On 9 August Gatorade paid tribute to Lionel Messi’s greatness and the end to his 20-year FC Barcelona career with a motivating commercial which invites him to move on and the viewer not to stop.
The sports drink brand rolled out the campaign across its digital and social channels around the world to leverage spiking interest around the announcement of the player’s departure from the Catalan club – the only club side he has ever represented.
The spot seeks to highlight the path to greatness that Messi has been traveling since childhood and focus on the fact that he has not reached its end and that there is still a long way to go. The footage highlights Messi’s maverick mentality and how Gatorade has supported him through his storied career. It even highlights his recent victory as part of the Argentine national team in the Copa América 2021.
‘I always wanted to be the best. The more goal you scored, the more goals you have to score. If you break a record, make sure no one else breaks it,” begins the Messi narrated spot. “You can’t settle. Not even when no one is watching, not during the game. No matter where you are. If you really believe that you can do more, you are going to do anything to prove it. Do not stop on your way to greatness.”
The ambassador led market push’s motivational message is that great things still await a player considered by most as one of the best footballers of all time and the 60-second spot comes in multiple languages including the player’s native Spanish as well as a multi-market English version.
“Gatorade is proud to be a longtime partner of Lionel Messi. We wanted to pay tribute to his career at FC Barcelona. Our goal is to show fans a bit of the ‘GOAT’ mindset as we strive to motivate athletes around the world to maximize their potential,” explained said PepsiCo Global Beverages VP and General Manager Of Sports Nutrition and Juice Mark Kirkham.
Comment:
Lionel Messi (and Barca’s) decision to leave FC Barcelona for Paris-Saint-Germain has generated global sporting (and business) headlines and thus it is no surprise that brand marketers are leveraging the spiking attention around the global megastar with Gatorade leading the way.
His new two-year PSG deal is reported to be worth around €35m-a-year net to the player, but quite how the move affects his play on the field remains to be seen.
In the short term the switch to a new club and a new market will likely further boost his long-term legacy and his already huge draw as a brand endorser and keep him in the rarefied elite global athlete ambassador set occupied by a handful of sporting giants such as LeBron James, Serena Williams and his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Forbes ranked Messi as the second highest paid athlete in 2021 at $130m (including $33m in off-field earnings) placing him behind only mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor.
The ‘Messi Mindset’ spot is a continuation of Gatorade’s 2021 global ‘The Greatest Never Settle’ fairness brand campaign which was created by TBWA and which debuted in March with an ad featuring the best athletes in the world – including Messi, Serena Williams or Gabriel Jesús – practicing their sports.
The objective of the brand platform is part of the brand’s commitment to inspiring the next generation of athletes on their journey to greatness.
Another brand to leverage the Messi departure was car rental brand Sixt which rolled out a social post mocking FC Barca over the player’s departure. A witty and opportunistic social media post from Sixt poured scorn on FC Barcelona and La Liga over Messi’s messy departure following the football club’s 9 August announcement/confession that due to ‘economic obstacles’ and new ‘La Liga regulations’ following its fresh CVC partnership its foundational player and biggest star Messi would leave the club.
Sixt was inspired to mock the Blaugrana team via Twitter through a tweet directly questioning Barce Preseident Laporta. The post’s translated copy read “Joan, if you are looking for a 10, it is in our fleet” and was accompanied by vehicle model imagery and further copywriting summarizing the chaos at the club “Without Lío, signatures, get in the car , you close Laporta and Tebas”.
Joan, si buscas un 10, está en nuestra flota.
Reserva ya ➡ https://t.co/m7kM8WeAti#irreSIXTibles #Laporta #Tebas #Messi pic.twitter.com/w7UyBMvFUV
— SIXT España (@sixtespana) August 6, 2021
Sixt positions itself as a challenger brand on the contemporary cutting edge and this low latency sports news story social response continues to reinforce the brand’s tradition.
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