It’s not just BodyArmor that has seen success. Repole told The Drum previously that he viewed building the brand as a “triathalon, not a sprint.” He also said that he knew it was going to be “a billion dollar or bust brand.” There was room for another player in sports drinks – it just needed to be someone who approached it right. Most other categories have two or three strong brands. BodyArmor used that experience to develop a reason for being and existing. “Very few people have the experience of having done it before. Positioning the brand as a younger, better-for-you solution for the athlete of today paid dividends, says Hemphill. “At one point, they had 52 athletes around the country activated in really intelligent ways.” It also has James Harden, Trae Young and a host of other players who also starred in its $25m summer ad campaign titled ‘One more.’ Leveraging athletes “definitely came from Repole’s days at Vitaminwater,” says Sadowsky.
#WHO CREATED BODY ARMOUR DRINK DRIVER#
Repole has credited Bryant as being a key driver behind the brand. BodyArmor got none other than Kobe Bryant on its board. One of the pages of the Vitaminwater playbook was getting athletes to invest in and endorse the product. The BodyArmor team had the opportunity of learning from Vitaminwater. You can’t spend enough money on educating if you’re too far ahead of the consumer.” Calling in Kobe Bryant and the all-pro team The consumer gets confused if you try and do too much. This is an evolutionary take on Gatorade – not revolutionary. “A lot of people in my shoes scouting for the next big thing make the mistake of looking too far ahead. The key to the current product’s success is “it is not too far ahead of the consumer,” says Sadowsky, who has invested in Vitaminwater, Vita Coco and many other beverages. Repole, who wasn’t available at press time, is fond of saying: “ Why should our kids be drinking the same product that was invented in 1965, that we were drinking in the eighties? It doesn’t make sense to me.” Comparatively, Gatorade is high in sodium and has artificial colors. It is high in potassium and low in sodium. “Repole took a pragmatic view of taking a handful of ingredients that people understood and dispensed with the rest.” BodyArmor is comprised of electrolytes, coconut water and vitamins. The brand “had a flavor problem and a price problem and couldn’t communicate what was in there anyway,” says Khermouch. I said it was pretty good considering there were 38 disgusting ingredients.” Lance was like, ‘What could be better? I have all of the bases covered.’ He made the mistake of informing me it had 38 ingredients, so I adjusted for that. “It had everything but the kitchen sink when it came to functional ingredients. Gerry Khermouch, editor of Beverage Market Insights, was one of the first to sample BodyArmor and recalls its initial less-than-desirable taste profile. Repole continued to refine it and make it ready for prime time.” “In the earliest days certainly wasn’t the same brand it is today. “The lesson is never bet against Mike Repole,” says Ken Sadowksy, veteran beverage analyst and US advisor to the global investment group Verlinvest. He was a key part of the leadership team that sold Glaceau Vitaminwater to Coke for $4.1bn in 2007. Strengthening the BodyArmor formulaĬoca-Cola is no stranger to BodyArmor co-founder Repole. However, Gatorade still maintains 68% of the market, per Beverage Digest data. In the first half of the year, BodyArmor had locked up 16% of US dollars in the category, passing Coke’s Powerade, which owns 13%. This gives BodyArmor an excellent shot at continuing its growth.”īodyArmor is currently growing at about 50% and driving more than $1.4bn in retail sales, per Coca-Cola. Then the people in charge of managing the brand don’t always know how or what the keys to success are. “Too often the beverage companies buy brands and key people don’t come along. “Coke is smart in keeping leadership intact,” says Gary Hemphill, managing director at Beverage Marketing Corp. Repole “will also collaborate on the company’s still beverages portfolio, including marketing, packaging and innovation strategies across multiple brands,” per a statement from Coke. Under the terms of the deal, co-founder and chairman Mike Repole and president Brett Hastie will stay on at Coke to execute the brand’s 2022 plan and work on its vision and strategy for 2023 and beyond. Coke took a 15% minority stake in 2018, valued at a reported $300m, and is now completing the purchase of BodyArmor in its entirety. The deal is working its way through Federal Trade Commission approvals, but the beverage giant has made its intentions clear all along.
0 kommentar(er)
