Gatorade chief marketing officer Kalen Thornton on evolving the sports drink’s playbook
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Ironically, the sports drink category wasn’t very competitive for a while. That has all changed thanks to increased competition, a recent spate of innovation and a new player on the field for Gatorade. Former Nike exec and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Kalen Thornton shares his vision for Gatorade’s brand marketing as it looks to the future of sport.
Gatorade has dominated the sports drink category since its inception in 1965. For much of its run, the PepsiCo-owned beverage has leveraged its powerful heritage and high-profile partnerships with some of the world’s top athletes. And try as they might, Coca-Cola could never really find a way to compete via Powerade or any of its other products.
Coca-Cola has until the end of the year to decide whether it will complete its purchase of Bodyarmor. In the meantime, the surging brand is looking to guzzle more share within the suddenly competitive sports drink category. To do so, it is launching its largest ever ad campaign with eight top athletes including NBA stars James Harden and Trae Young.
The loss of market share does not necessarily spell death for the PepsiCo-owned and Chicago-based brand, as the sports drink category itself has expanded, to almost $9.3 billion in 2020 from $7.4 billion in 2015.
But where the 56-year-old brand once stood practically alone as a healthy alternative to soft drinks, hydration options now abound. New brands that bend the definition of a sports drink are flooding the market, pulling in new consumers.
Experts say Gatorade would be wise to watch its back, especially at a time when consumer behaviors are changing so rapidly. This is almost like an old-school 60s example of Hilton or Budweiser . . . where you have such dominant market share it just opens your flanks, says Kevin McTigue, a clinical associate professor of marketing at Northwestern University s Kellogg School of Management. It s hard to defend all the walls when you re that big.
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