Section A - Organization Information

Gatorade is the brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its worldwide known product: a line of sports drinks. It all started about 47 years ago, in the University of Florida. In September of 1965, Robert Cade and a group of other researchers at the University came up with a concoction that was made as a request from the coaches of their football team, the Florida Gators. It consisted of a mixture of water, sodium, potassium, phosphate and lemon juice, and was made to help athletes hydrate and replenish lost fluids that were lost during physical activity in hot weather. The drink quickly became known among the university, and in 1967, the Florida Gators football team won their first Orange Bowl. The team credited Gatorade for their win of this NCAA sport event, and soon after Gatorade became known nationwide amongst athletes. Soon after the influence of Gatorade in the 1967 Orange Bowl, Robert Cade entered an agreement with S-VC, Stokely-Van Camp, Inc (a canned food packing company) providing them with the rights to produce and sell Gatorade as a commercial product. Gatorade continued to gain popularity and in 1983, The Quaker Oats outbid Pillsbury and purchased S-VC and the rights to Gatorade. Quaker Oats began to explore the market of Gatorade outside the US and in 1984 it was introduced to Canada with success. In the 80s and all throughout the 90s Quaker Oats worked on distributing Gatorade to different regions of the world with huge profits in return. By 1997, Gatorade was distributing their thirst quencher sports drink to 45 countries and an additional 10 countries during the same year resulted in an 18.7% growth in annual sales. In 2001, Quaker Oats was bought out by the giant food and beverage company PepsiCo. With Gatorade now under new, and their current owner, it continued to get introduced to even more regions of the world including India, UK, and Ireland throughout the 2000s. Today, Gatorade is owned and distributed by PepsiCo and their headquarter offices are located in 555 W. Monroe Street, Chicago IL. Today, Gatorade is available for sale in more than 80 countries due to their connection with PepsiCo. There are Pepsi distributors in nearly every country thus making Gatorade available to any country that Pepsi gets their hands on. As the leading brand in sports drinks, Gatorades annual dollar sales in the US are over $3 Billion. And their market share in the sports drinks category is nearly 75%. Gatorade made approximately $7 Billion in revenue worldwide in 2011 or about 2% of PepsiCos net worth.

Section B Products Marketed Due to their high demand, Gatorade has been and it still is available to the consumer in many forms and flavors to suit all types of athletes and sports players. After many product variations and change of flavors throughout the years, Gatorades current products are the G series, introduced in 2010. G Series is a line of products made to provide what the athlete needs before, during and after their physical activities. The way the G series works is by following a 3 step process of hydration. The G series is broken down into 3 categories of different products, and each come in many flavors: 1) Start off with Gatorade Prime 01 (before) -its the pre-workout fuel that comes in a 4-oz pouch. 2) Secondly drink Gatorade Perform 02 (during) -this is where the original thirst quencher, the backbone drink of Gatorade comes into play. 3) Finish off Gatorade with Recover 03 (after) - Its a Gatorade drink infused with protein to help aid muscle recovery. Another current product that Gatorade currently has is the Pro Series, which is made up of 2 different Gatorade brands. One is the Endurance Formula and the other is Gatorade Performance Series. Gatorade Endurance formula is a specialized sports drink that has the unique blend of 5 electrolytes. This product is aimed for the elite and endurance athletes such as marathon runners, to help restore the electrolytes lost in sweat during intense and long lasting workouts. Gatorade Performance Series is a set of products to help assist athletes in training. Pro Series also comes in pre, during and after products. But vary in ingredients when compared to the G series. Gatorades leading brand is the G Series perform 02 since its Gatorades most basic product and it attracts many types of consumers due to its claim thirst quencher. Gatorade is packaged in bottling companies owned by PepsiCo and distributed to retail stores. Gatorade is packaged in bulk since its a small product, it must be mass produced in multiple units. The G Series and Pro Series Gatorade also come in chews instead of liquid, as well as powder that can be mixed with the consumers beverage of choice to obtain the same product. The current flavors of Gatorade are endless, they include: Fruit punch, Glacier Freeze, Cool Blue, Citrus Cooler, Lemon-Lime, Lemonade, Orange, Riptide Rush, Grape, Melon, Strawberry, etc. Each Flavor comes in their unique color, which helps distinguish it from other flavors. The G Series Perform 02, Gatorades leading product comes in 7 sizes: 12, 20, 24, 32, 34, 64(in fl oz) and 1 gallon. Gatorade also produces Sports bottles, and coolers along with towels with their logo.

Section C Place Channels of Distribution

Gatorade is distributed nationwide and internationally using PepsiCo distribution network. PepsiCo manufactures the syrup flavor that is then delivered to independent bottlers. Once bottled, the beverages are distributed to wholesalers and retailers. Consumers can purchase Gatorade virtually in any store. o o o o Its available in supermarkets: Stop&Shop, Waldbaums, Pathmark, etc Convenience stores such as 7-11 Drug stores: CVS, Walgreens, Harmons, Rite Aid Restaurants that carry PepsiCo beverages Even in places such as an auto mechanic shop, or an office building with the aid of a Pepsi vending machine Gatorade.com allows customers to buy Gatorade from their home

PepsiCo has developed for Gatorade many channels of distribution in order to serve customer needs. These channels include direct store delivery (DSD), warehouse distribution, vending, and food service systems. Gatorade does not have their own stores, since it would not generate profit to have a store to sell simply Gatorade beverages.

Packaging- the product is packaged in clear plastic bottles and is shipped in cases of 24 from the independent bottling center to the retailer. Trucks make the deliveries from the bottling plants to the retailers.

Section D Promotion-Marketing Communications

Since Gatorade is not sold directly to the final customer, they must rely on and provide financial incentives to their customers to assist in promotion for their products. Independent Gatorade distributor incentives include volume-based rebates, product placement fees, promotions and displays. And consumer incentives include coupons, pricing discounts, and promotions such as sweepstakes. Advertising is a way of promoting Gatorade. Gatorade advertises through sport themed ads. Gatorade is the official sports drink of the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, USA Basketball, NHL, AVP, US Soccer Federation, MLS, NASCAR, and many other college sports teams. Gatorade also sponsors some college teams in order to have the Gatorade Logo in their jerseys. Outside the US, Gatorade is the official sports drink of the Chelsea Football Club, from the UK. In order to promote their name and product even more, Gatorade has endorsed many high profile athletes such as: Derek Jeter - MLB Sidney Crosby NHL Dwayne Wade NBA Tiger Woods PGA Tour Peyton Manning NFL Michael Jordan- (no introduction necessary) was the face of Gatorade all throughout the 90s with the famous ad be like Mike

Since Gatorades market share in the sports drink category is about 75%, you can find their ads almost everywhere, from magazine ads to billboards. Gatorade paid about 2.8 million to air a 30 commercial during the last Super Bowl. Since the Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event in the US, Gatorade has found a way to become even more popular by the Gatorade Shower. It is customary of the winning team to sneak up behind the coach and dump the Gatorade cooler on him. This has become a tradition in many sporting events, and promotes the use of Gatorade even to shower.

Section E- Price

Gatorades pricing strategy is a Value-Based Pricing. This strategy is actively dependent upon demand and is constantly changing from retailer to retailer. The standard bottle of a 250ml Gatorade Perform02 varies from $1.29 to $1.59, which is about $0.40 lower than the leading competitor, Coca Colas Powerade. Due to Gatorades worldwide popularity, they are able to bring the product to the consumer at a cheaper price than their competitors and still manage to lead in the market share. Gatorade provides larger quantities at a lower cost due to their high demand since its the #1 Sports drink. Prices of Gatorade according to Gatorade.com

G Series Gatorade Prime 01 (pre-game fuel) --$1.99/unit4oz Gatorade Perform 02 (thirst-quencher) --$1.74/unit24oz Gatorade Recover 03 (protein mix) -- $2.62/unit16.9 oz G Series PRO Gatorade prime 01 (pre-game fuel) --$2.99/unit12oz Gatorade Perform 02 (endurance formula) --$2.49/unit24oz Gatorade Recover 03 (protein blend) --$3.49/unit -- 16.9oz In both series, the Perform 02 has the lowest price, while the Recover 03 products have the highest.

Section F Target Market

Gatorades main strategy is to dominate the market of 13 to 24 year olds who lead an active lifestyle. Their target market ranges from teenagers who play sports or are simply active, to professional athletes. Demographics: mainly targets 13-24 year old, male or female. All social classes Lifestyle: athletic, into sports, active individuals Behavior: drink Gatorade before, during or after activity, thirst quenching, prevent dehydration Gatorade markets their products in 80 different countries across the 7 continents including: India, UK, Ireland, Colombia, Russia, Brazil, Australia, all of South, Central and North America, etc.

Bibliography

http://www.gatorade.com/Content/pdf/2006_Gatorade_Innovation.pdf http://www.pepsico.com/Download/Gatorade_Company_Fact_Sheet.pdf http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/PepsiCo-Inc-CompanyHistory.html http://www.research.ufl.edu/publications/explore/v08n1/gatorade.html( the idea that launched an industry) http://www.inventhelp.com/Football_Inventions.asp (inventions that shaped the modern game Gatorade.com

GATORADE By Diego Perez Professor Sands MKT 100