Marcom Tactics for Gatorade G2 - 2287 Words

INTRODUCTION The US sports drinks market is highly competitive. It accounts for the highest worldwide sports drink consumption. A sports drink is a deviation of an energy drink which aims at rehydration, sports performance and muscle recovery. The major players in this US market are Gatorade by PepsiCo amp; PowerAde by Coca-Cola. Gatorade Gatorade is accepted as the market leader of US sports drink market with nearly 75% market share as at 2008 (Sports Business Daily, 23 July 2009). The study analyses the marketing mix of Gatorade in US market with special concentration on its Marketing Communications. It was introduced in 1965 as a thirst quencher by four medical researchers at University of Florida. The name for the drink came from†¦show more content†¦* Advertising The advertising activities of G2 are two fold, online and offline. The objective of their advertising strategy is to increase awareness of benefits of G2 and reinforce that idea with an aim of differentiating the products and persuading customers towards purchase. Offline advertising Gatorade used ‘Float’ commercials, which features sportsmen and women such as NBA’s Dwayne Wade and gymnast Chellsie Memmel. The advertising repeats Mohammed Ali’s Quote â€Å"Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee† which supports the brand slogan in a way that floating portrays lightness in calories and sting like a bee portrays the ability to accurately hit performance targets. By employing high repetitions of advertisements during sports events such as Super bowl, the most watched event in US TV, they ensure high exposure to their brand thereby increasing awareness amp; recall of G2. Their print advertisements such as Gatorade Double Life mainly focus on sports magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Bounce and Dime as they carry a synergy with their target audience of Athletes, professional or non-professional. The TV advertising benefits for G2 in terms of Clout against cost as it reaches a large number of people which reduces cost per head. But it can also be argued that clout is low with both mediums as they cannot be personalized. However, there is