1. Gatorade vs. Powerade
Social Media
Marketing Plan
Created by: Anna E. Steele
October 29, 2015
The Gatorade Company
555 West Monroe St.
Floor 1 Chicago, IL 60661
Phone: 1-800-884-2867
Powerade
The Coca-Cola Company
P.O. Box 17734
Atlanta, GA 30301
Phone: 1-800-438-2653
3. Gatorade: History
Gatorade was created in the summer of 1965. A University
of Florida assistant football coach wanted to understand
why his players were negatively affected by extreme heat.
Researchers found that his players were losing more fluids
and electrolytes than they were consuming.To combat this
issue, a scientifically formulated carbohydrate-electrolyte
balanced beverage was created, a beverage now known as
“Gatorade”.
Gatorade was originally produced and marketed by
Stokely-Van Camp, but after a series of purchases, it was
bought by PepsiCo in 2000.
According to their 2010 Annual Report, Gatorade is
PepsiCo’s fourth largest brand in worldwide annual retail
sales. It is distributed in over 80 countries and accounts for
75 percent market share in the sports drink category,
within the United States.
Today, Gatorade can be found on the sidelines of more
than 70 Division 1 colleges as the official sports drink of
their men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports.
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4. Powerade: History
Powerade first entered the market in 1988. Manufactured
and marketed by The Coca-Cola Company, Powerade was
created to compete with PepsiCo’s Gatorade in sports
drink sales. Within the same year, Powerade became the
official sports drink of the Olympics, alongside Aquarius,
another sports drink made by Coca-Cola.
Powerade has grown to account for 21.7 percent market
share in the sports drink category within the United
States, and is distributed in approximately 20 countries
around the world.
Today, Powerade is the official sports drink of the PGA
Tour, NASCAR, the U.S. Olympic Team (excluding
U.S.A. Basketball and U.S. Soccer),The Football League,
FIFA, and many more.
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5. Gatorade Powerade
Created in 1965 Created in 1988
PepsiCo product Coca-Cola Company product
Purpose was to increase
University of Florida football
players’ performance
Purpose was to compete with
Gatorade’s market share
75% market share in sports
drink category in U.S.
21.7% market share in sports
drink category in U.S.
History
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6. Gatorade and Powerade share two target audiences:
athletes and individuals between the ages of 13 and 25.
These people are everyday athletes; they either enjoy
playing or watching sports.They lead healthy, active
lifestyles, so replenishing lost electrolytes and
carbohydrates is important to them.
Their second target audience is individuals between the
ages of 13 and 25.These are people aspiring to be greater
than average.They also lead very social and active lives.
Audience
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7. Gatorade’s main goal is to dominate the market of 13-25
year olds who lead active lifestyles.Through social media
channels such as Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram,
Gatorade is able to connect with and appeal to people
within its target audience.
Powerade’s main goal is to be the affordable sports drink
for the everyday athlete. It reaches their target audience by
positioning it’s product in easily accessible and affordable
stores. Similar to Gatorade, Powerade connects with it’s
consumers through various social media outlets including
Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Goals & Strategies
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8. Campaign: Gatorade
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Gatorade’s current campaign is
called #WinFromWithin. As
you can see from the following
Facebook posts, it features
professional athletes refueling
with Gatorade.
The premise is that practice,
training, machines and apparel
are not enough to reach your
end goals – you need power
from within.
The campaign then encourages
you to replenish your
carbohydrates and electrolytes
by consuming Gatorade.
9. Campaign: Powerade
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Powerade’s current campaign is
called Just A Kid. As you can
see from the following
Facebook posts, it primarily
features videos of professional
athletes, who were once “just
kids”.
The campaign emphasizes the
humanity of professional
athletes. It recognizes the
potential in all young athletes
by supporting the belief that
anyone can achieve their
dreams, no matter where they
start in life or the obstacles they
face.
10. Measurement: Gatorade
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Using Social Mention, the following picture represents an
average of Gatorade’s data over one week.
Strength is the likelihood that the
brand is being discussed in social
media.
Sentiment is the ratio of comments that
are positive to negative.
Passion is a measure of the likelihood
that individuals talking about your
brand will do so repeatedly.
Reach is a measure of the range of
influence.
For Gatorade, the most interesting
aspects of this data are sentiment and
passion.
There is a high sentiment ratio, which means that people are
talking about the brand positively, but passion indicates that they
are not likely to mention Gatorade repeatedly. In order to increase
sentiment and passion, customer loyalty programs and social
media contests should be created.The contest will immediately
increase traffic, sentiment, and passion, and the customer loyalty
programs will increase long term brand loyalty.
11. Measurement: Powerade
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Using Social Mention, the following picture represents an
average of Powerade’s data over one week.
Similar to Gatorade, Powerade is
weakest in sentiment and passion.
Creating incentives to be loyal to a
brand is the best way to increase
sentiment and passion. As previously
stated, customer loyalty programs and
social media contests are two options.
Marketing your brand to fit your
customers’ needs and wants is another
way to increase sentiment and passion.
Customers need to be able to relate to
your brand.
The current Just A Kid campaign is relatable, but the thumbnails
and video content are not entertaining their target market.
Individuals between 13 and 25 are more interested in watching
their favorite athletes performing tricks as opposed to watching
them speak, like the current campaign videos. By layering their
testimonials over videos of them playing, Powerade could
significantly increase interest and response.
12. Gatorade and Powerade use the following social media
channels to distribute their content and interact with their
consumers.
Platforms
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13. Facebook
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Gatorade
- Used to promote campaigns
- Colorful eye-catching pictures and videos
- Products are present in almost all posts
- Professional athlete endorsers
- Extremely interactive with consumers via comments
Powerade
- Features videos from current Just A Kid campaign
- Dark and black and white sports-related pictures
- Posts are not generating much interaction
- Incomplete profile due to lack of contact information
- Does not contain pictures of Powerade or any Powerade
The number of likes on a Facebook page does not indicate
success alone.The page needs to be updated regularly, it needs
interactive and entertained fans, and the company needs to be
responsive to its consumers. Due to the previously stated
criteria, Gatorade has the more successful Facebook page.
paraphernalia
Gatorade Powerade
Likes 7,227,446 4,591,271
14. In order to improve the Facebook page, Powerade needs to be
more interactive and the products need to be advertised. Below
are examples of Powerade’s Facebook posts. Using bright,
product-based pictures and videos will attract attention and
should generate fan interaction.
Recommendations
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Because the campaign videos are generating a significant amount
of interactions, it is apparent that fans are being exposed to posts,
but are not interested.The main difference between the campaign
video shown above and the football pictures to the right is the
content. Fans can relate to David Ortiz’s story on a deeper level
than the other two posts.
15. Gatorade
- Similar to Facebook posts; uses bright colors
- Very interactive and current with tweets
- Retweets its sponsored teams, ESPN, endorsers, etc.
- Tweets its professional athletes' performance updates
Powerade
- Tweets the same posts as its Facebook account
- Dark and black and white pictures and videos
Based on the amount of interaction and activity, Gatorade
has the better Twitter account.
Twitter
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Gatorade Powerade
Followers 330,000 152,000
Following 7,432 3,405
Tweets 17,000 2,205
16. Many of the recommendations for the Facebook page also apply
to Powerade’s Twitter account, because they tweet all of their
Facebook posts.Twitter was created to be more of a stream-of-
consciousness platform, so fun and interesting tweets are ideal.
Below are two of Powerade’s tweets, both of which appeared on
it’s Facebook page.
Recommendations
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Because Powerade caters to sports enthusiasts, it should tweet
about current sports news. By merely tweeting score updates of
teams it sponsors, Powerade could increase it’s reach and potential
followers. Retweeting, following, and responding to consumers are
more strategies to increase interaction.
17. Gatorade
- Majority of posts feature the campaign #WinFromWithin
- Uses professional athlete endorsers
Powerade
- More interaction than other platforms
- Posts same pictures from Facebook and Twitter
Although Instagram is the platform that generates the most
interaction for Powerade, Gatorade has the more dominant
account on Instagram. It generates significantly more action
and response from consumers than Powerade’s account.
Instagram
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Gatorade Powerade
Followers 658,000 28,100
Following 1,121 4
Posts 1,005 176
18. Instagram has younger users compared to Facebook, which is a
huge advantage for Powerade since it’s target market is
individuals between the ages of 13 and 25. While Instagram is
one of Powerade’s most active social media platforms,
improvements can still be made.
Above are the Powerade and Gatorade Instagram accounts. Not
only does Gatorade’s account draw your attention, the products
are also obvious. Without looking at the account name, it would
be extremely difficult to identify Powerade with its pictures, this
is because Powerade products are absent from the posts.
Additionally, following more than 4 accounts is an easy way to
increase followers and reach. Following the accounts of
organizations Powerade partners with will build relationships and
increase account activity.
Recommendations
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19. Gatorade
- Videos about it’s professional athlete endorsers
- Videos encouraging perseverance
Powerade
- Videos from around the world for different markets
- Just A Kid campaign videos on PoweradeUS account
The company with the best YouTube channel is Gatorade.
Gatorade’s account is more developed and is receiving
more views and average views per video.
YouTube
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Gatorade Powerade
Subscribers 77,236 19,677
Channels 8 0
Number of Videos 297 273
Total Views 65,736,088 27,686,683
Average Views Per
Video
221,334 101,416
20. To increase views, Powerade needs to captivate the audience.
Viewers decide whether they are going to watch the video within
the first few seconds. Creating a visually appealing thumbnail for
your video is an easy way to convince the audience to watch the
video, and using compelling, current content will keep the
viewers’ attention throughout the duration of the video.
Using a regular schedule is another way to increase viewership.
Similar to television, viewers are more likely to watch videos
when they are aware of the release schedules.
Below are good examples of ways to captivate the audience’s
attention, but these videos are on the PoweradeUS account, which
is not linked to the Powerade account. Linking them could drive
more attention to both accounts.
Recommendations
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21. One of the main reasons Gatorade’s social media accounts
are successful is because Gatorade is an older company.
Gatorade was the first sports drink and had already
established partnerships and sponsorships before Powerade
was created.
Targeting the same markets as Gatorade is a risky move
for Powerade. Powerade needs to differentiate itself and
target a separate niche market, because Gatorade retains a
greater portion of the market share.
Instead of focusing on sports athletes, Powerade could
target segments of the population who need to stay
hydrated, not necessarily because of exercise. Some
examples of this include families on the beach,
construction workers, farmers, lifeguards, etc.These people
spend much of their day outside in the heat; appealing to
their need for rehydration could easily increase sales.
Targeting the working class is also ideal, due to Powerade’s
low prices.
Audience Development
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22. Gatorade has the more developed and
successful social media marketing strategy.
Despite being an older brand, Gatorade
consistently has the most interactive and
entertaining social media accounts.This is
partially due to Gatorade’s efforts to satisfy it’s
customers’ needs and wants.Their social media
posts are relevant, interesting, and eye-
catching, and they respond to customer
comments.The combination of these actions,
along with the previous social media analysis,
places Gatorade’s social media marketing
strategy above Powerade’s.
Winner
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