Queenie Porter ‘disrupting The Market’

Queenie Porter, 30, is the Managing Director UK for WOW HYDRATE and is a female leader in the sport industry.

Starting out at Topshop at 17, Queenie has rapidly risen to the top of the sport industry and has recently secured deals with Manchester United FC, The Fury’s, and Matchroom Boxing.

Can you describe your career to date?

I left school at 16 to study at Fashion Retail Academy, a college owned by Chairman of the Arcadia Group, Sir Philip Green. I come from an entrepreneurial family and always had a keen appetite for business from a young age, so I was thrilled to secure a role as Buyer for Topshop’s Freedom Jewellery range when I was seventeen.

I spent 10 years with Topshop before transitioning into a food and drink focussed role as Head of Buying at East of England Co-op.

That’s where I first crossed paths with Wow Hydrate and in 2019, I was recruited into the business as Head of Commercial. I absolutely love the brand, the products and the team of people at WOW HYDRATE, so I was really excited to be promoted to UK Managing Director last year. It obviously comes with a lot of responsibility, but with the commercial and operational skills I’ve gained over the years I felt very confident that I would be able to do it justice.

Where does Wow Hydrate sit within the sports drinks market and what stage of the journey is it at?

We consider ourselves a disruptor brand in the sports drink market.

Since we launched in 2016, we’ve continuously evolved our hydration products to fit with changing consumer trends, the latest nutritional research and market feedback. We’re no longer in our infancy- we’ve become a well-known brand in the professional sports arena, particularly with boxing which is a sport we’ve always been deeply embedded with.

Our evolution continues though, and we’re set to widen our product range and market reach even further.

How does Wow Hydrate differentiate itself from its competitors?

The sports drink market is highly saturated, and we see all sorts of products out there ranging from high sugar drinks to caffeinated energy drinks and dairy-based protein products. Our range of protein and electrolyte waters have been formulated to be low in calories, sugar free, dairy free, great tasting and bolstered with essential vitamins.

With our 10g or 20g protein waters we offer a convenient way to boost protein intake without the heaviness of a dairy-based recipe. Our electrolyte waters support rehydration and with our recently launched Electrolyte PRO product, we’ve been able to offer a new flavour tailored for those engaging in highly intense sport. We feel that our unique formulations combined with our reputation as a brand taken seriously in the world of sport is what sets us apart.  

Has the growth of Prime been a positive or a negative for the business?

Prime has obviously been a huge success thanks to its promotion through Logan Paul and KSI who have an unmatched online following. I think it’s been a real eye opener for those in the industry.

However, we certainly haven’t felt any threat from the brand- it’s always great to see what other brands are doing and benefit from learning opportunities, but our focus hasn’t changed.

Our ethos has always been about offering healthy hydration products developed with wellness and performance in mind. Our formulations are very different from the Prime range, and we don’t see the brand as a direct competitor.

How does Wow Hydrate approach and select partnerships and collaborations within the sport industry?

As a brand, collaborating with the right people and organisations is so important. We do a lot of preliminary research to understand whether potential partners would be a mutually beneficial fit. Sharing the same brand values, goals and energy is so important. When we work with our ambassadors it has to be a two-way partnership that works for all and one that creates bigger opportunities.

We’re proud to have the backing of many amazing names in sport including the likes of WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury, to more recently becoming the official hydration partner of Manchester United FC. Working with these juggernauts in sport allows us to not only widen our consumer audience but also offer more meaningful community projects at a grass roots level.

You have a number of partnerships and ambassadors in boxing, why is the sport such a good fit for the brand?

Boxing is such an amazing sport. Whether at the professional or amateur level, it’s an admirable sport full of dedication, discipline, loss and triumph. We’re proud to be associated with boxing and able to support boxers. As such a physically intense sport, our products are perfect for fighters who get to benefit from the protein in our protein waters and the rapid rehydration of our electrolyte products.

Tyson Fury was actually involved in the taste testing when we were developing the orange and lemon and lime electrolyte products, and he genuinely loves them. You’ll often see him with a drink in hand after training or at post-fight interviews and I think that says a lot about the effectiveness of our products.

What does the brand’s most recent deal with Manchester United signal?

Subscribe to the Sport Industry Daily for regular updates on the biggest stories and latest news in the sport industry.