Powerade Australia has launched a new sports star led marketing campaign, called ‘Always Forward’, fronted by two of the country’s highest profile and most respected athletes: cricketer Mitchel Starc, rugby league’s Billy Slater and footballer Sam Keer.
The Coca-Cola brand’s campaign, developed in harness with creative agency Ogilvy Sydney, builds on Powerade’s ongoing ‘Always Forward’ platform with a new phase launched in early September.
‘Always Forward’ is an idea that aims to demonstrate that there is no finish line when it comes either to sports performance, or to Powerade’s product formulation innovations and promotes the Powerade ION4 range: which replaces electrolytes lost through sweat (specifically sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium).
Led by a trio of television commercials airing nationally from the start of September, each ad positions Powerade as the top option for the hydration and recovery requirements of the modern athlete.
The initial creative burst is led by two 15-second spots: one featuring fast bowler Mitchell Starc
and the other recently retired NRL icon Slater.
This will be followed up in October with a third film focusing on women’s soccer star Sam Kerr.
This will be followed by a third phase of the campaign fronted by a 30-second edit featuring all three athlete ambassadors together in 2019.
The work, which aims to ‘expand audience reach’ and ‘further drive the brand’s sporting, hydration and performance credentials’, targets consumers during ‘active routine drinking occasions’.
The creative leverages the desire for that added performance improving edge.
“Our focus with ‘Always Forward’ is to affirm our brand’s leadership in the sports category globally,” explains Powerade Australia brand manager of operations Bridget Slipper.
“We kicked off phase one in partnership with one of the biggest global sporting events – the 2018 FIFA World Cup – and now we’re collaborating with our Australian ambassadors to showcase the benefits of Powerade for hydration, both during active sports and recovery.”
The campaign was developed by creative agency Ogilvy Sydney, with media worlk handled by UM and social elements run by One Green Bean.
Comment:
Reasonable standard sports drink marketing creative released in the same week as the same brand’s more inventive US sympathy card campaign (see case study).
Links:
Powerade Australia
https://twitter.com/poweradeau
https://www.facebook.com/Powerade.au
https://www.youtube.com/user/PoweradeAustralia
Ogilvy Sydney
