Back in 2011, BODYARMOR hit the shelves with bold packaging, a better-for-you promise and a mission to shake up the sports drink aisle. Nearly 15 years later, the shelves are more crowded, the stakes are higher and BODYARMOR needed a reset.
It developed a new visual identity and campaign — it’s a subtle yet bold message tweak that communicates the value of authenticity despite changing looks.
Behind the new commercials and bottles is a blueprint that small business owners should pay close attention to. Rebranding isn’t just for billion-dollar beverage companies — it’s a move that, when timed right, can unlock your business’s next level.
BODYARMOR’s CMO, Tom Gargiulo, sat down with Entrepreneur to discuss the company’s new creative direction and marketing strategy. Here are five lessons to learn from its brand reset.
Related: I Recently Rebranded My Entire Company — Here are 12 Strategies I Learned to Take My Brand to the Next Level
1. You don’t need to be broken to reinvent
If you’re waiting until sales drop off a cliff or your reviews go south to consider a rebrand, you might already be too late.
BODYARMOR didn’t wait for a crisis. Though people “absolutely love” the product, “our aided awareness is very, very low for the size of the brand that we are,” Gargiulo says.
Translation? The product was working, but the brand wasn’t telling its story well enough. So BODYARMOR modernized its packaging and simplified the design to highlight ingredients and differentiate the product lineup.
Image Credit: BODYARMOR
“We wanted to create a new visual ID system,” Gargiulo says, “keeping a lot of the same elements that we had in the past, but updating it, and we wanted to create a persistent platform for this brand moving forward.”
Small business owners often focus on survival mode — fixing problems and plugging holes. But sometimes, the bigger opportunity lies in amplification: clarifying who you are, whom you’re for and why it matters.
2. Make your identity work harder
BODYARMOR’s new branding features font tweaks and a logo redesign, but it also re-focuses on the brand’s identity. The refresh includes color-coded product lines, more prominent fruit imagery and a gladiator-inspired shield meant to represent strength, unity and forward motion.
“We wanted to modernize the look and feel,” Gargiulo says, “but also make the brand easier to understand.”
This is the rebranding sweet spot for small businesses. Don’t just chase trends; clarify your identity. If a new customer finds your product or service for the first time, does your brand explain itself in 10 seconds or less? If not, you might be due for a fresh look.
Image Credit: BODYARMOR
3. Every design decision is strategic
Here’s a little-known truth about brand confusion: it doesn’t take much. One mismatched font. A crowded product label. A name that makes sense to you but not to your market.
BODYARMOR noticed some customers were confused about its “LYTE” and “ZERO” lines, so it stripped the clutter, assigned each sub-brand a unique color and made benefits like “no artificial sweeteners” front and center.
Small businesses often think of design as the last step in launching a product. But in reality, it’s the front line of communication. It’s usually the first thing your customers see! Don’t treat it as decoration.
Related: Ready to Expand Your Brand? Don’t Make These 4 Critical Mistakes
4. A great campaign makes the rebrand real
BODYARMOR also launched its “Choose Better” branding commercial campaign. The commercials are built around a dystopian world of routine and monotony, followed by an explosion of color, movement and new possibilities.
The campaign’s commercials feature various BODYARMOR athletes, including Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow, NHL all-star Connor McDavid, WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu, and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Sabrina Ionescu — Image Credit: BODYARMOR
The campaign speaks to a simple truth: Most people don’t know why they buy what they buy. They follow habits, look for familiarity and tend to gravitate toward the same thing they’ve always reached for. That’s as true for sports drinks as it is for local cafés or online apparel brands.
A good rebrand challenges those defaults. It says, “There’s a better way, and we’re it.” Campaigns and rebrands don’t succeed because of big names — they work because of authenticity.
“BODYARMOR is about being better every day,” Burrow tells Entrepreneur. “That’s exactly what I try to do. Our messaging aligns perfectly.”
5. Trends don’t replace trust
With new competition from influencer-led brands like Prime or Feastables, BODYARMOR is staying alert but not reactive out of fear.
“We’re not shifting completely to a lifestyle brand,” Gargiulo says. “We’re just opening our apertures a little bit more.”
In other words, be aware of where culture is going, but don’t lose your identity trying to follow new trends.
The same applies to small businesses. To connect with your audience, you don’t need a viral dance challenge or a Gen Z aesthetic. You need relevance. Relevance comes from knowing your value and showing it in a way that resonates.
“You can see how [BODYARMOR is] evolving and always striving to improve,” Ionescu tells Entrepreneur. “That mindset shows through their products — helping athletes and everyday consumers understand what they’re putting into their bodies. This hydration stands out as the best, and it impacts us both on and off the court.”
So, when’s the right time to rebrand? It might be now, not because you’re broken, but because you’re growing, your customers have changed, your message isn’t landing like it used to or because you’re ready for the next chapter.
Rebranding isn’t a risk. Stagnation is.
As BODYARMOR’s campaign suggests, better doesn’t mean perfect. It means progress and evolution. And whether you’re a billion-dollar beverage or a 10-person business, your purpose and authenticity should be the same.
