In the previous blog, we had done explicit research on the SWOT analysis of Red Bull – the world’s leading energy drink. In this blog, we are going to view the SWOT Analysis of Gatorade.
One of the best sports drink brands – Gatorade is an American made sports drink by Dr Robert Cade. Gatorade was originally made for the Florida Gators, a team of football players at the University of Florida at the request of the head coach Ray Graves. Because the player’s carbohydrates & proteins were getting burned during vigorous sports activities, to replenish with the mixture of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, phosphate, and lemon juice this drink was created.
This drink worked on those players and from that day till now the drink is getting immense popularity. Also, Gatorade’s digital marketing strategies have played a vital role for them to become so popular around the world. It is marketed as a vibrant beverage strongly related to good health and sports.
In this digital era where almost every business is going online, digital marketing has become very important in today’s world and if you want to learn and gain more knowledge about it, go over to our Free MasterClass On Digital Marketing 101 by Karan Shah, the CEO and Founder of IIDE.
In this case study, we will learn about the SWOT Analysis of Gatorade. But first, let us know about the company and the product better.
About Gatorade
(Dr Robert Cade – The Founder of Gatorade, Source: Toronto Star)
Gatorade is a sports-themed beverage and snack company based in the United States. Its trademark range of sports beverages is Gatorade. PepsiCo presently manufactures Gatorade, which is sold in over 80 countries. A group of researchers led, world-class by Dr Robert Cade created the beverage for the first time in 1965.
The Quaker Oats Company purchased Gatorade in 1987. PepsiCo bought the brand in 2000, and it was the company’s fourth most successful brand by 2010. In the United States alone, Gatorade accounts for 3/4 of all sports drink sales. Phosphate, potassium, sugar, sodium, and water were all part of the original Gatorade recipe.
The creators considered calling the new product “Gator-Aid,” but decided against it because the term “aid” implied a scientific foundation. So to not sound scientific and more like a commercial product, the creators changed the name Gator-Aid to Gatorade.
| Founder | Dr Robert Cade & Team |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1965 |
| Origin | Florida, United States |
| No. of Employees | 3000+ |
| Company Type | Private |
| Market Cap | N/A |
| Annual Revenue | N/A |
| Net Income/ Profit | $ 17.19 Billion |
(Gatorade Range of Products, Source: Amazon)
Products of Gatorade
- Sports Drink
- Nutrition Bar
- Protein Drink
- Other Sports Nutrition
Competitors of Gatorade
- Frucor Beverages
- Red Bull
- Monster Beverage
- Schweppes
- Olvi
As now we have a better understanding of Gatorade, let’s look into the SWOT Analysis of Gatorade.
SWOT Analysis of Gatorade
Carrying out a detailed SWOT Analysis of Gatorade helps in finding its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Understanding internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis helps in forming correct objectives and plans for the future.
To better understand the SWOT analysis of Gatorade, refer to the infographics below:
So let us go ahead and first have a glance at the strengths of Gatorade from the SWOT analysis of Gatorade.
Strengths of Gatorade
Strengths represent everything that an organization is good at and why it sets them apart from the competition. They are the internal and positive attributes of any company. Gatorade’s strengths are:
- Range of Products: Gatorade deals in producing and distributing a range of products including Thirst Quencher, Frost, Energy bar, protein drink and many more which makes Gatorade one of the most strong competitors in the sports nutrition market.
- Strong Distribution Channel: The company has distribution channels in over eighty countries and especially has created almost a monopoly in the United States controlling around three-fourths of the market.
- Promotion Strategy: The company has always invested well in the promotion of their products and many times hired legends of various sports to advertise and have made use of their huge fan bases.
- Brand Identity: It has such a strong brand name as they have used world-class athletes to promote their brand and win the confidence of the public. Whenever one thinks of sports nutrition, Gatorade is a name that never fails to pop up.
- Gatorade Sports Science Institute: The Gatorade Sports Science Institute is a strong asset as it has improved its image in the eyes of the customers who are more than happy to know the brand has strong scientific research to back up all its claims.
- Support of PepsiCo: Having a stable and strong parent company PepsiCo has given a boost to their brand and helped in development.
Weaknesses of Gatorade
Weaknesses pull an organization back from performing at its best. They are the negative internal factors that weaken business strengths. A few drawbacks or weaknesses of Gatorade are:
- Minimal Visibility: Being such a huge company more visibility is expected out of them than they provide. They haven’t brought more to the table and are not known for huge and extensive advertising campaigns.
- Benefits are Not Highlighted: Because of the moderate level of visibility, the benefits of their products are not well recognized. Gatorade scientifically produces and develops its products to target conditioning and hydrations issues of athletes but these points are not being actively advertised which has bred ignorance to the benefits.
- Huge Variety of Products Creating Confusion: The huge variety of products Gatorade has to offer has somewhat held them back as it has been seen to confuse the customers who are only looking for a narrow segment of sports nutrition. So many flavours and types of products have left the customers not knowing what to choose which has only resulted in the loss of market shares to the other competitors.
Opportunities for Gatorade
Opportunities are the factors that provide an organization with a chance to edge over others. They are the external factors that can contribute to the success of any company. Certain opportunities that Gatorade has:
- Utilizing the Young Athletes: Gatorade has very well utilized the always popular world of sport and used the superstars of various fields to promote their products. New superstars are always in the making and the brand has unlimited marketing potential to capture and keep the audience’s following of all these young athletes.
- The Trend of Healthy Lifestyle: Leading a healthy lifestyle is one of the current popular trends and this brings in a lot of potentials for Gatorade to make use of. This allows diversifying and expanding their portfolio to new dimensions.
(Gatorade Digital Experience, Source: Youtube)
- Social Media Presence: Gatorade has a strong social media presence with more than 1 million followers on Instagram. They promote their product by uploading video clips which includes popular athletes drinking Gatorade and Gatorade is getting sales through this strategy. This is why Gatorade should continue increasing its social media presence.
Gatorade is achieving huge success in the market because of its appealing social media presence. Not only Gatorade but most of the other sports nutrition brands generate half of the sales from social media & e-commerce. Achieving this is only possible by learning and implementing various digital marketing skills. You can also achieve success by learning the same and it is important to learn these skills in today’s digital world. So, make sure you check it out…
- Stealing Market Share: Having a strong parent company to support them and a powerful brand image, “stealing” the market shares of their competitors is still a viable option using the latest technology to present alternatives to the competing products.
- R&D on Technology: The technology market has lots of potential for Gatorade products. There are opportunities to provide innovative and creative solutions to the present problems in sports nutrition by using research and technology.
Threats to Gatorade
Threats are the factors that can affect an organization in a harmful way. These are the external factors over which no company has control. A couple of Gatorade’s threats are:
- Tough Competition: Even Though Gatorade has built a strong brand image and has power over the market but their competitors like Powerade- a product of the biggest rival, the Coca-Cola company cannot be neglected. Within the narrow segment, the competition is cutthroat and tough.
- Increasing Online Business: The recent trend of online shopping could have negative effects on Gatorade as it is a company having huge supply chains and physical infrastructure that could take time to quickly adjust to this new era.
- Fruit Juice Segment: The new fruit juice producers also pose a threat as they are sometimes seen as healthier options than Gatorade and if they lead in the market then Gatorade will lose a part of market shares it will hurt Gatorade badly.
- Health Conscious People Spoiling Brand Image: Many health-conscious people on social media and youtube try to spoil the brand image of Gatorade by saying that Gatorade drinks and products are not healthy and it causes the risk to the body. Such types of false allegations ultimately affect the brand image of Gatorade and reduce its sales.
This ends our elaborated SWOT analysis of Gatorade. Let us conclude our learning below.
To Conclude
Gatorade has a distinct and excellent culture that transfers into giving a water alternative to its primary clients. They aim to always show concern for their devoted customers as well as the planet on which we live. The firm was able to grab the athlete market in a short period and now supports several well-known athletes. It demonstrates constant improvement to be able to allow athletes to always perform at their optimum.
But being such a huge brand serving sports nutrition products across multiple countries, Gatorade should continue to innovate and develop more products and launch them in the market with the best possible marketing strategies.
Especially digital marketing which is vital in today’s growing and expanding world, to get better results and to remain competitive in the market. If you don’t have any idea of what digital marketing is or want to learn more about it and upgrade yourself, here is IIDE’s 3 Month Advanced Online Digital Marketing Course to know more.
We hope this blog on the SWOT analysis of Gatorade has given you a good insight into the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
If you enjoy in-depth company research just like the SWOT analysis of Gatorade, check out our IIDE Knowledge portal for more fascinating case studies.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and do share your thoughts on this case study of the SWOT analysis of Gatorade in the comments section below.
0 Comments