Gatorade Case Study: Using Consumer Segmentation and Social Media to Drive Market Growth

Introduction With US consumers becoming more health conscious, non-carbonated drinks have experienced a surge in demand in recent years. This has caused the non-carbonated drinks market to become a highly competitive landscape, with segments such as sports drinks approaching market saturation. Gatorade has successfully segmented its consumer audience and tapped into social media to achieve sales growth. Features and benefits * Achieve sales growth of sports drink products by learning how social media and product innovation can enhance brand credibility.* Enhance your market positioning by learning from Gatorade’s 2010 marketing success in the sports drinks market.* Stimulate ideation and invigorate brands by understanding the needs of athletic consumers of sports drinks. Highlights Datamonitor’s research has revealed that Gatorade’s US volume sales grew 10% in the second quarter of 2010, after three consecutive years of slumped sales. This was driven in large by the launch of both their innovative G Series and also their investments in the social media space via Gatorade’s ‘Mission Control’.Gatorade’s recent market success highlights the value of consumer segmentation in widening brand appeal and serves to emphasise the importance of social media in gaining a deeper understanding of consumer demands. Your key questions answered * How have consumer trends impacted on the US soft drinks market over the past decade?* How can social media be used to better engage with consumers and raise the profile of your brand?* How has Gatorade changed its positioning in the sports drinks market to gain a competitive advantage and what lessons can other brands learn?

Table of contents

DATAMONITOR VIEW
Catalyst
Summary

ANALYSIS
PepsiCo has redefined its playing field by focusing on non-carbonated drinks
PepsiCo has embraced the trend of a dwindling carbonated drinks market
Gatorade forms a key part of the group’s growth strategy for the US beverage market
2010 has seen PepsiCo make significant investments in the non-carbonated drinks space
2009 served as a learning curve for the Gatorade brand when it launched the “What is G?” campaign
Gatorade’s rebranding as “G” caused sales to slump
The economic recession left Gatorade one of the hardest hit sports drinks brands
Gatorade has returned to its roots with the “G Series” campaign in order to turn the brand around
Gatorade is targeting athletes again and segmenting its consumer audience to drive market growth
The "Gatorade has evolved" ad campaign helped educate athletes on the new G Series
Gatorade is using social media to reconnect with teen athletes
Gatorade’s G Series remains a controversial product line
Critics argue that Gatorade’s expanding product lines will lead to consumer choice paralysis and confusion
The latest figures suggest the brand is back on track
Conclusions and recommendations:

APPENDIX
Case study series
Methodology
Secondary sources
Further reading
Ask the analyst
Datamonitor consulting
Disclaimer

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By sector: Consumer (in Trends)