Buzz sometimes tops actual business success in the eyes of investors, especially in the startup space. However, a relatively young, disruptive and cash positive brand in the health and nutrition space has been raising eyebrows recently. Pittsburgh-based Ready Nutrition is flush with news of Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald coming aboard as the company’s first outside investor, and last week announced that the brand displaced Gatorade as the Official Water of the AAU and its audience of over 200,000 athletes. Cynopsis asked former University of Pittsburgh basketball captain Pat Cavanaugh, who founded and runs the company (which will eclipse $100,000,000 in sales in the coming months) about cutting through the clutter and competing with some of the biggest brands in a space like water and health.
Cavanaugh on the inspiration to build Ready Nutrition: Ready was built to provide athletes with a strong body and mind platform that combines a mentality to focus on what you can control – effort and attitude; with all-natural sports nutrition products designed to support a relentless work ethic. We love athletes that take more pride in their effort and attitude than their talent. We know that proper nutrition can be an advantage for all athletes at any level and what inspires us to be a trusted resource for them.
On going against the big brands: We feel one of our selling points is our proprietary combination of functional ingredients that are free of artificial colors and sweeteners, sugar alcohols and don’t contain all the sugar. We are well known for our great taste and we understand if a product doesn’t taste good, people won’t buy it again.
On how Aaron Donald fits into the marketing mix: Aaron epitomizes our brand because he focuses on what he can control, he only wants clean sports nutrition products and he’s always trying to get better. He is relatable to athletes in any sport because he’s had to continue to work hard when people may have doubted how good he could be and he stays laser focused on his goals. This is something 99.9% of all athletes can relate to and his humble personality makes him extremely approachable to talk about the Ready brand and our products.
On managing a creative marketing spend: A good portion of our marketing spend has been aligned with our collegiate, high school and youth programs both during competition and non-competition venues. Sampling and trial is a very important part of our overall awareness strategy where our athletes are competing and preparing. You’ll see an even higher level of activity in these areas during the next year.
On lessons learned on the field that brought business success: First, always be prepared; sooner or later you’ll get your chance. Second, know your craft inside and out; it’s always about the little things – always. And third, focus on what you can control – effort and attitude. It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.
