Innovation in beverages is usually made of packs with new shapes and materials, new flavors, or trends like Kombucha. But Fusion energy drink wanted to engage with gaming fans, a community with its own lifestyle. So we came up with a new product line made with gamers at the center. We gathered pro-players and nutritionists to help create a new formula with nutrients specific for different players and their needs. But we wanted more and added the ultimate competitive edge to it: knowledge. That’s how we created Fusion DNA, the world’s first drink with eSports data stored in the liquid.

In 2019, after months of sales decrease, Fusion Energy Drink was near to be discontinued and erased from Ambev portfolio. Without a remarkable positioning or strong differentials, it was just another energy drink in a market dominated by established brands like Monster and Redbull. As a trial to revert this scenario, Fusion asked us to help them to reinforce their portfolio by adding 2 new flavours - lime and mint - and building a new positioning entering a new territory: eSports. But the gaming community is not for noobs. In order to enter this market we needed to prove we were all the way in this game.

Fusion had to gain the target audience’s respect somehow and steal the attention from more established brands. We knew that if we really wanted to gain the target audience's respect and make a difference for the brand we needed to go way beyond the client’s ask. So we challenged the brief.

From a new positioning to a complete rebrand process.

From adding 2 new flavours to launching a whole new line.

From entering the eSports territory to actually being a gamer.

Our first learning: being a gamer is about more than playing the game, it’s being part of a community, a lifestyle, with its own language, being part of a world that few understand. Therefore, to connect with this public, we need to prove we were all the way in this game. So we conducted a complete study on the gaming industry trends and the local community to understand the physical and mental needs of a gamer.

1. Gaming industry trends study

Tapping into the network to discover the biggest learnings from long term relationships with gaming companies and groundbreaking projects

2. Gaming local community study

Desk research, cultural mapping and 28 interviews with the main actors in the eSports scene - hardcore gamers, pro-players, influencers, specialists, streamers and coaches.

Our main insight: for gamers, there are 5 main needs to be unlocked: focus, power resistance, agility and knowledge.

After ou research, we reached the biggest audience needs, and made them our brand strategy by developing a completely new product line that hat gave the competitive edge to gamers and would be the greatest support of the gaming universe.

The Fusion Brand repositioning was made with gamers at the center. In a codesign experience, we gather our main pro-athletes, nutritionist and brand leaders to design a new line with nutrients specific for gamers needs. A complete rebranding was created for Fusion: new brand territory, positioning, identity, packaging, strategic vision for the portfolio and passion points rebuild. We’ve build from scratch product line that gives competitive edge to gamers.

Do you know how in video games you have avatars with different levels and skills? We did the same with our liquid. We created new products made specially for gamers that helps to perform better through ingredients that develop the abilities they need the most. Each flavour improves one specific skill.

Our line had the right nutrients, but we wanted to go beyond. So we added the ultimate competitive edge: knowledge. In partnership with Ubisoft, we gathered the most relevant data from Rainbow6 Siege, a game with 2.5 million active players in Brazil alone. We gathered all data and the most iconic plays from the world championships, turned it into DNA strands and mixed in the liquid to create Fusion DNA, the world’s first drink with eSports data stored in it.

This innovation got the media headlines and increased all major brand attributes and gained the community's respect: 6MM unique users on social media; 80,4% of Brand Awareness; and 69,3% of Brand identification. Despite being a noob, 77,3% of gamers agree that Fusion is helping build a better gaming community. The initiative also gained Ambev's 2020 Creative Project of theYear Worldwide. The All-New Fusion. Using food science and e-sports data to give gamers the ultimate competitive edge.