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Jay Miller
Professor Andrea Conque
Philosophy 316
April 25, 2016
The Gatorade Company, Inc. Social Audit
I. Introduction: A Complete Social Picture of The Gatorade Company, Inc. and Its
Stakeholders
A. History and Description
In the summer of 1965, one of the assistant coaches of the University of Florida’s football
team was curious as to why so many of his players were being so harshly affected by the heat.
He talked with the physicians of the university to try to figure out this problem. The researchers,
Dr. Robert Cade, Dr. Dana Shires, Dr. H. James Free and Dr. Alejandro de Quesada, found that
there were two things causing this problem. The electrolytes and carbohydrates these athletes
were losing through sweat were not being replenished. With this in mind, the researchers went to
work to formulate a drink that would replenish lost carbohydrates and electrolytes. In 1965 the
drink ‘Gatorade’ was released. The mission statement of The Gatorade Company, Inc. is “To
quench thirst and nutritionally replace fluids lost through exercise, by supplying, sampling and
selling Gatorade to athletes of all ages and skill level” (Where are they now). In 1967, they did
just that. The Florida Gators were playing Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the post season game,
the Orange Bowl. Georgia tech was favored to win this game, but in the end, the Gators came out
on top. After the game Georgia’s coach Bobby Dodd says, “We didn’t have Gatorade – that
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made the difference” (Proven on the Field). Now, Gatorade is the #1 sports drink on the planet.
They pride themselves on being the only sports drink scientifically proven over 50 years to help
fuel pros, amateurs, or anyone serious about their performance. The Gatorade Company
headquarters are now held Chicago, IL. and have offices worldwide. The Gatorade company
today is a $1.0 billion brand for PepsiCo., and in 2014 it sold 990 million gallons of Gatorade
(market realist).
B. Demographics
The Gatorade Company, Inc. primary target demographic is athletic males in the 25-34 age
category. Since 2010, Gatorade has been looking to expand its audience. The goal for The
Gatorade Company, Inc. is to continue delivering growth in the 4-6% range. In order for this to
happen, certain changes have been made to their core strategies. The G Series of Gatorade has
the 13-17-year-old high school athlete as their core target. As for the G Series Pro products, the
core target is the 16-24-year-old athlete. In both instances, gender does not play a role. Gatorade
continues to own more than a 70% category share of the sports drink industry. Volume has
increased steadily since 1999, with nearly 1 billion gallons of Gatorade consumed annually.
Gatorade is believed to have about a 30% penetration rate with the estimated 68 million athletes
in its core target groups. In the fitness athlete category, however, Gatorade only has a 12%
penetration rate. 55 million people belong to this category. Vending machines carry Gatorade
products as an alternative to sodas and juices that may contain more calories, appealing to those
who are diet-orientated. Targeted sponsorships allow branding to appear before all age
demographics consistently, whether that’s on TV, at school, at work, or while commuting to or
from these locations (16 Refreshing Gatorade Demographics).
C. Stakeholder’s Affected by The Gatorade Company, Inc. Existence
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A company stakeholder is someone that has interest or concern in an organization, and can
also affect or be affected by the organization’s actions, objectives and policies. There are many
stakeholders of The Gatorade Company, Inc. but there are three that are important to point out:
professional athletes that promote Gatorade, their main target of athletes and teenagers, and
research developers at Gatorade.
The professional athletes that are chosen to represent Gatorade have a huge impact on the
company. Because these professional athletes are so popularly known, it is a huge advantage to
have these athletes represent Gatorade, and will also have a positive affect on the company. Now
of course there is also a huge risk with certain athletes representing Gatorade. If one of these
athletes were to get in trouble with the law, or any other reason, it can have a negative affect on
the company because this athlete is associated with them. Why is this? When a company chooses
a certain person to promote their product, they are saying that they support this person’s choices
and lifestyle. It is very important for a company to watch this stakeholder because they are
ultimately creating an image for this company. An example of a negative affect would be when
Tiger Woods was found having an affair, Gatorade dropped their contract with him
(usatoday.com).
The second main stakeholder apart of The Gatorade Company, Inc. is their main target of
athletes and teenagers. This target market is a huge contributing factor to the success or failure of
the company. There are several ways Gatorade connects with its target market. One of them is
the Gatorade Player of the Year awards. This award is given out annually to male and female
high-school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys’ baseball, boys’
football, girls’ softball, girls’ volleyball, boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, boys’ cross country,
girls’ cross country, boys’ soccer, girls’ soccer, boys’ track & field, and girls’ track & field.
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Another way Gatorade connects with their main target is where they reach out to high school
coaches to make sure their high school athletes are getting the hydration and electrolytes they
need to perform at the highest level. The last stakeholder to point out is the research developers
at The Gatorade Company, Inc. These researchers are in charge of finding new flavors and other
products to launch. One way they conduct research is by keeping track of how much hydration a
group of athletes are consuming during a hockey game or practice. They first start with a urine
sample to see how hydrated the athletes are before they start, then the researchers track the
athletes body weight. Before and during the athletes training session, the Gatorade Sport Science
Institute provided Gatorade for the athletes to drink so they could monitor how much they drank.
After the practice they track their body weight to be able to see how much body mass they lost,
and how much they drank. Being hydrated with the appropriate supplement, like Gatorade, is
