Digital media creates huge opportunities for real-time data gathering

But this potential is inconsistently used and monitored by brands. Gatorade has taken
a stand on the importance of live digital conversations and performance with the establishment of its ‘Mission Control Center’
at the heart of its HQ.

The center acts as a physical war room for monitoring the brand’s performance online

The center boasts six monitors providing
data visualization. Most famously, the center monitors online discussions about the brand on social media, but it also carries out proactive social media outreach and monitoring of the sports landscape as well
as tracking brand attributes, media performance and sports trends. Closely following sports results and news keeps Gatorade on top of the conversations that fans are having and means it is able to anticipate trends.

Concrete outcomes of Mission Control include everything from site optimization,
to extending a 60-second ad tune into a
full-length track available for download in
24 hours, in response toheavy discussion
of the track on social media.

Gatorade aims to move from being the
largest sports brand in the world to the largest participatory brand in the world,
and its Mission Control set-up equips it
with the all-important flexible consumer-centered mindset that will position it to achieve this goal.