Case Analysis Ultimate_Writer

Mallory Humphrey

Zimberoff, L. (2017, September 12). Sports Drink Makers Are Waging an $8 Billion Thirst War.

Bloomberg.Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-sports-drinks

-wars/

This article started out discussing the soda and sugary drink tax that has been implemented in many states in order to try and reduce the consumption of those beverages to improve the overall health of Americans (Paragraph 2). Transitioning from the tax that has been passed in many states, the article then went on to describe implications of sugary drinks and how drinks like Gatorade compare to soda as far as sugar content goes (Paragraph 4).

“The US fitness industry generated almost $28 billion in revenue last year”, and along with the fitness craze that is currently booming, the competition for a drink with less sugar to recover with after working out is growing. (Paragraph 7). Water is no longer enough for recovering fitness individuals, they want a drink to help them recover that is unlike any soda or sports drink. With the increase in fitness, the $8 million sports drink industry is willing to take the necessary actions to take full advantage of the craze (Paragraph 7). More than ever, individuals are concerned with ingredients that are consumed when drinking sports drinks, soda, or any product they put into their bodies (Paragraph 8). Individuals are looking for all natural ingredients, nothing fake. The fact that many companies still include a ton of sugar in their drinks is concerning for these individuals, therefore the third generation of sports drinks is prepared to get rid of the harmful ingredients in recovery drinks or at least they are claiming this (Paragraph 10).

Water alone does not replace electrolytes lost when sweating (Paragraph 12). This is where the need for a recovery drink comes in. However, it is not how you replace the electrolytes, it is what you replace the electrolytes with (Paragraph 13). In addition, different bodies require different methods of recovery. No one sports drink is going to satisfy the need of every individual. This is the problem. Drinks are not tailored to individuals, therefore not every drink will help every athlete or individual exercising recover.

In order for the sports drink industry to succeed in profitability but also in ways that satisfy customer needs they need to reduce the amount of sugar and harmful ingredients in their products and they need to emphasizes that recovery drinks only need to be used if you're exercising for longer than 75 minutes, not every drink will benefit consumers the same way, and the companies producing theses drink should consider tailoring drinks to individuals to make recovery more personal.

This article in accordance with the research paper will be beneficial if used in Section VI, A, Potential Segmentation Dimensions. Based on the article, companies are willing to spend vast amounts of money targeting individuals who have joined the “fitness craze”. The companies are willing to tailor their drinks (or they claim to) in order to reduce sugar and other harmful ingredients to tailor recovery drinks to customers who are concerned with the ingredients they put into their bodies. This means that companies such as Gatorade could potentially target this group of individuals that hold the needs/wants of having a healthy recovery drink after exercising and knowing what ingredients they put into their bodies. Mentioned in the article, if companies come out with a product where you can personally tailor your wants and needs in a recovery drink, this could also be a potential segment for Gatorade and it could be beneficial for money to be spent on these individuals. Overall, the ever-growing fitness industry provides strong ties to potential segments for Gatorade to target.