Powerade: THE POWERADE CHALLENGE

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Use of Media
Category: Best Use of Ambient Media: Large Scale
Advertiser: COCA-COLA OCEANIA
Product/Service: POWERADE
Agency: NAKED COMMUNICATIONS Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Director: Matt O'Sullivan (Naked Communications)
Senior Communications Planner: Augusta Grayson (Naked Communications)
Communications Planner: TeRoi Dodson (Naked Communications)
Marketing Manager: Delina Shields (Coca-Cola Oceania)
Brand Manager: Tracy Evans (Coca-Cola Oceania)
Project Manager: Penelope McKenzie (Coca-Cola Oceania)
Managing Director: Nick Lowe (Satellite Media)
Digital Detail: Robin Arnold (Satellite Media)
Technical Director: Malcolm Fell (Satellite Media)
Managing Partner: Tom Davidson (Ikon Media)
Communications Manager: Chantelle Hurndell (Ikon Media)
Communications Co-ordinator: Jeremy Hooper (Ikon Media)
Head of Planning: Rupert Price (Ogilvy Advertising)
Client Services Director: Nikki McKelvie (Ogilvy Advertising)
Senior Account Director: Saya Tran (Ogilvy Advertising)
Executive Creative Director: Damon O'Leary (Ogilvy Advertising)
Creative Directors: Dave Nash (Ogilvy Advertising)
Director: Nick Harvey (NZ Sponsorship Agency)
Account Manager Executive: Marie Hodson (NZ Sponsorship Agency)
Account Executive: Nicole Stanbury (NZ Sponsorship Agency)
Results and Effectiveness:
The Powerade Facebook page was inundated with people comparing their time and challenging their friends to do the course.
In the first five weeks 1 in 12 within our core target had signed up to the POWERADE CHALLENGE.
Massive amounts of media buzz – one of New Zealand’s biggest TV networks signed up to the challenge and provided free PR coverage
Most importantly Powerade’s monthly sales went from -3% to +11%.
At Powerade we believe that action speaks louder than words.
Creative Execution:
The POWERADE CHALLENGE came to life in the form of a fully interactive outdoor fitness course, where sports people could train and compare themselves to each other.
To ensure participants were taking the challenge seriously we got the world famous All Blacks involved, they set the times for people to beat and gave the idea true social currency.
The course was designed with the help of Nic Gill, the All Blacks strength and conditioning coach, and worked like this:
• With the help of a TVC people visited the website, they registered and received a Powerade RFID bracelet to wear while running the course
• RFID technology enabled outdoor media to encourage participants as they ran the course
• Ambient media marked the route and reminded sports people of who they were competing against
• Running times were automatically posted to an online leader board
• Specialized vending machines gave runners free bottles of Powerade to rehydrate
Insights, Strategy and the Idea:
Powerade is New Zealand’s leading sports drink and seven times bigger than its closest competitor. In such circumstances its difficult to find new ways to grow, which is why Powerade focused on getting its loyal drinkers to use the product more often.
The target audience was sportsmen with a ‘weekend warrior’ attitude. They are committed to staying fit and have a fiercely competitive streak.
Whilst highly respecting Powerade they believed it was best used for “Performing at your Peak”, consequently they were only drinking it on game days.
To grow sales we wanted to build Powerade into their training regimes. We didn't want to just talk about it – we wanted to get people involved in a way like never before.
The strategy was to create a Pathway to Peak Performance where sports people could train with Powerade and experience the benefits for themselves. We named it the POWERADE CHALLENGE.