Gatorade: REPLAY SEASON 3

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Sponsorship

Advertiser: GATORADE

Product/Service: SPORTS DRINK

Worldwide Creative Director: Lee Clow (TBWA\Chiat\Day)

Group Creative Director/Executive Producer: Jimmy Smith (TBWA\Chiat\Day)

Creative Director/Creator/Writer: Brent Anderson/Steve Howard (TBWA\Chiat\Day)

Designers: Eze Blaine/Doug Alves (TBWA\Chiat\Day)

Executive Producer: Brian O'Rourke (TBWA\Chiat\Day)

Producer: Tim Newfang (TBWA\Chiat\Day)

Researchers: Bill Sudell/Scott James (FOX SPORTS NET)

Group Account Director/Management Supervisor/Account Supervisor: Mark Hansen/Amy Farias/Magdalena Huber (TBWA\Chiat\Day)

Group Planning Director/Senior Planner/Planner: Scott MacMaster/Martin Ramos/Daniel Teng (TBWA\Chiat\Day)

Worldwide Communications Director: Jeremy Miller (Gatorade)

Partner/Partner/Account Supervisor: David Brenner/Rashid Ghazi/Paul Harvey (Paragon Marketing Group)

Senior Vice President/Account Supervisor/Account Supervisor: Adam Tanielian/Courtney Quaye/Julie Mason (Fleishman-Hillard)

Senior Vice President/Executive Producer Regional Production: H. Read Jackson (FOX SPORTS NET)

Vice President Production/Senior Producer: Laura Mickelson (FOX SPORTS NET)

Director: Loren Mendell (FOX SPORTS NET)

Producer: Graham Hughes (FOX SPORTS NET)

Production Coordinator: Brittany Bideaux (FOX SPORTS NET)

Lead Editor/Story Producer: Curtis Roen (FOX SPORTS NET)

Account Supervisor/Assistant Account Executive: Bekah Lockner/Meg Poulelis (Fleishman-Hillard)

Account Executive: Angela Halbeisen (Pulse 220)

Media placement: Television Series - Season 3 - Television - Fox Sports - November 2010

Media placement: Live Event Broadcast - Basketball Game - Television - Fox Sports + Online - September 2010

Media placement: Webisodes - Replaytheseries.com / Youtube - June 2010

Media placement: Music Video - Online - November 2010

Media placement: Workout Series - Replaytheseries.com - May 2010



Summary of the Campaign

PROBLEM:

Once athletes graduated from high school, their competitive activity declined significantly, as did Gatorade usage and relevance.



CHALLENGE:

Reignite the competitive spark among these athletes, extending Gatorade loyalty beyond their high school years.



OBJECTIVES:

1. Enable more athletes to experience what Gatorade truly is – A Catalyst for Athletic Achievement.

2. Demonstrate the brand’s reason for being – Fuelling Athletic Performance.



INSIGHT:

All athletes have one game or moment they wish they could change. But in sport, there are no second chances. So we wondered, what if we could change this truth about sport?



STRATEGY:

Fuel an opportunity every athlete dreams of – a second chance.



OUTCOME:

Last year REPLAY brought two 1993 football teams together to replay a 7-7 tie. This year, as a testament to the universal appeal of REPLAY, the platform expanded.



More athletes were given a second chance, as REPLAY’s latest instalment featured Chicago-area basketball teams, replaying a game from the year 2000 that ended in a last second play shrouded in controversy for more than a decade. Gatorade reunited the original players to finally REPLAY that game.



The Situation

PROBLEM:

Once athletes graduated from high school, their competitive activity declined significantly, as did Gatorade usage and relevance.



Family, career and increasing obligations inevitably replaced sport.



And as athletes exited the world of high school sport, they also exited the Gatorade brand – confirmed by 3rd party industry reports that revealed a sharp decline in sports drink consumption after the age of 18.



CHALLENGE:

Reignite the competitive spark among these athletes, extending Gatorade loyalty beyond their high school years.



The Goal

This was about more than simply saying something on TV. It was about weaving the DNA of the brand into the DNA of culture to find more authentic connections with our audience.



Our actions needed to speak louder than our words in order to:



1. Enable more athletes to experience what Gatorade truly is – A Catalyst for Athletic Achievement.

2. Demonstrate the brand’s functional reason for being – Fuelling Athletic Performance.



The Strategy

INSIGHT:

No matter how great you are or how many championships you’ve won, all athletes have one game or moment they wish they could change the outcome of. Painful memories of the game that got away, regret over a missed play, or anger about an incorrect call - it was these missed opportunities, like old injuries that hadn’t healed, that were in need of rehabilitation.



But in sport, there are no second chances. It’s why we both love and hate the finality of sport. You only have one chance to define winner and loser for all eternity. So we wondered, what if we could change this truth about sport?



STRATEGY:

Fuel an opportunity every athlete dreams of – a second chance.



Second chances were the one thing all athletes thirsted for and we believed had the universal power to inspire and unlock the athletic spirit of our audience.



Execution

Last year Replay brought two 1993 football teams together to replay a 7-7 tie. This year, as a testament to the universal appeal of REPLAY, the platform expanded.



More athletes were given a second chance, as REPLAY’s latest instalment featured Chicago-area basketball teams, replaying a game from the year 2000 that ended with a controversial play that’s been debated for over a decade. For eight gruelling weeks, athletes prepared with training resources from Gatorade and sports nutrition guidance from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.



The culmination of the experience was the big game, where the returning players proved “once an athlete, always an athlete.” Even the original coaches, cheerleaders and band members from the 2000 teams returned, as players competed in front of sold-out stadium crowds. In addition, NBA stars (Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard) served as honorary coaches.



Documented Results

In 2010, REPLAY generated 581MM media impressions - +377% from last year.



REPLAY has been featured on every major news outlet, including: ESPN, USA Today, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated, among others



Demand for the REPLAY events was astonishing, as all tickets sold-out to the public – some as fast as 11 minutes.



The appeal of REPLAY spread globally – after other countries began demanding REPLAY on their turf, Gatorade will be staging new international REPLAY’s in 2011.



Thousands of athletes demanded a second chance of their own. In response, Gatorade created the REPLAY LEAGUE allowing any team to carry out their own REPLAY games with Gatorade support.



More importantly, all participants lost weight, reduced body fat and are living healthier due to the sports nutrition guidance provided by Gatorade.