Gatorade’s Digital Strategy

New Media Drivers License Alina Levy

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Background

• University of Florida assistant coach wanted to know why his athletes were being affected by heat related illnesses.

• Gatorade was created in 1965 to replenish carbohydrates and electrolytes lost during athletic activity.

• Gatorade helped the team win games and outlast their opponents• Gatorade positions itself as the leader and originator of the American

Sports Drink category

Audience • Target Market includes the young adults aged 18-25• Male and Female Athletes• Strong brand loyalty

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Social Media Presence

The Gatorade YouTube Channel is rich with hundreds of videos featuring all kinds of athletes from around the world. Commercials commonly have discrete messaging with little to no reference to the brand, but instead are more about the athlete and the #WinFromWithin message.Gatorade is very active on Twitter and it is not just advertisement based. The  company retweets many major sporting news and events as well as sends out tweets supporting teams with the  #WinFromWithin message. Gatorade is very attentive to customer suggestions and complaints with personalized and original messages.

The Facebook page is rich with videos, many that are also featured on the Gatorade website and YouTube channel. The Facebook page also features photos that are posted on Gatorade’s Instagram with motivational quotes and messaging.

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Big Ideas

Gatorade’s marketing strategy is undoubtedly the best in the game. The company utilizes its target audience and gears social media posts to engage and connect its followers. Below are a few innovative ideas that will knock Gatorades competitors out of the park.

• #WinFromWithin contest campaign to engage users in interactive advertising 

• Creation of a user-friendly Mobile application

• “Drink Responsibly” Campaign

• Google AdWords

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#WinFromWithin• Across all social networks Gatorades #WinFromWithin hashtag is a

slogan that they want to be known.• Encourage existing audience to post their own #WinFromWithin 

hashtag to demonstrate how Gatorade drives individuals to succeed • Winners will be chosen for creativity and prizes can range from

lunch with a favorite athlete to free Gatorade for a year

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• This is a real example of a #WinFromWithin contest post on Twitter.

• Since hashtags are universal throughout social medias, this campaign can reach users that are on Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook.

• The campaign is simple and permits a much larger network to view the movement.

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Creation of Mobile Application

• Gatorade should build an easy to use application that combines all of the applications that athletes, runners, or fitness enthusiasts already use

• The application will be user friendly and will surpass all other applications in convenience.

Budget: • Although the development of the application

will largely cut into the allotted budget, the investment will ultimately create the next big mobile application that users love

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“Drink Responsibly” Campaign

• Gatorade is best known for the electrolytes that rehydrate and replenish athletes everywhere.

• However, college students know best that Gatorade is often used to nurse the inevitable hangover.

• Gatorade should launce a ‘Drink Responsibly’ campaign that promotes people the stay hydrated as they drink• Ads will be created and Gatorade vendors will sponsor

events that are known for alcohol consumption.

• This campaign is bound to win the drunk people of America’s vote as the best hydrating beverage• Surpassing one of Gatorade’s strongest competitor–

H2O.8

Internet Marketing- SEM/SEO

• Invest in Google AdWords such as: Sports Drink, energy drink, athletics, sports, electrolytes, rehydrate, etc…

• Invest in AdWords with specific sports team names or leagues that use their products such as the NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL

• Internet ads will appear on the sides of search engines that use keywords that Gatorade is associated with.

• Continuing to use #hashtags keywords on Social Media to highlight posts

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Budget & Metrics

• PepsiCo spends $100 million yearly on Marketing the Gatorade Brand.• About $80-$85 million is used on commercials, and sponsoring sporting

events• To further develop Gatorade’s Digital strategy PepsiCo will now use

roughly $30 million to implement and conduct new campaigns.Measuring Success

• Amount of application downloads and usage• The number of participants in the #WinFromWithin campaign• Related surveys on top energy drinks• Measurement and tracking of sales

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