Have you noticed that players are always drinking a blue drink on the World Cup court or during water replenishment time? What brand of sports drink is this? Which giant owns it? Can you buy it in China?
At the World Cup, the battle of sports drinks between the two major cola brands has already started.
Text/Dong Wuying, Editor/Chen
The World Cup is undoubtedly a commercial feast.
As far as sponsors are concerned, in the 20 18 Russian World Cup, seven China brands ranked in the third-level sponsorship system, displayed with eye-catching and frequent Chinese logo, which were full of presence in the football field.
In addition to these China brands, Adidas, Coca-Cola and other FIFA partners, Budweiser, McDonald's and other official FIFA sponsors are internationally renowned brands with high brand awareness.
In the World Cup, China elements frequently appeared in side advertisements.
But outside these brands, have you noticed those brands that you are not familiar with or even know? For example, it plays an important role in every game-POWERADE, the official sports drink brand of the World Cup, supplements water for athletes.
To be honest, POWERADE has a good exposure opportunity in this World Cup. As the official sports drink brand, POWERADE will appear in every game.
Especially in the hot Russian stadium, when the fierce confrontation is suspended due to accidents, the athletes on the field will go to the sidelines and take out a blue bottle from the basket to replenish water, and the bottles of these bottles are printed with obvious words "POWERADE";
In addition, in the advertisement of LED screen rotating on the edge of the stadium, the blue bottle and huge logo of POWERADE swimming also have exposure time not inferior to other FIFA partner brands.
But is the effect of these exposures excellent?
A friend of Brother Quan noticed this sports drink brand in the World Cup and said, "I didn't expect Gatorade to sponsor the World Cup."
Gatorade is very close to NBA, and named it Development Alliance.
Brother Quan was a little puzzled at that time: Coca-Cola was already a top partner of FIFA. As a sports drink brand owned by PepsiCo, how did Gatorade become a sponsor of the World Cup?
Looking at it again, it turns out that the sports drink my friend said was not Gatorade, but POWERADE.
In fact, it is understandable that friends in the circle have mistaken POWERADE's logo. After all, China people are not familiar with this brand.
In China, POWERADE has a Chinese brand name "Dongle". This name is very similar to the beverage brand "Shuidongle" which is also affiliated to Coca-Cola Company.
But in fact, POWERADE has not officially entered the China market. Compared with Gatorade, which entered the China market in 2005 and has a high brand awareness, Polaroid is obviously at a disadvantage in the market.
POWERADE's biggest competitor is Gatorade. Gatorade occupies an absolute dominant position in the American market.
According to Forbes data, in 20 15 years, Gatorade controlled 7 1.2% of the American sports beverage market, while POWERADE had about 18.5% of the market. In fact, to some extent, the sports drink market is actually the second battlefield opened by the two giants besides the main battlefield of carbonated drinks.
Gatorade was born in 1965, and/kloc-0 was acquired by Quaker in 1988. In the same year, Coca-Cola Company launched POWERADE, which later became the official sports drink of the Olympic Games. In 2000, Quaker was acquired by PepsiCo and Gatorade became a brand of PepsiCo. Subsequently, Coca-Cola improved the formula and bottle shape of POWERADE, and introduced new products to cope with Gatorade's competition.
From the specific figures, the sports beverage market in the United States is very huge, with a market scale of several billion dollars; But to some extent, this market is extremely narrow. Under the attack of Pepsi and Coca-Cola, it is difficult for other sports beverage brands to develop better.
In fact, it is estimated that BODYARMOR, which is valued and invested by Dr Pepper and basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, is the third largest sports beverage brand in the United States, with a current market share of only about 5%.
POWERADE is also the official sports drink brand of NCAA.
From the origin, sports events are the most natural sponsorship scene for sports beverage brands. In this regard, backed by Gatorade and POWERADE, two soft drink giants, they have invested heavily in the field of sports event sponsorship.
In the United States, Pepsi is a sponsor of NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, so Gatorade has become the official sports drink brand of these events. In addition, Gatorade is a sponsor of sports leagues such as PGA, WNBA and NASCAR.
However, in the two major global sports events, the World Cup and the Olympic Games, POWERADE has always been more present than its competitor Gatorade. The direct cause of this situation is that Coca-Cola has been the top sponsor of the Olympic Games and the World Cup for a long time. With the vigorous promotion of Coca-Cola, POWERADE has become the official sports drink of the World Cup and the Olympic Games.
According to POWERADE official website, since 1992, this brand has become the official sports drink of the summer and winter Olympic Games. Since 1994, it has become the official sports drink of the World Cup. In addition to these two major events, POWERADE is the official sponsor of NCAA and Canada's national football team.
Even though POWERADE has long been the official sports drink brand of the World Cup and the Olympic Games, it is still not well-known in China. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, POWERADE was once a sports drink brand dedicated to training and competition by the China delegation. However, since the product has not been officially listed in China, domestic consumers hope to purchase POWERADE through some channels such as Haitao.
In the 20 14 World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo used a POWERADE kettle to replenish water.
As the official sports drink brand of the World Cup, POWERADE has also made a series of marketing activities with the help of the 20 18 World Cup, but strictly speaking, there is nothing new. In the China market, POWERADE's biggest concern comes from its water cup. At the 20 14 World Cup, the POWERADE Squeezed Sports Kettle, which supplied drinking water for athletes on the field, attracted the attention of sports fans and caused great concern. In addition, POWERADE also gained some exposure.
During this year's World Cup, the spot of this kettle landed early on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD.COM. However, what is slightly embarrassing is that in the corresponding promotion manuscript, this kettle is more named as "the kettle around the World Cup", and "POWERADE" is not very conspicuous.
At present, Gatorade's dominant position in the market is still stable, and the rising stars in the sports and beverage industry are advancing by leaps and bounds, so in fact, POWERADE is in a bit awkward position. But for this brand, the World Cup and the Olympic Games are extremely important marketing opportunities. How to turn the great influence of the World Cup into its own development power will be the key to the future development of POWERADE.