New Product Review: Más+ by Messi
Más+ is a new energy drink with soccer superstar Lionel Messi as the face of the brand, and the latest attempt to try to take some of the 60%+ share held by Gatorade in the massive sports drink category which generated retail sales estimated at $8+ Billion in 2024.
Más+ regional entry in 2024 and expansion in 2025 came on the heels of the spectacular rise and fall of Prime, the sports drink of wrestling star Logan Paul and boxer KSI, which launched in 2023 and blew through the $1 Billion sales mark by 2024. Just as quickly it faded under an avalanche of lawsuits and perhaps a Gen Alpha fad gone cold.
Más+ claims to bring “a hydration beverage that delivers more of the good with none of the bad,” according to EVP Rishi Daing. The product claims no artificial sweeteners or colors. The packaging does a nice job of quantifying some positive attributes such as different electrolytes, vitamins, antioxidants and minerals on the side panel. From the ingredient list it appears the primary sweetener is Stevia but there is also 1g of cane sugar which brings 10 calories per 16.9oz bottle.
TASTING NOTES: The two flavors I tried were Orange D’or (Golden Orange) and Miami Punch. To my taste they both had a strong, tangy-sweet taste and a stronger flavor punch than competitor Gatorade Zero. Prime was also more flavorful than GZ but it was more of a candy-sweet taste.
Más+ combination of Stevia and cane sugar is different from Gatorade Zero and Prime which use a combo of sucralose (Splenda) and Acesulfame K, both artificial sweeteners. I didn’t feel like I was trading taste to ‘go natural’ on the ingredients so that was a positive. I personally prefer the more mellow taste of Gatorade Zero, but the primary target is likely tweens and teens who may prefer the stronger taste.
MARKETING SUMMARY: Well, it doesn’t hurt to start with the greatest soccer player of all time and global household name, Lionel Messi. Regardless of who’s behind it, he’s been smartly positioned as the Founder and face of the brand.
Más+ also has MLS Next and MLS Go sponsorships which are the youth soccer branches of MLS. That may be a way to get MLS association without paying the full freight of an MLS primary brand sponsorship.
Unlike Logan Paul and KSI who leveraged their combined 67 million YouTube subscribers to launch Prime, Messi doesn’t have a personal YouTube channel. The ‘Más+ by Messi’ channel only has 970 subscribers, but there are an impressive 455K Instagram followers for Más+ and another ~50K across Facebook and TikTok.
A great tactic for gaining social media followers is to run a giveaway, typically offering a chance to win product or swag in return for follows, tags or other small efforts that help promoted the brand. The Mas+ instagram feed is full of great giveaway prizes like bottles signed by Messi and a chance to meet the maestro himself!
I haven’t seen any TV or streaming ads, but with Messi on tap you’d think that might be coming at some point. Are they sampling at MLS and other soccer-related events? Public Relations campaign to gain media coverage? With Messi they could get any media placement they wanted so long as he’ll make an appearance, but his time is likely limited.
It will be fun to see where this one goes. Gatorade (Pepsico) has shown an ability to fend off competitors and hold their majority share of the sports drinks market. Now the soccer GOAT will take his shot.
If you've tried Más+ let me know what you think in the comments. For more content like this please subscribe to my newsletter at https://foodfluent.co/.