When the 800lb gorilla in the sports drinks category has a marketing spend 100 times greater than yours, how do you launch a brand successfully, and at a premium?

That was the challenge Cadbury-Schweppes asked Ammo to accept with the re-launch of Accelerade. We recommended inverting the usual logic: Rather than competing with Gatorade, we ideated, planned and executed a long-term strategy to educate, involve and provide emotional and performance value to the Influencers in key endurance sports.

We built a multi-tiered strategy utilizing Regional Brand Ambassadors that blanketed the country with a layer of grassroots support. Working directly with Influencers in 15 markets, Ammo created evangelists of the most respected triathletes, runners, cyclists, coaches and teams across the US, turning Accelerade’s patented 4:1 carbohydrate-to-protein formula into a rallying cry.

We brought 6-Time Ironman Champion Dave Scott to host performance and nutritional clinics in our cities, and we hosted Accelerade Aid stations for clubs at their local rides, runs, swims and clinics.

We fulfilled our campaign promise: to deliver a marketing platform that would build credibility of Accelerade amongst key individuals and groups within the multi-sport community.

Results:

--The program built a grassroots network of 300,000+ Athletes, Trainers, Coaches and Race Directors.
--Supplied 628 endurance events with Accelerade, combined participation of 536,000
--Sponsored/supplied 234 endurance clubs, combined membership of 32,722
--4,700 training integrations (seminars and training aid stations)
--Partnered with 165 Specialty Sports Retailers
--Pacific Health Labs (Accelerade’s creator) saw its stock price increase by 50%. Powder sales were up 75% in Q1 versus previous year, without any change in traditional marketing.
--Findings from a statistically valid phone and online survey found that 70% of endurance athletes were familiar with Accelerade.
--43% intended to purchase it regularly, and more than 40% told family and friends about its impact on their performance.

Client: Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages
Agency: Ammo Marketing
Budget: undisclosed
Date of Campaign: May 2006-May 2008
Case Study URL: http://www.ammomarketing.com/thework/thesuccesses-accelerade.html

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