More Videos
- Yankees Team Signed Ball Selling For $3,500
- Moon Hopes To Complete Amazing Story
- These Poker Stories Are No Bluff
- Did Matsui Make Contract Money Last Night?
- Adidas Out At UCF After MJ's Son Wears Jordans
- If Yanks Win, Merchandise Will Fly Off Shelves
- Final World Series Games Big Money Makers
- What I Got Wrong About Keflezighi
- Marathon's Headline Win Is Empty
- New Cubs Owner Tom Ricketts Goes One-on-One With "SportsBiz"
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Herbalife Vs. Hedge Funds
- AIG CEO Ready to Quit over Pay Constraints: Report
- Apple Surpasses Nokia as Top Cellphone Maker by Profits
- China Factory Output Leaps to 19-Month Highs
- America Is On Sale
- Toll Brothers: More Contracts Signed, but Sales Down
- Cramer Jeers J&J, Applauds Abbott
- Three Things the US Can Do To Stop the Dollar's Decline
- Beware of 'Trampling Effect' When Market Tops: Manager
- Gold Heading to $1150: Art Hogan
- Starbucks Brews Up Growth
- Farr: An Extended Period—No Fat Lady in Sight
- More Upside if S&P Passes This Number: Market Pro
- Murdoch Lashes Out At Google
- Fighting The Flu Vaccine Critics
- Nov. 10: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Shadow Inventory Dwarfs Loan Mods
- US Recovery to be Weak, Erratic: Top Fed Officials
- AIG CEO Ready to Quit over Pay Constraints: Report
- Retail Earnings in Focus Ahead of Shopping Season
- Apple Surpasses Nokia as Top Handset Maker by Profit
- Brazil's Largest Cities Hit by Blackout
- In This Relay-Race Market, Who Gets Baton Next?
- Workers Staying Put at Their Jobs as Jobless Surges
- Ponzi Proceeds: Bidding on Madoff's Toys
- Toll Brothers: More Contracts Signed, but Sales Down
Sports Biz
Text Size 
In October, Gatorade agreed to, for the first time ever, license an athlete's name for a product and give that athlete a percentage of product sales. That athlete was Tiger Woods and we projected that Woods would make more than $11 million in royalties from March 2008 to March 2009.
More than 75 percent of my blog readers in the poll said that they would at least try Gatorade Tiger -- but Woods' ability to make money off the deal would not only be dependent on Tiger's endorsability, but on the ingenuity of the flavors. If they are recycled flavors, then sales won't do as well.
So this weekend, I went to my trusty supermarket -- which I know gets new Gatorade products first as a result of my searching while writing a book on Gatorade's history -- and bought the three Tiger flavors that were available: Quiet Storm (purple), Red Drive (red) and Cool Fusion (green).
First, let's talk about the names.
The only name I'm a fan of is Red Drive. It says to me: "Tiger Woods." Cool Fusion and Quiet Storm sound like part of the Gatorade Frost line (Riptide Rush and Glacier Freeze are the only ones left.) I can't believe the green flavor doesn't have the word green in it -- considering it's a natural golf term.
Now, let's talk about the formula since the bottle says it was "formulated for Tiger Woods." It's not surprisingly pretty close to the formula of everyday Gatorade. It has the same amount of calories per serving (50), slightly more sodium (135 mg vs. 110 mg) and potassium (40 mg vs. 30) and the same amount of carbohydrates (14g of sugar).
Now let's talk about the flavors. To be honest, I'm absolutely shocked about the flavors. Has Gatorade really run out of them?
Quiet Storm was the most disappointing. It tastes so close to new G2 Grape that I'm not sure Gatorade employees would be able to tell the difference. I give this flavor a C.
Red Drive is a combination of cherry and citrus flavors. I think the people at Gatorade are obsessed with mixing ever since the X-Factor sub-brand did so well. I kind of wish they would have just stuck with cherry. It would have made the flavor sharper and less mysterious. I give this flavor a B.
Cool Fusion tastes a lot like Gatorade's other lime products, but the idea of half key lime, half Gatorade communicated on the label is a good one. I give this flavor an A-.
If I were Tiger, I would insist that the flavors are unique because ultimately it will reflect on my ability to make money here.
Yes, Gatorade has done a ton of flavors in the last 10 years, but Tiger should remind them that there are plenty of flavors that they've yet to touch. How about a flavor called Tiger Zen that would be green tea flavor? How about honoring Tiger's heritage with a flavor of fruit that is native to his mother's Thailand? Durian, Mangosteen, Pomelo and Rambutan ring a bell.
Then there's the flavors that I don't believe we've ever seen here in America: Cantelope, Acai Berry, Plum, Pear, Pineapple and Banana.
I do believe that Gatorade Tiger has some good potential, but that potential won't be realized if Gatorade flavor scientists rely on Tiger's name, instead of dreaming up unique flavors to associate with the world's greatest golfer.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes