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

That was the challenge Cadbury-Schweppes asked Ammo to accept with the re-launch of Accelerade in the summer of 2006. 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 that would form Accelerade's go-to-market base.

Other sports drink brands ship boxes of concentrate to races and retail and call it a day's work. Instead, we built a multi-tiered strategy utilizing Regional Brand Ambassadors that blanketed the country with a layer of grassroots support. By working directly with Influencers in 15 markets, Ammo created natural 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 knew we would need support from the elites, and a logo on a jersey wouldn't be enough to differentiate the brand in such a cutthroat marketplace.

We brought 6-Time Ironman Champion Dave Scott to host performance and nutritional clinics in our cities; we wrapped the brand around elite level athletes and races; and we hosted Accelerade Aid stations for clubs at their local rides, runs, swims, and clinics.

Over the first nine months of our program, 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. The Cadbury-Schweppes client was thrilled with the accelerated acceptance by the nation's top amateur athletes, allowing the company to successfully launch Accelerade's ready-to-drink version in the summer of 2007.

Credit Information
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Client: Cadbury-Schweppes
Agency: Ammo Marketing
Budget: Undisclosed
Date of Campaign: Summer 2006 - Summer 2007