Sports drinks have become the "character product" of stars?

"When athletes no longer endorse functional beverage brands, but choose to create their own brands, can they do this business well?"

In the first round of G3 of the NBA playoffs that ended at the end of last month, Curry's scene at the press conference sparked heated discussion. Before being interviewed, he took down two bottles of Gatorade on the table and said, "Nah, wait. PLEZi is way better."

This made many people curious: What is PLEZi? As a sports drink brand that officially appeared in March, Curry's move can be said to have given his own brand a good free advertising.

In fact, this is not an isolated case. More and more top athletes are beginning to shift from "endorsing functional beverages" to "creating brands". They personally come to participate in product design, brand positioning and even commercial operations.

From Messi launching Más+ last year, de Paul creates Sh!, to Curry and Michelle Obama joining forces to release PLEZi Hydration this year, this "athlete entrepreneurship wave" is spreading in the functional beverage field.

Más+ by Messi, more possibilities for combining athlete IP with business

Although functional beverages (here referring to sports drinks and energy drinks) already have leading brands such as Gatorade, Red Bull, and Magic Claws that we are familiar with, but with the increasing global health awareness, the functional beverage market is still growing strongly.

According to German statistics company Statista, the global energy and sports drink market revenue is expected to grow by more than 24% between 2023 and 2027, and will reach about US$240 billion by 2027.

As the spokesperson of Gatorade, the leading sports drink brand in the early years, 15 years of cooperation have made Messi deeply tied to concepts such as "health" and "hydration". Now choosing to create a sports drink brand seems natural. After all, clothing brands and perfume brands have done it. There is no reason not to do things in their own professional fields, right?

"Más" means more in Spanish, while "+" means more positive energy. Messi said: "I want a sports drink with natural ingredients and delicious ingredients. I will not compromise on the quality of the ingredients, so I decided to produce a sports drink that belongs to me. Because in every aspect of my life, I always think and act with a positive attitude, which is where Más+ comes from."

Más+ sports drink contains 4 electrolytes, 5 minerals, 6 vitamins and 3 antioxidants and other elements

The core selling point of this sports drink is "active hydration". It is for professional athletes and ordinary consumers. There are 4 flavors of pineapple, berry, orange and lemon. The 12-bottle combination is priced at $29.99 (about RMB 218). It is currently on sale in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain and Ireland.

Specially, each flavor is inspired by Messi's career and is related to his honors and achievements.

"Miami Punch" is inspired by Messi's current team Miami International and the city; "Limón Lime League" commemorates Messi's performance in the Champions League and his four championships; "Berry Copa Crush" pays tribute to Messi's seven King's Cup championships in Barcelona and the World Cup championship with Argentina; "Orange d 'Or" is to record Messi's 8 Golden Globe honors.

In response, Messi said: "I hope to create an inspiring beverage so that every drinker can have positive energy like a champion in every aspect of life."

After drinking the drink made by the champion, I am also a "champion".

In this way, the product is no longer just a product, but a "narration" of his career around the founder of the brand, making the brand story rich and complete, which will increase the favorable and sense of belonging to the brand by Messi fans and ordinary consumers who like Messi.

The brand has not had too many "gimmicks" from preheating to online launch. It always revolves around Messi and promotes and markets with his personal image and influence. On brand social media, we can see Messi personally involved in product development. What else is more convincing than seeing Messi drinking his own beverage with his family?

In February this year, Miami International announced a long-term partnership with "Más+", and the brand will become the club's official hydrating beverage supplier, providing hydrating solutions for youth training colleges to the first teams, and providing beverages to fans of Chase Stadium.

Recently, Más+ also announced new trends, expanding its partners from Miami International to the MAF, becoming the official hydrating partner of MLS Next (a secondary league under MLS, providing young players with more opportunities for game and career development platforms) and MLS GO (a football program for children aged 4-14).

This series of innovative business models has aroused the attention and heated discussions of the global sports marketing community, and has also allowed people to see more possibilities for combining athletes' IP and business.

PLEZi Hydration, a phenomenal basketball player and the former first lady of the United States join forces

If Messi creates Más+, which means that players deeply bind their professional highlights to product content and build strong correlations of personal brand symbols, then Curry's PLEZi Hydration presents a "celebrity endorsement + corporate cooperation" model.

The hydrating beverage was officially launched in March this year. The Warriors star Curry and former US First Lady Michelle Obama jointly created it. The public welfare food and beverage company "PLEZi Nutrition" is launched by Michelle as co-founder. The company aims to help more families build healthy lifestyles and set higher standards for the way they produce and market food and beverages.

Nutrition and health issues have always been the focus of Michelle's attention. PLEZi Nutrition has launched healthy juice drinks for children. This cooperation with Curry can be said to have expanded the company's business line, from child nutrition coverage to adult health.

As an investor and brand partner of PLEZi, Curry has strong persuasiveness and advantages in making sports drinks. The cooperation between the two can be said to be a "strong alliance". Compared with regular beverages, PLEZi Hydration has a higher potassium content (500 mg) and a double electrolyte, a full daily dose of vitamin C

, the sports drink also focuses on "hydration", claiming that it is a game-changing hydration drink, setting new standards for how to hydrate. There are three flavors: tropical juice, orange mango and lemon lime, each bottle costs $2.99 ​​(about RMB 21.74). It will be sold in supermarkets such as Walmart in California, and can be purchased online on the Amazon platform across the United States.

At the Auckland Marathon in New Zealand held in April, PLEZi, as a competition partner, provides players with hydrating drinks after the race.

It can be foreseeable that with Michelle's endorsement and the resources behind it, PLEZi Hydration will appear in more sports venues or public activities in the future, and brands will also receive more exposure and cooperation opportunities.

Sh!, a successful player "self-marketing"

, in contrast, DePaul's entrepreneurial path is more "personal". As DePaul said, "This is a brand that can represent me."

Unlike Messi and Curry, DePaul launched an energy drink, and the usage scenarios are not limited to fitness exercise scenarios. Before the brand containing royal jelly, ginseng, natural caffeine and vitamins, etc. was officially released, DePaul and his team conducted preheating on social media for more than three months, which attracted widespread speculation and attention from the outside world. In the brand preheating material, there is a scene where DePaul makes a "boo" action towards the camera, showing his attitude when facing failure and negative emotions.

Just like what the brand wants to convey: "When you feel tired and need energy, there is nothing to say, Sh! will provide you with energy. The choice is entirely in your hands."

Currently, the energy drink is available first in Argentina, and it is partnering with Rappi, the leading food delivery and delivery platform in Latin America, to provide delivery services in the capital Buenos Aires, and plans to expand the brand to Latin America in the next few years, committed to building it into an international brand.

According to nogomania media, the company expects to sell 3.5 million cans in 2025, with an estimated retail price of $2 each, which can bring in $6 million in revenue in the first year alone.

This is another successful "self-marketing" by DePaul. With his global popularity and a huge fan base, the brand currently has 125,000 followers on social media.

Whether it is brand vision, product packaging or marketing, the brand has shown a more youthful and trendy image. At the same time, DePaul is both the founder and the creative director. He has taken many interesting advertisements and theme posters. After reading it, he has to say, "What a beautiful man's plan."

It is not difficult to find that whether it is Messi, who empowers the brand as a champion, Curry who enters the consumer end with a health concept, or DePaul, who uses personalized labels to leverage the market, these athletes' brands have chosen the functional beverage track. Behind

is their redefinition of the path to monetization of their own influence and an accurate grasp of a high-speed growth market.

In recent years, functional beverages have become an increasingly popular investment field among professional athletes - Spanish F1 driver Fernando Alonso and Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez have invested in related brands or products. Coincidentally, last month, Spanish actor Arón Piper also launched an energy drink "Dr. Mush", which contains ingredients such as lion mane mushrooms, maca extract, ginseng extract, lemon balm extract, etc., aiming to help people improve their concentration and productivity.

Functional beverages are quickly moving out of the traditional definition of "sports and hydration" and turning to "healthy functional beverages" covering daily scenarios - there are new categories that emphasize energy and replenishment, as well as compound products focusing on brain stimulation, concentration improvement, and anti-fatigue regulation.

According to the "New Health Consumption Trend Report" released by Nelson, the acceptance of "daily light-function" drinks by Generation Z and millennials has significantly increased. More than 70% of consumers tend to choose products without artificial pigments/low sugars/natural electrolytes and other labels, and are more willing to pay a premium for brands with "personal labels".

From the iteration of product lines of traditional giants such as Red Bull and Monster, to the popularity of emerging brands, to the emergence of various cross-border joint branding and digital marketing methods, the entire track is accelerating brand differentiation and value reconstruction.

Athlete entrepreneurship is just one of the most visible incisions in this wave of changes. It is truly worth paying attention to. When the track of functional beverages is evolving into the carrier of "lifestyle expression", what will the next entrant be?