Could BodyArmor Overtake Gatorade?
BodyArmor has one goal and one goal only. To beat Gatorade at its own game. The company’s founder Mike Repole is no amateur to success in the non-alcoholic beverage industry. He previously started Vitaminwater which swiftly became a behemoth and was bought by Coca-Cola less than a decade before it’s inception. Repole might have won big by creating a new opportunity in the beverage space, but can he take down a multi-billion dollar brand?
BodyArmor is set to become a billion dollar brand and is already garnering more sales than Coca-Cola’s Powerade. The problem is Powerade never beat Gatorade nor did it ever come close and the entire intention for Coca Cola was to take Gatorade down! In a 2019 study, Gatorade held 72.1% market share while Powerade only had 16.1%. Gatorade has become synonymous with sports drinks and athletic competitions since its inception in 1965. The biggest athletes in the world are always drinking it and one of the most important moments in the Super Bowl is when the winning team dumps a bucket of Gatorade on the head coach. In the same study mentioned before, BodyArmor has a 10.3% market share, which is a major boost from 0.2% in 2014 before Kobe Bryant announced his major investment in the product.
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BodyArmor paints a nice story of trying to defeat Gatorade by the year 2025. Its a tremendous product, tastes great and the company markets themselves so well. They’re aligned with major stars in sports like Mike Trout, James Harden and Skylar Diggins. In addition to being endorsers, these athletes among others, are investors which gives them an extra edge to pushing the product and taking down Gatorade. BodyArmor could very well be number two and that’s not bad.
The sports drink brand is slowly rising in the sports industry by becoming the official drink of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the UFC and the MLS. It’s on the right path, but beating Gatorade is pretty much impossible. Repole claims Gatorade’s lack of innovation will eventually drag them behind. Who cares? How often is Poland Spring or even Coca Cola innovating? Who is stopping to buy those brands? Gatorade is so aligned with sports for consumers and you’d have to take over such a cultural item for generations upon generations to even really compete. BodyArmor is also betting on e-commerce to take down Gatorade. The problem with e-commerce is consumers already know what they want before ordering? At what point will they want to switch?
That’s the billion dollar question.
