Discussion Thread: Social Media Promotion
The sports product I have chosen is the Gatorade Sports Drink. The Gatorade brand has a
variety of sports products that they sell, but the Gatorade Sports Drink is by far the most popular
– in 2023, Gatorade made over seven billion dollars in sales of their sports drink alone (Leading
Non-Aseptic Sport Drink Brands in the U.S. 2021, n.d.). What began as an unknown sports drink
in 1965 has grown to become one of the most well-known sports products today. Why is this?
The answer is simple: marketing.
For many years, social media has been an effective web strategy for Gatorade; the
success of their social media marketing effort has long been comparable to the likes of Nike and
Adidas, among others. In comparison with Gatorade’s direct competition, however, brands like
BodyArmor and 5 Hour Energy fall short. In fact, in one calendar year, any given sports drink
brand will make only a fraction of the revenue that Gatorade does. Why is this? Well, it’s been
interesting to dive into just exactly why Gatorade’s social media promotion is so effective – and
the answer might surprise you.
For starters, Gatorade uses push and pull strategies to market their sports product, and
currently has advertisements running on every social media platform available. By utilizing
multiple methods of advertising, Gatorade is covering all their bases. Every single person out
there will see something about Gatorade at some point within their month, most even within their
week! But this isn’t why Gatorade is so successful. The hierarchy of effects tells us having
knowledge and information about a sports product does not necessarily mean the consumer will
like it (Shank & Lyberger, 2021, pp. 361–362). So why do people love Gatorade so much?
You’re probably thinking about all the athletes that Gatorade has endorsed. It’s true,
Gatorade’s entire social media marketing effort centers around professional and collegiate
athletes. From Michael Jordan to Caitlin Clark, some of the most popular athletes in history have
signed deals with Gatorade and have physically been in advertisements. However, while this is
immensely helpful to Gatorade’s marketing efforts, not even this is why I believe Gatorade has
soared above their competition. We’ve talked much on how athlete endorsements have continued
to trend down as time has gone on, but not for Gatorade. Many athletes like Tiger Woods, Ray
Rice, and more have shifted the atmosphere when it comes to athlete endorsements, yet Gatorade
has charged forward. How have they done this? How have they remained successful? I believe
that it’s because Gatorade listens.
Gatorade listens to consumers (Galligan, 2015). It isn’t uncommon for Gatorade to speak
with consumers via social media. You can look on Twitter and find countless conversations
between Gatorade and their customers on thoughts, criticisms, likes, and dislikes. Gatorade
listens to which athletes’ consumers love. Caitlin Clark is a great example of this. As soon as she
rose in popularity, Gatorade signed her. Gatorade even listens to who consumers like together –
this is why you see professional basketball players often in TV commercials at the same time,
like Kevin Durant and Dwayne Wade. I don’t think Gatorade tries to persuade the consumer, like
many companies do. I think they just listen. They figure out what the consumer wants, and they
give it to them. This requires fluidity and flexibility, but as you can see for Gatorade, it works.
Of course, Gatorades catchy lines with positive messaging and athlete endorsements aid
in how it soars; but as with most things, it’s the listening that counts. Just like James says in
James 1:19, "You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak…" (The Holy Bible ESV: English
Standard Version, 2012). I think we can all learn something from Gatorade.
References
Galligan, J. (2015).+Final situation analysis: Gatorade, inc.
Leading non-aseptic sport drink brands in the U.S. 2021. (n.d.). Statista. Retrieved October 14,
2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/188303/top-non-aseptic-sports-drink-
brands-in-the-united-states/
Shank, M. D., & Lyberger, M. R. (2021).ISports marketing: A strategic perspectiveI(6th ed., pp.
361–362). Taylor & Francis Group.
The holy bible ESV: English standard version.I(2012). Crossway Bibles.
