“Just Another Dynamic in Play”
Here’s another post about the follies of PepsiCo (honestly, I have nothing against this company. Just their marketing is awful).
Anyway, there’s this product called “G.” At least I think that’s what it’s called. It might still be called “Gatorade,” I’m not sure. But in the new branding campaign it’s “G.”
Now I’m not going to say anything about the much-discussed, possible racial undercurrent behind “G,” because I’m not qualified to weigh in on that.
I’ll just stick with the facts. THE CAMPAIGN IS A LOSER. In the past six months, Gatorade lost four full points of marketshare while Coca-Cola-owned rival Powerade climbed a full 2%.
But that doesn’t matter.
Not according to Gatorade Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Robb O’Hagan, who told AdAge that:
“Sales are just another dynamic in play.”
Evidently, she then added that Gatorade Web searches were at a five-year high, and that “the brand has generated three and a half times as much social-media interest as in 2008.”
No, really. That’s her contention.
She also probably thinks the Valuejet crash in 1996 was a huge marketing boon for the company. Web searches went through the roof!
It’s the same story with G. Most of the precious social media attention is from people either angry or confused by a brand they used to like and aren’t buying anymore.
But it’s nice to see new media being used–albeit as a crutch.
