The first brand to brand to launch a campaign leveraging the Olympics after the end of the pre- and post-Games athlete blackout was Gatorade.
As soon as the restrictions finished on 15 August, the PepsiCo sports drink giant launched a London 2012-led campaign fronted by the king of the track Usain Bolt with a clear message that the brand was behind the success of many of the Games’ star performers.
Led by a US TV spot, which was also seeded globally across the web, the film’s branded voiceover was very directly focused on the Olympic Games and the brand’s unofficial role behind the scenes and how important its role was for many of the leading Olympic athletes.
Triple track gold winner Bolt, clad in a hoodie, is shot walking through the back streets of London, while a voice says:
‘We weren’t there on stadium billboards. We weren’t there on double-decker buses. We weren’t on buttons, souvenirs or commemorative snow globes. We weren’t there officially sponsoring anything. We were there for real — inside the bodies of some of the greatest athletes on earth’.
In the US version of the TVC, Bolt eats a Gatorade Chew before the action switches to him competing in a stadium. But the new ‘chew’ product isn’t on sale yet in the UK so isn’t included in the British edition.
The creative is partly re-cut from work earlier in the year in which Bolt himself provided the voice-over and vowed never to stop until he had vanquished all opponents.
The spot, created by Gatorade’s regular agency TBWA/Chiat/Day, closes with the Gatorade logo and the hashtag #WinFromWithin.
In addition to the new Twitter work, the brand also continues the campaign online with local market websites carrying the same tagline and message but focusing on successful Olympic stars from that nation. For example, the UK site features Team GB gold and bronze triathlon medallists Alistair and Jonny Brownlee and the line ‘Proud to fuel British success’.
See http://www.gatorade.co.uk/
Comment:
Just when you thought the Olympics were over and it was safe to open your paper and turn on your TV without seeing the face of Usain Bolt, here comes this new campaign from Gatorade.
The strategy is simple: take the star of the Games and tell consumers you were behind his London 2012 success. Shoot it in a classic, moody challenger brand style and drive viewers to your digital platforms (Twitter and website). All the while avoid using the word Olympics or London 2012 and have a slight dig at the overt activation of official sponsors.
A classic ambush approach! Position yourself as part of the property without paying for the rights.
Pepsi’s Gatorade is the main rival to official Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola and its own sports drink Powerade. Powerade was a core part of Coke’s London 2012 activation. See previous case study.
Other non-sponsors to dive straight in with ads and leverage the Olympics as soon as the blackout period came to an end included Virgin Media (also featuring Usain Bolt), Aviva and Volvo.
Links:
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.