Between legacy brands like Gatorade and new entrants like Alex Cooper’s Unwell Hydration, competition in the sports-drink category is as stiff as ever. Coca-Cola’s BodyArmor is suiting up.
On Thursday, the brand announced a new look, marking its first rebrand in the company’s history, as well as an accompanying campaign featuring some of the biggest stars on its roster of athletes. The refresh is meant to help BodyArmor stand out both visually and in terms of its product attributes, CMO Tom Gargiulo said.
“We just felt like it was a good time for us to take a step back, look at how we’ve executed the brand, [and] identify opportunities for us to really enhance the branding, to really elevate what makes us different and unique versus the competition,” he told Marketing Brew.
Body shop: To stand out on shelves shared with competitors, Gargiulo said his team wanted to “make sure that you can see BodyArmor from afar,” so the new packaging, which started rolling out in stores this month, features bolder typefaces meant to “modernize the wordmark.”
One of the other changes the team implemented during the rebranding process was to move the list of key product benefits from the back or side of the BodyArmor bottle to the front of the label, Gargiulo said. The fruit imagery featured on the bottles also got an update, he said.
“There was a lot going on on the packaging, and we wanted consumers to really walk away understanding clearly what the flavor was and what fruit was actually in the product,” Gargiulo said.
Calling an audible: Along with the visual refresh, BodyArmor is airing a new campaign called “Choose Better,” which Gargiulo said is meant to position the brand as “superior” to other sports drinks. The ads feature some of the pro athletes from BodyArmor’s roster like Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, but they also incorporate shots of recreational athletes working out in an effort to help the creative feel more relatable to everyday consumers, Gargiulo said.
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Though BodyArmor is getting a new visual identity, Gargiulo said his team sees the refresh and campaign as more of a new era for the brand as opposed to a full overhaul.
“It’s not necessarily like we’re starting over again,” he said. “We’re calling a new play. It’s a natural evolution.”
The “Choose Better” campaign is backed by BodyArmor’s biggest media spend yet, according to the brand, with buys spanning national TV, streaming, social, and out-of-home. It’s set to start running this weekend during the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs. The campaign includes 15- and 30-second spots, as well as a 60-second cut that will air during the Stanley Cup finals, according to Gargiulo.
Drink up: Sales are always top of mind for BodyArmor sponsorships and campaigns, and Gargiulo said he’ll be looking at KPIs like brand awareness and trials of products in association with “Choose Better,” too.
“Our objective is to really just make sure that our brand is getting in front of as many eyeballs as we possibly can, and getting our product in as many hands as we possibly can,” he said.
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