In celebration of every type of strength as demonstrated by the great Serena Williams, we co-created a limited-edition Gatorade Gx bottle to help athletes discover their own.
THE IDEA
A customizable bottle inspired by strength—to help you play to yours.
It wasn’t our first time collaborating with the superhero of the tennis world—but it was the first time we brought her (or any athlete) into the design studio with us. The 23-time Grand Slam winner was reveling in the joys and challenges of raising a daughter. “Being an athlete is easy. Being a mom is so hard,” she told Fast Company. “That’s like the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
When Serena joined forces with the Gatorade design team to collaborate on her limited-edition design, we were fixated on one idea: Strength in every sense of the word, from athleticism to less expected expressions of inner power. With Serena as inspiration, we wanted to empower athletes to unleash their strengths.
THE DESIGN
A match for Serena’s spirit: energetic colors and daring design.
We knew that Serena, a famously fearless risk taker, would inspire our most adventurous Gx bottle yet: An expression of her aesthetic, incandescent personality and unstoppable energy. We started with a palette of electric colors reflective of Serena’s personal style (along with our well-known Gatorade orange) and paired it with black angular Gothic lettering Serena loved.
Capturing her life and energy on and off the court, we wanted the bottle to demonstrate Gatorade and Serena’s shared belief that strength is more than just muscle. The word “STRONG” is woven throughout—not immediately discernible, but designed to be discovered.
Online, athletes could customize their own bottles (and tap into their personal power) by adding their name to the top, and choosing a Serena x Gx logo and their favorite Gx pod flavor. To add to the visual and emotional impact, each bottle came in a hexagonal box of intense black—making the rush of color, pattern and inspiration that burst forth from inside even more powerful.
THE OUTCOME
Grand Slam starpower and winning design drive Gx sales forward.
The introduction of Serena’s bottle served as a major boost to Gx and led to an increase in Gx starter kit sales by approximately 20% during its online launch on Gatorade.com in 2020.
