Dive Brief:
- Gatorade is closing out its 50th anniversary campaign with a new spot that shows a glimpse of the future instead of glancing back to the past, as the campaign's earliest ad did.
- The new spot, called "Moving the Game Forward," is jam-packed with star-power athletes and sports personalities and refers to the brand as a "sports fuel company," which Ad Age says "is meant to move Gatorade beyond its historical hydration positioning, reflecting its 'energy' and 'recovery' products like chews and protein bars."
- "The new ad hints at one of Gatorade's future priorities, which is to create more customized drink formulas tailored to a specific athlete's needs," Ad Age reported.
Dive Insight:
"What you will see coming from us moving forward is a little bit more on the customization and personalization front to help address athlete needs," Kenny Mitchell, Gatorade's senior director of consumer engagement, told Ad Age. "We are in the lab fine-tuning now and we will have more to share when the time is right."
Gatorade is one of many beverage brands that has been impacted by consumers turning away from sugary beverages, even though Gatorade is generally thought of as an athlete's hydration drink.
In response, PepsiCo is helping Gatorade reposition itself as more than just a single hydration product but as a provider of other foods and nutrients athletes need to power through their workouts or competitions. This portfolio expansion gives the brand more breadth to work with to more easily adapt to consumers' changing preferences for foods and beverages, including those they use during exercise.
PepsiCo's North American drinks business saw a 3% volume rise in its last quarter and 5% revenue uptick.