• by Danielle Oster , May 30, 2024

BodyArmor is hoping its roster of celebrity athletes and augmented reality (AR) experiences can convince thirsty consumers to reach for the sports drink this summer.

The brand launched a new line of limited-edition bottles featuring its athlete partners -- both in the packaging itself, and in connected AR experiences.

“For this release, we introduced innovative AR functionality on several of the bottles -- a first for the brand, with the hopes of bringing fans and consumers closer than ever to their favorite athletes and the sports they love,” BodyArmor CMO Tom Gargiulo told Marketing Daily.

The line rolled out earlier this month, with bottles featuring women’s soccer legend Alex Morgan, Toronto Blue Jays’ slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney, and 2023 National League MVP Ronald Acuña Jr.

Each AR experience -- accessed via a QR code on the bottle -- reflects its respective player and sport. An AR experience for Blaney’s bottle, for example, drops fans in a virtual pit stop experience, while the Ronald Acuña Jr. bottle places them in a virtual home run derby.

In July, BodyArmor will team up with viral content channel Dude Perfect, which hosts trick-shot videos on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. The Dude Perfect bottle will challenge fans with an AR game bouncing a ball off obstacles and aiming it at a subsequent series of targets.

At the start of the following month, as training camp heats up, the brand will release a new batch of the bottles featuring the NFL stars on its roster: Joe Burrow, CeeDee Lamb, Bryce Young and Christian McCaffrey. The NFL bottles will test consumers in a virtual training combine, tasking them with the likes of strength tests, and virtual passing and route-running challenges.

While Coca-Cola has admitted the BodyArmor brand hasn’t performed as well as it had anticipated following Coke’s acquisition of BodyArmor in 2021, CEO James Quincey expressed optimism on a recent earnings call. “We believe our two-brand strategy with Powerade and BodyArmor is gaining traction, and we've seen improved share trends,” Quincet said, also citing the importance of “driving awareness and excitement through an increasingly digital marketing media mix.”