated, it was borderline combustible. Remember the scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when Grandpa and Charlie drank Soda bubbles and started to fly? All Sport was just slightly less carbonated than that. Obviously, Pepsi’s super soda failed and the company purchased Gatorade in 2001 to enter into the sports drink category.
Then a couple of years ago, a sudden outburst of sports drinks occurred. Vitamin Water, Sobe Life Water, Powerade, Gatorade, 35 different types of water with added vitamins popped up. People started to count calories and everyone in the category created a low cal version to appeal to consumers basically doubling the amount of choices. Overnight energy drinks exploded on the market and people went nuts from all the sugar and caffeine. Today, the beverage sports/energy category is ultra competitive and Gatorade is paying the price. Since the beginning of the year, Gatorade’s sales volume has fallen 17.5%. The company has rebranded itself with their “That’s G” campaign but the campaign has not driven sales leading Gatorade to bring back his Airness.
Gatorade has decided to release a new limited edition series titled “Jordan”. Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player who ever lived, the ultimate sponsor known for his flying dunks as well as his patented sneakers, is back promoting Gatorade. Jordan, who began his relationship with Gatorade back in 1991, is Gatorade’s hope that consumers will once again connect with the brand.
The commercial for Gatorade’s Jordan series is one of the coolest commercials to come out in awhile. Gatorade at 6:17 am in the Southside of Chicago decided to create a giant light up billboard of Jordan using only Gatorade bottles. They filmed the construction of the billboard and after 16 hours and 14,461 bottles they finally had their tribute to Jordan assembled. You can view the latest spot of Gatorade here on YouTube. Now it is not clear that this commercial is going to help Gatorade deal with their 17.5% sales drop but its message is classic Gatorade. Not enough brands know how to stay true to themselves. Gatorade was built by Michael Jordan drinking it, now maybe it can rebuild by consumers drinking Jordan.
Tags: Gatorade, Marketing, Michael Jordan, TV Advertising
