How Gatorade Debuted Its New iD Membership Program In Las Vegas During the Super Bowl

To launch its free Gatorade iD membership program, the PepsiCo brand is hosting an exclusive Super Bowl experience in Las Vegas for young visiting athletes and its NFL talent roster. The invite-only immersive activation puts Gatorade's technology on display. Once invitees sign up for Gatorade iD, they receive a custom access card that they tap to enter the event and to engage with the personalization stations inside. The experience takes visitors down a hallway and through a series of doors into a colorful behind-the-scenes set up. Visitors can stop by Gatorade touch-screen kiosks to customize a Gatorade water bottle, or answer questions to be matched with one of Gatorade's Hydration products. The brand's new merchandise, including its customizable Gx jugs and Super Bowl 58-themed gear, were available for sale. To capture sharable content inside the event, visitors could sit for a photo shoot with a robotic camera—the same technology Beyonce embedded into her Renaissance tour routine last year. Facilitating photo opportunities and sharable experiences is at the center of a brand strategy Gatorade's chief brand officer, Anuj Bhasin, first shared with ADWEEK in July. The brand is showcasing its new personalization capabilities, limited-edition merchandise drops, and experiential installations to build brand affinity with a broad customer base. It recently expanded to the wellness category, and now its establishing itself as a brand portfolio with something for everyone. One of the merchandise drops happened last week, when Gatorade announced its partnership with DJ Khalid and Jordan Brand. The sold-out product line was on display inside the activation. "This is our first big foray into our digital transformation as a brand," Gatorade's chief brand officer Anuj Bhasin told ADWEEK. "Consumers want to interact with us digitally in a different way than they have before," he added. Chief Brand Officer Anuj Bhasin Gets to the Core of Gatorade iD is crucial to the brand's digital transformation The new Gatorade iD membership program offers customers the personalization and product drops, plus discounts and free shipping. Members can upload team logos to personalize Gatorade water bottles, and choose from over 10 color and pattern options and from 30 available mascots. Since it first launched its Gx platform in 2015, the brand's been building what it calls its connected wellness ecosystem. The iD experience is one way Gatorade can build its dedicated fan base, and communicate directly with its customers. In the past, CPG brands entrusted much of the customer relationship with their distribution partners, like grocery chains. With a new loyalty program in place, Gatorade is collecting crucial customer data that will help it build relationships with its fanbase amidst cookie deprecation. Plus, if it captures customer data, it can reach buyers directly. With the right data in hand, Gatorade can maintain a relationship with customers who span generations and whose purchase motivations vary significantly. An NFL athlete might purchase the project as much as a family with children, or an elderly couple does. The new strategy gives each target customer a chance to try products that meet their needs. Our intent is to create a future universe where we no longer market, but we actually interact. —Anuj Bhasin, chief brand officer, Gatorade A new experience for young consumers Bhasin is focused on driving user acquisition at in-person events, and through partnerships with its high school community. That's unusual for a CPG brand, and presents an example of how older brands are putting effort into new, experiential strategies. "D2C is an emerging enterprise for us. One of the things that we're really interested in is creating a digital relationship with consumers that can not only spark sales online, but also in retail environments," said Bhasin. Last year Gatorade launched its brand portfolio, which now includes its Gx products, and the Fast Twitch, Muscle Milk, Evolve and Propel brands. The brand consolidation makes Gatorade the portfolio centerpiece. It launched its electrolyte-filled water product recently, and offered it at the event for visitors to try. Throughout 2024, Gatorade will roll out more personalization options, including ways customers can earn rewards points when they purchase Gatorade—either online or from a retailer. For the latest Super Bowl 58 advertising news—who’s in, who’s out, teasers, full ads and more—check out Adweek’s Super Bowl 2024 Ad Tracker and the rest of our stories here. And join us on the evening of Feb. 11 for the best in-game coverage of the commercials. Super Bowl 58 Ad Tracker: Complete List of 2024 Super Bowl Commercials