As part of its ongoing G50 initiative to celebrate ‘50 years of fuelling champions’, Gatorade’s campagn reviving its iconic ‘Be Like Mike’ ad reached a crescendo with a set of new remixed spots and Be Like Mike experiences.
It’s been 23 years since the original commercial created the template for the contemporary athlete ambassador advertising strategy and the sports drink, along with agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, has refreshed it with a new campaign led by a remastered original and three new ads.
The creative blends the old and the new: connecting classic young Jordan footage from his Bulls’ highlight reel and the 1990s commercial, to film of contemporary young players inspired by the great man.
The whole initiative began with a simple 14-second online teaser featuring the refreshed campaign image and a two-word recording of Jordan’s press statement on his return to the NBA after his time in baseball – ‘I’m Back’.
The new spots’ titles are drawn from lyrics from the original commercial: ‘If I could move, If I could groove, If I could be like Mike’.
The first of the three new commercials – Groove Like Mike – reworks the 1991 original: essentially remixes the iconic catchy jingle with some new animation.
The second spot – ‘Move Like Mike’ – sees a pair of young players working out to a techno remix of the jingle to bring he iconic ad back to life.
The idea behind this TVC is that Jordan inspired a generation of athletes to move faster and train harder. Now two athletes use that inspiration to bring the iconic commercial to life. #BeLikeMike
The third ad – Dream Like Mike – features young players try on Jordan’s shoes for size recreating moments from the original campaign.
In addition, Gatorade re-issued a remastered version of the original ad which generated more than 3.5m YouTube views in one month (not bad for something the audience will have already seen time and again).
The cleaned-up Bayer Bess Vanderwarker spot makes middle-aged Americans feel like it is the early 1990s all over again.
Except, the closing shot has a #BeLikeMike hashtag.
And for the ad historians – here is that 1991 commercial in its original form (without the hashtag).
The TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles creative team was headed by creative director Renato Fernandez, art directed by Pierce Thiot, produced by Garrison Askew, while the copy writer was Scott Cleveland and the account supervisor was Marc Johns.
The sports drink is also selling a special, limited edition bottles of its Citrus Cooler brand extension (Mike’s favourite) with a retro label.
Other aspects of the initiative include a range of ‘Be Like Mike’ experiences.
As the new spot series rolled out, Gatorade’s website and social channels were inviting drink consumers and Jordan fans to send in their own interpretation of what it means to #BeLikeMike using the hashtag of the revived campaign in order to win experiences described thus:
‘How many times have you dreamt about playing one-on-one with Jordan in your driveway? Dreams can come true. #BeLikeMike’
Gatorade also activated around the NBA All-Star weekend in New York with a #BeLikeMike live event experience.
Featuring former Jordan teamates Dominique Wilkins and Horace Grant, the brand and the retired NBA stars helped visitors do their best impressions of Jordan by ‘Shooting like Mike,’ ‘Dunking like Mike’ and ‘Striking iconic poses like Mike.’
Comment
Cuts from this famous spot were included in the G50 celebratory launch TV ad that rolled out during the festive period (see case study) and now the drinks brand has brought the whole thing back and more.
Backward looking nostalgists may be uncomfortable with the idea, but 23 years on and this classic spot certainly holds up to its iconoc reputation
It remains emotional and inspiring more than two decades on.
As does Jordan himself!
Gatorade’s 50th anniversary isn’t just turning out to be a celebration of the brand, but a celebration of how sports marketing has evolved.
Which just begs two questions.
One, who will be the next brand to release a sports commercial that will have the same lasting impact on the industry?
Two, who will be the next brand to revive a classic, iconic commercial from the 1970s, 80s or 90s?
Links
Gatorade 50 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/whatsg
Gatorade YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/whatsg
Gatorade Website
Gatorade Google+:
https://plus.google.com/108751617052272275707/posts
