Gatorade Inventor dies leaves licensing legacy

University of Florida Gatorade Inventor died today. He left a licensing legacy that will never be surpassed at the University of Florida anytime soon.

When I read about Robert Cade passing away this morning, I was teleported back to the Winter of 2005 when I made a call to John Byatt, the Director of Technology Licensing for the University. John is a real pro, pleasant and bright. We hit it off and I realized that some PhD’s can be great to work with on the business side, not just creative. I was interested in a patent they had that made roses produce more rose oil by a factor of 10. It was really incredible; they even made other flowers smell like a rose. Anyway, to avoid any non-disclosure issues, let’s just say I was impressed.

They had a very low key approach to licensing and they were flexible by University standards. When I was in their small conference room, they had the wall of licensing fame and there it was, Gatorade photos. I did not know the full story until that day.

In 1965 the football coach asked Dr. Cade “Why don't football players wee-wee after a game?" Times have really changed, my High School coach Dixon had a more colorful way to explain the processes of urine elimination, "wee-wee" was not in his Thesaurus. To get back on point, that big question led to the invention of Gatorade and a monster licensing deal that brought in 100+ million for the University. They still command 50% market share in the sports drink market and here is the real winner. They did it with three easy licensing steps that anyone can follow to produce big results with your brand.

Step #1 Research:

Dr. Cade to his research and combined it with $43 in equipment and supplies to create the first batch to test on players? It does not take a lot of money.

Step #2 Testing:

Let the team use Gatorade and they became famous a “second half team”. Use someone who will benefit from your product, you will get great testimonials.

Step #3 Marketing luck:

Gators slam the favorite Georgia Tech in the 1967 Orange Bowl and the defeated Georgia coach utters the words in the post game news conference, “we didn’t have Gatorade” Touchdown! Anyone want to rent our brand for a fat royalty check? Pepsi now owns the brand keeps the royalties flowing in. Get your name out there!

From all the creators we give a big thanks to Dr. Cade for his contribution and wish his family the best.