Gatorade Wants Retailers to Present Complete Lineup

PURCHASE, N.Y. -- Gatorade is having difficulty getting its complete lineup of brands on retailers' shelves, according to a report in Advertising Age.

As the Gatorade product lineup has grown to include G Series, G Series Fit and G Series Pro -- each with their own range of products branded 01 Prime, 02 Perform and 03 Recover plus multiple products and flavors -- few retailers are merchandising the products together. Instead, they're found in coolers, aisles, at the checkout and in other displays around the store.

"We can't change the entire retail landscape overnight," Andrea Fairchild, vice president, brand marketing, for Gatorade told the magazine. "We're focused on where we can make an impact. We'll be as consistent as we can and make sure we're putting our funds and focus on locations that can tell the story."

Gatorade is exploring a number of concepts for how it can better educate retailers and ultimately win consumers at the point-of-sale. One would involve a team of Gatorade employees charged with visiting retailers and explaining products and product benefits.

"We know that successful athletic-performance companies have the ability to go in and educate consumers, retailers, store owners about what their products are all about," Fairchild told Advertising Age. "We're creating a lot of new products in the marketplace, and we know education will be key."

In certain cases, the brand will be investing in dedicated retail displays as well. Earlier this year, Gatorade worked with Walgreens to create an endcap for the launch of its G Fit line. The display included each of the G Fit products, plus signage detailing each product and how it complements other products. A screen showed videos of workouts.

"You're not going to see that execution everywhere," Fairchild said. "It is expensive to do. But where we align best with the target, we are going to place big bets against certain retail channels or retailers that can elevate the story."

To determine where it should be placing those "big bets," Fairchild said Gatorade is taking a "surgical" approach to the marketplace to determine "points of sweat." A 7-Eleven next to a gym or high school playing field would be an important outlet, for example, while a 7-Eleven off of the highway would not," she explained.