How to build a beverage brand: Bodyarmor on shaking up the sports drinks category

Bodyarmor is a premium sports drink promising superior hydration: packed with electrolytes, coconut water and antioxidants. It’s built up a portfolio that includes Bodyarmor LYTE (no added sugar) and Bodyarmor SportWater (pH 9+).

With the backing of Coca-Cola – and the massive momentum behind the sports drinks category – the world is the brand’s oyster. It’s transformed the US’ big energy drink duo into an energy drink trio: now up there with Coca-Cola’s Powerade and PepsiCo’s Gatorade.

With all this opportunity, how does the brand inspire, develop and manage innovation?

Sabina Niland, VP of Innovation & Strategy & Chief of Staff at Bodyarmor, joined the brand in 2022: having previously worked at KIND, Danone and PepsiCo.

At Bodyarmor, she heads up an innovation team that strategizes new-to-the-world product formulas, flavor extensions and packaging formats - and manages how they fit into the hottest consumer trends.

It all starts with a carefully thought out 5-year pipeline of innovation... Niland tells us how this then turns into real products out in the market.

Introduce us to Bodyarmor!

Bodyarmor was the first brand to shake up the sports drink category in over 50 years. We were founded in 2011, based on the belief that there had to be a better way to do sports drinks than what has been there for years.

We introduced a BETTER sports drink, with REAL ingredients, a hydrating coconut water base, potassium packed electrolytes (versus sodium, which was industry standard), and a promise of no artificial flavors, sweeteners or dyes - there was nothing else like it on the shelf.

Bodyarmor is currently the #2 sports drink in the category and we continue to innovate and provide great tasting solutions to consumers needs in functional beverages.

Who’s the brand’s target audience?

Our target audience is anyone looking for a better way to hydrate. Whether that’s athletes pushing their limits, busy parents on the go, or kids staying hydrated during and after practice or games, Bodyarmor is for people who care about what they’re putting into their bodies and want something that works as hard as they do.

Bodyarmor is packed with electrolytes and antioxidants that provide superior hydration. Take us through this concept of superior hydration…

BODYARMOR was created as a better alternative to traditional old school sports drinks, focusing on potassium-packed electrolytes instead of sodium. Designed to fill dietary gaps and enhance performance, it delivers superior hydration, uses no artificial ingredients (no artificial flavors, colors, or dyes), and tastes great. Enriched with antioxidants and essential B vitamins, Bodyarmor ensures peak performance while staying true to its promise of being better for you with hydrating coconut water.

You’ve got a whole team working on new product formulas, flavor extensions and packaging formats. How do you sort through these and identify which ideas really have potential?

We have an amazing cross-functional team dedicated to building out our rolling 5 year pipeline of innovation. We meet throughout the year to collaborate on whiteboard sessions, concepts, prototypes, and more. We conduct a variety of testing on our concepts, including informal team tastings, sessions with our bottlers & customers, to formal testing with our consumers.

Since many of us are users of our products and really ingrained in the mindset of our target audience, the concepts everyone is most excited about internally are generally the concepts that test the best with our consumers.

Pick out a Bodyarmor innovation you’re most proud of and why…

Bodyarmor Flash I.V. is the innovation I’m most proud of for a variety of reasons – not only has it been the most successful innovation we’ve launched in my time here, but it represented our team taking the brand into a new segment for the first time.

While some thought Rapid Rehydration was a fad, the reality is it has been the largest source of growth for the sports drink category - reaching $1bn in retail sales in just a few short years. Consumers speak with their wallet and they are yearning for more better-for-you functional products and it shows in the data.

Introducing this variation at Bodyarmor was initially met with a lot of resistance, since we were deviating from our base product… however, we stayed true to the brand promise, and more importantly our consumer. The result was a superior, $100MM Y1 innovation, delivered from concept to store shelf in just over 6 months.

Bodyarmor Flash I.V. has the most electrolytes in the segment, hydrating coconut water to take away the typical “sea water” experience from the high sodium content, and no artificial flavors, colors, or dyes in delicious fruit forward flavors.

Active hydration, as a concept, is trending – and becoming more and more competitive. What’s going to be the key to staying ahead in the market?

At Bodyarmor, we’ve been ahead of the game since we launched. We’re constantly striving to be better than yesterday, and from our vantage point, the competition is yesterday’s sports drink. We believe the magic happens when you stay true to your brand AND your core consumers, while keeping up with macro and consumer trends. There also needs to be a comfort level in taking risks to meet consumers where they are.

Since coming into the category, Bodyarmor has refused to compromise on our brand promise of no artificial flavors, sweeteners or dyes, more electrolytes, & great taste. We uphold these brand promises, and while this has largely to do with us staying true to who we are as a brand, it’s also because we are listening to the consumer and the shifting trends we see in active & functional hydration.

Consumers are increasingly seeking better for you and more functional products, so in 2024 we came with 2 new platform additions in the Bodyarmor portfolio to address a white space in the category that consumers were looking for: Bodyarmor Zero Sugar (a great tasting, zero sugar product with our Bodyarmor promise of real ingredients & no artificial flavors, sweeteners, or dyes) & Bodyarmor Flash I.V. (in both RTD & powder format).

Bodyarmor Flash I.V. addresses consumers needs in the fastest growing segment in active hydration. Our Bodyarmor Flash I.V. Hydration Boosters have also been a tremendous hit, combining zero sugar with 2200+ electrolytes and other functional benefits like zinc & vitamins B&C in a portable stick pack so you can take them anywhere you go.

How does being part of The Coca-Cola Company influence how you approach innovation?

At Bodyarmor, we feel incredibly lucky to be part of the most iconic beverage (and quite frankly CPG) company in the world. We have our own in-house innovation team, but collaborate extensively across the company to build our big ideas.

You’re also Bodyarmor’s Chief of Staff. What does that role involve, and why is it important?

Since I joined Bodyarmor, I’ve served as Chief of Staff to our visionary CEO, Fed Muyshondt. The role itself is quite diverse, touching everything from building our “Separate but Connected” operating plan with North America and collaborating as an executive leadership team to developing our long range plan and ultimately bringing to life Fed’s vision for teams and meetings to life.

What’s your top tip to beverage brand builders?

Obsess over the consumer, and always trust your instincts.

What does a typical day at work look like for you?

No two days ever look the same. Our first order of business is always negotiating where we are ordering lunch from as a team (Bodyarmor provides our entire HQ lunch each day we’re in). I’m super lucky to work with an incredible group of people that I really ENJOY working with and inspire me daily. While most days are filled with back-to-back meetings, it’s always exciting since we’re covering everything from our broader strategy to innovation & prototype tastings. We taste A LOT of products as a team and we’re constantly iterating – I’m certainly never dehydrated!

What’s coming up for Bodyarmor this year?

2024 was a critical year for Bodyarmor. We went back to the fundamentals, cementing our core business with the right assortment and layering on consumer driven innovation to drive growth for Bodyarmor. We’ve set the stage for a strong 2025, we’ll build our assortment with the right innovation in the most important segments, and we’ll talk to the consumer in a modernized way that we know will resonate.