Table of Contents:

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………….…2

Company Description …………………………………………………………………………….3

Company Missions, Goals, Core Competencies ………………………………………………….4

SWOT Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………..5

Target Market……………………………………………………………………………………...7

Marketing Mix…………………………………………………………………………………….8

Communications Timeline………………………………………………………………...………9

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Executive Summary:

The implementation and creation of three new Powerade flavors would assist Coca-Cola and

Powerade in reaching revenue and customer satisfaction goals. One main reason why customers

love Coca-Cola products is it offers great variety. Powerade could continue to capitalize on this

element by adding flavors including, Berry Blast, Peach, and Guava flavors in time to release

before the 2023 Super Bowl. The release before the Super Bowl gives Powerade the best chances

of receiving exposure, since advertisements will be played leading up to the game. The Super

Bowl is specifically a Pepsi-branded event; however, Coca-Cola releasing the Powerade

campaign will directly counter that by use of advertisements. This would emphasize the

uniqueness of the campaign and attract viewers. Three new flavors will excite customers and

encourage those outside of the average target market. The marketing plan will detail timelines,

goals and specific opportunities to benefit Coca-Cola and Powerade. With the lack of new and

unique flavors, Powerade would lose excitement from its customers, with the chance of losing

sales. However, involving star athletes in promotional efforts, as well as a heavy use of social

media, sales will increase once new flavors become available.

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Company Description:

The Coca-Cola Company is a complete beverage company with products sold in over 200

countries and territories. Coca-Cola was created in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton. He served the

world’s first Coca-Cola at Jacobs’ Pharmacy soda machine in Atlanta, Ga. This was the

beginning of the world’s largest soda company and is celebrated daily as more than 1.9 billion

drinks are enjoyed every day. People all over the world enjoy products like Diet Coke,

Bodyarmor, Minute Maid, Powerade, Sprite and many others. One of the reasons Coca-Cola

products are highly desired is because of its delicious taste, its strong marketing, and its variety.

From teas, and milks, to lemonades, there’s truly something that everyone can enjoy within the

Coca-Cola product line (The Coca-Cola Company, Brands & Products).

Coca-Cola Mission:

Cola-Cola’s mission focuses on leaving a legacy in whatever city, state, or country it operates. Its

exact mission statement is “to refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit, to inspire moments of

optimism and happiness through our brands and actions, and to create value and make a

difference.”

Coca-Cola Values:

Coca-Cola’s mission aligns with the core values of leadership, collaboration, integrity,

accountability, passion, diversity, and quality. Coca-Cola’s success has come from staying true

to these missions and values, as well as the financial goals of increasing organic revenue growth

of 4% to 6%. Along with that, the company’s goals are to increase operating income from 6% to

8%, earnings per share of 7% to 9%, and free cash flow from 90% to 95% (The Coca-Cola

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Company, Financials). Coca-Cola is confident in its abilities to not only maintain its current

success but reach new heights that no other company has.

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SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:

 Maintains contracts with multiple sport teams which promotes the brand.

 With the launch of new, exciting flavors of the product Powerade, fresh marketing

content will be released through various media platforms, further targeting a wider

audience and benefiting Coca-Cola.

 The Super Bowl brings in an audience of 208 million viewers and an average of around

70,000 in attendance, meaning for Coca-Cola, any advertisement and promotional deal of

the three new flavors of Powerade (Berry Blast (New Version), Peach, and Guava) will

gain heavy engagement throughout this time.

 The three new flavors will be easily accessible at all places Powerade is sold, as well as

featured on its own endcaps of Target and Walmart.

 The timing of using the Super Bowl as our main event is ideal because it is typically

when weather begins to warm up, meaning Powerade sales increase and especially with

three new flavors.

 Coca-Cola would have approximately 10 months to create, write, budget, etc. before next

year’s Super Bowl game on February 12, 2023.

 For those who prefer Coca-Cola over Pepsi, this is a great campaign for loyalists to the

brand.

Weakness:

 Health concerns with energy drinks have been an issue in the past, but with our new

flavors they do not have as much sugar as others while still keeping the four main

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 electrolytes, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium (Powerade and the Science of

Hydration), that a person would lose in sweat.

 The amount of other sports drinks and energy drinks on the market make Powerade have

a lower market share.

 Being overpowered by Pepsi with their campaign and exclusive Super Bowl rights.

Opportunities:

 To attract a large audience during the Super Bowl and days following by use of Twitter,

Instagram, and YouTube advertisements.

 The same commercial used throughout the Super Bowl will be used continuously to

maintain brand consistency.

 780,746,251 tweets mentioned #SuperBowl on Twitter in 2022, if new Powerade flavors

are heavily talked about on Twitter, this would drive up revenue and engagement for

Coca-Cola.

Threats:

 Gatorade holds 72.1% market share of retail sales, according to Euromonitor. Powerade

falls at a 16.1% share (Lucas, 2020).

 Gatorade is talked about more during sporting events because of the “Gatorade Shower”

post-win. This is a threat to Powerade’s three new flavors because it’s taking away

valuable attention.

 Other beverage company advertisements competing such as Bud Light, Budweiser,

PepsiCo, and others.

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Target Market:

Our active consumers are made-up of mostly male athletes from ages 18-29 since research

proves 42.9% of 18-29-year old’s in America drank Powerade in the last 4 weeks which is higher

than any other age range (Kunst, 2022).

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Marketing Mix:

Product:

Three new flavors, Berry Blast (New Version), Peach, and Guava, of Powerade will help the

brand against its competition and give consumers an exciting new drink. Its packaging will be

bright, electric colors such as a mix blues and purples to represent berries, pastel oranges to

represent peach, and lime green and pink to represent guava. These colors will get the

consumer’s attention, especially seeing the word “NEW” on the label. Each flavor will come in

standard sizing of 28 fl. oz. bottles. Instead of the black or white label with Powerade written

across, these new flavors will be a secondary color of that drink’s color. For the new Berry

Blast’s packaging the drink will be a blue/purple color, unlike the normal blue it is now. Each

color will work together nicely to make up a beautifully designed bottle, persuading consumers

to reach for the drink on the shelf.

Place:

Every grocery and convenience store will sell the new flavors, as well as online sites Powerade

and Amazon. Throughout the months of January and February of 2023, Powerade will begin in-

store advertisements. Grocery stores like Target will have signs of the three new flavors labeled

“coming soon,” to gain attention and excitement from shoppers. Once the launch of the new

flavors on February 1st, 2023, the stand will feature the new drinks for sale. Powerade’s social

media accounts will consistently link URL’s to directly take the consumer to the purchase screen

of new flavors to simplify the process.

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Promotion:

Powerade and Coca-Cola will rely on promotional efforts such as: social media, digital

advertisements, commercials (specifically the 2023 Super Bowl campaign). In regard to social

media advertisements, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram will be heavily relied on to push out ads.

These platforms have a large audience and is able to target users effectively. One important

aspect of this promotion is involving influencers. On Instagram, past Super Bowl stars like

Charles Haley, Adam Vinatieri and Terry Bradshaw. These three athletes are important to Super

Bowl viewers because they are some of the top Super Bowl ring-holders with five, four and four

championship rings.

Price:

The price of all new flavors will be $0.99 apiece. The price will vary at different grocery stores:

popular stores like Target will be $.99 and Walmart will be $.94. This price will remain the same

range to maintain the loyal customers of Powerade. Prices of other sports drinks at Target are

$1.29 for Gatorade, $1.89 for Prime Hydration, and $1.29 for BodyArmor. Out of Powerade’s

competition, Powerade remains the cheapest. The low price attracts customers and influences

them to repurchase.

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Communications Timeline:

Since the Super Bowl is in February of 2023, this plan will need to begin as soon as possible.

August 2022:

- Begin strategizing a variety of ingredients to achieve the desired ultimate flavors. This

will be done by in-house research. Powerade’s research team will analyze different

ingredients and use process of trial-and-error to finalize three new flavors.

- Contact Tom Brady and Simone Biles to be featured in the Super Bowl commercial.

Schedule around the Buccaneer’s bye week.

October 2022-December 2022:

- Once flavors are created, begin the packaging process to send as samples.

- A list of athletes involved in the Major Leagues of basketball, baseball, and football, will

be created by the PR department and distribution of samples will begin. The reason these

teams would be ideal for the campaign is because of Powerade’s value of hydrating

athletes. Although this campaign is revolving the Super Bowl, it is important to include

other important major leagues to attract their fans as well.

- A separate list of top NCAA programs in football, basketball, baseball, softball,

gymnastics and volleyball will also be created. These sports are chosen because they are

the top earning sports in D1. Certain teams will be chosen by who won the year’s

previous NCAA championship in their respected sport. Since this is a Super Bowl

focused campaign, Powerade’s goal with this is to reward championship teams with

samples of the new flavors. Coca-Cola’s 20-year partnership with the NCAA will have a

positive impact regarding this aspect of the campaign.

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 - Encourage athletes to post videos or pictures on social media with the new Powerade

flavors with a caption mentioning keywords: “coming soon,” “stay tuned,” or “just wait

on it” to encourage followers to get excited for the new flavors. Since Coca-Cola is

already a big partner of the NCAA March Madness tournament, athletes from the

winning team (Kansas) could be the key component of spreading this message.

- This athlete campaign will last beyond the release date of February 1st.

January 2023:

- After the mini campaign of athletes posting on social media, the launch process will

begin with a release date of February 1st.

- The launch process begins with finalizing distribution strategies and dates, as well as

perfecting the advertisements that will be released soon.

- The end of January is the hard launch of branded content. The content featuring the Berry

Blast (New Version), Peach, and Guava flavors will be released on all media, as well as

athlete’s media we have maintained a partnership with.

February 2023:

- One-week before the Super Bowl, the Coca-Cola and Powerade social media accounts,

including YouTube, will release the 90-second Powerade advertisement of the new

flavors. The commercial will include star athletes: Tom Brady and Simone Biles.

o The reason for using these two specific athletes is because they have the

recognition, experience, and best chance of helping Powerade reach its goals.

According to chapter 15, “Generating revenue requires investment in resources

and personnel…hire the best and most competent to execute your brands vision

and marketing goals” (Mullin, B. et al.).

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 - During the Super Bowl, the same advertisement will play in commercial break.

- A strong social media presence throughout the month of February is crucial for the

success of the new flavors launching. This means all social media creators and graphic

designers will need to be meeting often discussing fresh new trends they can quickly

jump on.

- Following the Super Bowl, the Coca-Cola and Powerade team will continue to push the

flavors but focus energy on social media marketing instead of television.

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Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Makaila Anthony

February 1, 2023 Public Relations Specialist

123-456-7890

Powerade Celebrates New Flavors

AUSTIN, Texas — Powerade, a sports drink company manufactured by Coca-Cola, is set to

release three new flavors of its sports drink. On Feb. 1, 2023, Powerade will release a new and

improved Berry Blast flavor, along with Peach and Guava flavored drinks. These drinks each

have four types of electrolytes: Sodium, Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium, which are ideal for

replenishing energy during physical activity. Sodium helps cells retain water and prevents

dehydration. Potassium “helps transport glucose into the muscle cell; it is responsible for

regulating total body water, as well as stabilizing voluntary and automatic muscle contractions.”

Calcium helps muscles contract, while also regulating normal heart rhythms and nerve functions.

Magnesium helps keep energy levels stable and prevents the onset of tiredness (Minerals for

Sports Performance & Exercise 2021).

The flavors will be featured in new commercials starring Tom Brady and Simone Biles

throughout the Super Bowl on Feb. 12, 2023. The energy-filled sports drinks will have the same

great taste Powerade is known for, but have less added sugar and bright, new packaging.

###

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Works Cited:

Brands & Products. The Coca-Cola Company. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2022, from
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/brands

Financials. The Coca-Cola Company. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2022, from
https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/strategy/financials

Kunst, A. (2022, February 23). Consumers of Powerade in the U.S. by age 2018. Statista.
Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/228201/powerade-
consumption-usa/

Lucas, A. (2020, February 3). Gatorade is a Super Bowl icon, but at stores, sports drinks are
fighting for Growth. CNBC. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/02/gatorade-and-powerade-try-to-adapt-as-sports-drinks-
sales-decline.html

Minerals for Sports Performance & Exercise. Human Nutrition & Health. (2021, February 26).
Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://balchem.com/human-nutrition-health/blog/minerals-
for-sports-performance-exercise/

Mullin, B. J., Hardy, S., & Sutton, W. A. (2014). Sport marketing (4th ed.). Champaign,

IL: Human Kinetics.

Powerade and the Science of Hydration. POWERADE. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2022, from
https://www.powerade.co.nz/sports-hydration/powerade-and-the-science-of-
hydration#:~:text=carbohydrates%2C%20and%20water.-,ELECTROLYTES,your
%20urinary%20output%20increases%20(ie

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