Sports drink BodyArmor has made its first foray into action sports, signing a multiyear deal with teenage snowboarder and U.S. Olympic team hopeful Maddie Mastro.
Mastro, 16, will be featured on in-store and outdoor advertising in certain mountain West and Northeast markets, and also will anchor experiential promotions, said Michael Fedele, BodyArmor marketing vice president. She debuted her snowboard and helmet stickers in December.
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Maddie Mastro will be on BodyArmor advertising in the West and Northeast.
Photo by: COURTESY OF BODY ARMOR
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The exact duration and financial terms were not made public, but it extends at least through the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. The deal includes performance incentives for making the Olympic team and winning medals for Mastro, who finished third at the season-opening U.S. Revolution Tour in December. It does not include an equity stake.
The contract is new territory for BodyArmor, which has a blue-chip stable of young star endorsers (some with equity stakes) in basketball, baseball, football and recently golf, but has until now stayed out of Olympic and action sports.
Action sport’s beverage sponsorships are dominated by energy drink brands Red Bull, Monster and Rock Star, along with PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew soda brand. BodyArmor will promote itself as a healthy alternative to those drinks, Fedele said.
“When you think about action sports athletes, they’re true competitors and super conscious about what they put into their bodies,” Fedele said. “Everybody notices that energy drinks rule the action sports, but the day of processed foods and energy drinks are gone, and you’ve got these young athletes who are excelling in their sports and are looking for better-for-you options.”
Mastro’s agent, Tom Yaps at Evolution Management & Marketing, said Mastro liked the deal because she can stand out better than she could with a traditional action beverage. After BodyArmor’s team convinced her they are committed to snowboarding for the long term, she signed. “She and her family are really big San Francisco Giants fans, so Buster Posey being an endorser too certainly didn’t hurt,” Yaps said.
Yaps helped get BodyArmor a place in the athlete lounge at X Games Aspen later this month, where Monster is the official event sponsor. Mastro expects to compete there and at the Toyota Grand Prix the following week.
The deal and campaign were both handled internally for BodyArmor.
