A Wren Says

I worked a sporting event and noticed a special tag on the new Gatorade cooler. The Dunk Hydration Cooler, with “Gatorade Dunk Handles, made to balance the cooler while celebrating victories.”

Of course, when Gatorade first started making coolers, it was to (ahem) hold Gatorade. The key feature of the design was the spigot that made dispensing the electrolyte beverage faster and easier. After all, it was a drink company selling drinks to be drunk.

Fast forward in time to a still disputed origin story, the Gatorade cooler opened and dumped out onto the coaches head is not about hydration. It’s about victory and celebration. Over the years, Gatorade took notice and decided to capitalize on that. If our product is being used for these Gatorade shower celebrations, why not make it even easier?

So they added additional handles to the bottom of the unit so athletes can better support the cooler when they flip it over. That way your coach ends up soaked instead of with a concussion. It’s a small feature that seems useless until you fuller understand the purpose.

Gatorade took the time to understand how its customers were using its products and evolved their design as a result. How can you evolve your own products to serve your customers even better.