Lucozade Sport Marketing Project

Gatorade is a flagship brand of PepsiCo and has a commanding 75% market share of the sports nutrition beverage marketplace globally, being sold into 80 different countries according to the latest PepsiCo annual report published in late 2011. Gatorade's success in branding and product marketing has actually expanded the global market for sports nutrition beverages during the late 1990s and into the 21rst century. Recently however the company has faced many channels including product line extensions of the last decade which failed to deliver strong results (Pollack, 1997) and a more critical analysis of their ingredients as many of their beverages are sold in public schools (Tallon, 2009). Despite these challenges however, Gatorade continues to experience strong market share and growth. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate and provide recommendations for each of the four areas of the marketing mix including product, price, promotion and place or distribution.

Substance Use & Misuse, written by Michael S. Bahrke (2012) examines the issue of drug use by athletes and intervention programs effectiveness. Bahrke (2012) clearly delineates the difficulties faced by doping athletes, the athletic organization, and the public. Sports organization depend on the athlete's performance and positive public perception to flourish. Therefore, it is not in the athlete best interest to admit or seek help with drug addiction because of most organizations’ policies regarding doping, most are in line with the WADA banning

In the last 30 years innovation and product development in sports has seen consistent growth even with the micro and macro-economic differences. One of the reasons this happened is because most sports enterprises have smarted up their way of product development through paying close attention to the relationship between sports consumers and product development.

Our client, Premier Drinks of Sofia, Bulgaria specializes in the production and distribution of soft drinks and has been the primary soft drink company in Bulgaria for over 20 years. The company produces a variety of products that include carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks, table water and energy drinks. For the past year Enhanced Analytics has delivered an expensive and competitive marketing campaign for Premier Drinks, but despite the continuous effort, careful management and professional dedication Premier Drinks have reported a drop in sales.

| Weaknesses: * Pays extra payment for new flavor. * More expensive to produce than other sports drinks. * Deciding the segment to target. * How to position the product in the mind of its potential consumers

Both competition and market size are of major importance when one explores the positioning of a product. In the case of Crescent Pure, this is vital as Ryan must determine the level of competition that will be faced if the product is marketed as either an energy or sport drink. In the case of an energy product, it should be noticed that there is heavy market dominance by Together, Freight, Razor, Torque and Steller, as they account for roughly 85% of the market. Despite this, it should be seen that the average price point for a 5oz can is $2.99 which is notably higher than Crescent’s $2.75 pricing. Additionally, the market size for sport drinks is of particular interest as it is estimated to grow to $8.5 billion by the year 2013. This, coupled with the fact that the market had grown 40% between the period 2010 – 2012, makes this sector of particular interest to PDB.

The highest percentage of the company sale is as a result of making impulse purchases; hence this requires a good point of sale support team. The market is very competitive. There are a couple of competitors that offer the same products as Gatorade, for example, MW, M.I.T and A.U.I. The experience that the firm has in the

Gatorade has emerged as the global leader in sports nutrition beverages by continually managing their brand to signify high energy, athletic excellence combine with one of the most efficient new product development and introduced processes in the beverage industry. As a result of being able to consistently synchronize these many components of their business so well, Gatorade today holds a 75% market share in the sports nutrition market globally today. Gatorade is owned by PepsiCo, which has made it possible for the company to sell in 80 countries today. Gatorade relies heavily on the PepsiCo distribution and retail network globally. Gatorades' revolutionary approach to managing branding for beverages has served to increase the total market size for this product category globally (Huang, Sarigöllü, 2012). Despite the continued widespread adoption of Gatorade as a healthy energy drink, the company has encountered resistance to its brand and the ingredients used for creating the many variations of Gatorade energy drinks (Tallon, 2009). Despite these setbacks the Gatorade brand continues to experience exceptional growth and stability over time.

A slow growing market is a great way to characterize the energy beverage category in late 2007. This industry was increasing in profits still but was not increasing in profits as quickly due to factors such as market maturity, increasing in prices, competition and new hybrid products (Kerin & Peterson, 2010). The market was still very small but was dominated by Red Bull due to it being one of the first energy drinks, which caused it to dictate the market and have more of an advantage than the other energy beverages. So in late 2007 the market for energy drinks was still

Sports’ marketing is becoming more readily known as the vehicle that drives the sports business to success. It is “orientated toward consumers and about thinking, deciding and acting in terms of the final consumer. You have to know who your consumers are, what they want and need and use this effectively as a sports marketer orientating the drive more toward the market, not the product (Sports Marketing: The motor that drives the sports business

In 2012, a report found that 44.6 per cent of adults in the UK participated in sport or exercise, which has increased from 2006, at 41.2 per cent. Figure 1.1 shows this, as well as the percentage increase throughout all of the years from 2005. This shows that it is a perfect time to release an isotonic sports drink into the market, as the number of people participating in exercise is constantly increasing.

In an industry dominated by two heavyweight contenders, Coke and Pepsi, in fact, between 1996 and 2004 per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks (CSD) remained between 52 to 54 gallons per year. Consumption grew by an average of 3% per year over the next three decades. Fueling this growth were the increasing availability of CSD, the introduction of diet and flavored varieties, and brand extensions. There is couple of reasons why the industry is so profitable such as market share, availability and diversity and brand name and world class marketing.

Lucozade has managed to promote Lucozade Sport by segmenting, targeting and positioning Lucozade Sport. Lucozade Sport has been scientifically proven to benefit athletes to give them more energy and due to this Lucozade Sport targets sport enthusiasts by advertising it through athletes and on sports programmes. It is sold at a similar price to competitors and therefore doesn’t have competition for price. Lucozade Sport is stored in most shops that sell drinks across the country therefore strengthening the positioning of Lucozade Sport. Finally, Lucozade Sport has a strong consumer awareness which has helped it become UK’s most recognised and most popular sports drink.

This report will critically be discussing the marketing strategy, position and the marketing mix employed by LUCOZADE and the use of some principles. Therefore, the analysis will help to identify how brand is positioned in the energy drinks market and how company promotes its product. After analysing existing marketing strategies, recommended future strategies will be given to advice companies of where the brands are leading to and how they will get there.

I’m an undergraduate student majoring in economy prepared the marketing plan for the purpose of learning and experience.