Gatorade generated over $12 million
in DTC revenue for 2023.

Before founding Groov, Christian worked for Gatorade on the direct-to-consumer marketing team—focused primarily on Meta Ads, Gatorade.com, and influencer marketing.

Before founding Groov, Christian worked for Gatorade on the direct-to-consumer
marketing team—focused primarily on Meta Ads, Gatorade.com, and influencer marketing.

$12 Million+

Gatorade.com 2023 Revenue

8.6x

Boost in Campaign Engagement

65%+

Increase in DTC Revenue YoY

20+

Products Launched

The Company

Gatorade is the world’s leading sports drink brand, developed in 1965 and now owned by PepsiCo. Built at the intersection of science and sport, Gatorade provides hydration and performance products trusted by athletes at every level—from youth sports to the pros.

With a product portfolio that includes drinks, powders, energy chews, and protein supplements, Gatorade is a dominant force in the $30B+ global sports nutrition market. It holds the largest market share in the U.S. and is a cornerstone of PepsiCo’s beverage division.

Gatorade’s brand focuses on performance, recovery, and fueling greatness—on and off the field.

The Challenge

Over 90% of Gatorade’s revenue comes from retail—purchases made at gas stations, grocery stores, and convenience stores across the country.

But as consumer behavior shifted online, the brand saw a major opportunity to grow its direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel through Gatorade.com.

By investing in DTC, Gatorade aimed to:

  • Collect valuable first-party customer data
  • Increase margins from bypassing traditional retailers
  • Build stronger customer loyalty through membership programs

But the challenge was clear.
Why would consumers buy
from Gatorade.com when they could just shop in-store?

To succeed, Gatorade needed to deliver exclusive value online—benefits customers couldn’t get at retail. That meant a shift in marketing strategy.

Historically, Gatorade focused on brand campaigns designed to drive in-store awareness. But DTC success required a performance marketing mindset—one focused on conversions, return on ad spend (ROAS), and full-funnel optimization.

Christian joined a newly formed DTC marketing team of six, tasked with one clear mission: drive sales on Gatorade.com.

The Solution

To help Gatorade unlock the potential of its DTC channel, Christian managed key performance marketing efforts across… 

  • Meta, Google, and TikTok Ads: Christian led Gatorade’s DTC campaign strategy and final creative asset approvals. He implemented new messaging tactics designed to spotlight Gatorade.com’s exclusive offers through Gatorade iD, an online-only experience where athletes can personalize their bottles and towels.
  • Gatorade.com Product Launches: To further drive optimization for go-to-market systems, Christian redesigned the process of launching new products on Gatorade.com. Overall, he helped the team launch over 20 new products on the website with aligned creative assets, copy, nutrition facts, product dimensions, and pricing. 
  • Influencer Marketing Campaigns: Christian also led a shift from working with macro-influencers to micro-influencers across multiple $100K+ Instagram and TikTok campaigns. With the new strategy in place, he selected over 75 influencers with a combined 35 million+ TikTok followers—and launched Gatorade’s TikTok Shop, leveraging UGC and Spark Ads.

The Results

Across all marketing channels, Meta Ads generated the majority of Gatorade.com’s sales.

With campaigns focused on personalization, problem-solution messaging, and product-centric creative, the team built a winning playbook for expanding from retail to DTC—proving that a sports giant could also win on its own digital turf.

Gatorade generated over
$12 million in 2023 DTC revenue.

Gatorade generated over $12 million in 2023 DTC revenue.

65%+ increase in DTC revenue YoY

25%+ increase in average order value

1 million+ digital opt-ins

8.6x increase in influencer campaign engagement

At Gatorade, Christian helped one of the world’s most iconic sports brands expand into DTC marketing with Meta Ads—driving millions in revenue on Gatorade.com.

Christian’s contributions helped reposition Gatorade.com as a performance marketing engine: increasing sales, building first-party data, and strengthening customer loyalty. Now, he’s applying those learnings and experiences to Groov—helping businesses grow with the same proven strategies.

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