Gatorade has launched a start-studded international, multi-platform marketing push called ‘GOAT Camp’ which is aimed at reinforcing the brand and its history of supporting elite athletes.
Running through the second-half of the year, the PepsiCo sports drink brand creative is fronted by a strong team of leading athlete ambassadors including Usain Bolt, Michael Jordan, Leo Messi and Serena Williams,
‘GOAT Camp’ teams up four sporting titans through creative based around a fictional training camp where a wide range of athletes are offered a chance to learn from the world’s very best.
Created by agency TBWA, the campaign is led by a hero commercial which sees future GOATs (Greatest of All Time) scouted and handed a golden ticket which offers access to the brand’s training camp.
The spearhead spot and its supporting strands rolled out across international markets (including North America, Latin America and Europe) from 25 February across television, digital and in-store.
The initiative will run through the 2020 summer of sport which includes notably sports pillars such as the Champions League, the Olympics and Paralympics, plus the Euros and the Ryder Cup.
“We’re scaling the storytelling platform that really brings in all the different sports […] to reinforce that Gatorade has really been helping drive athletic performance and driving people to participate in sport,” explained PepsiCo VP and GM of Sports Nutrition and Juice Mark Kirkham.
“What we want to do this year is really come back to the history, the storytelling and the power of the brand,” added Kirkham.
“Over the years we’ve not just fuelled the greats of today but we’re also to helping to fuel the greats of tomorrow. That’s really the focus of what we’re trying to do with this campaign. We want to reinforce that we’ve always been there as not just a sports drink, but as a brand and as a company to take athletes all the way to professional development. And that’s why we’re looking to this campaign as a way of re-establishing some of that credibility as the greatest sports fuel of all time.”
“There are a lot of beverages out there in a lot of different stages of market development. This is why it’s focused on talking up its 55-year legacy and its “backed by science” credentials with this new effort,” he added.
“We had to go back to our roots and remind consumers of the history and bring it to life, not through ambassadors who you just put in a campaign but four amazing ambassadors who have worked with us for many years and that Gatorade has been with through their journey.”
Comment:
Pepsico declined to comment on the campaign costs, but the global marketing burst aims to combat the general decline in US soda consumption.
In 2017 Gatorade suffered its first drop in US sales since 2012 due to the increasing competition within the space.
Nevertheless, the parent company will hope to maintain its strong position in the segment.
According to Euromonitor, Gatorade remains the long-time segment leader holding a 72.1% market share with nearest competitor, the Coca-Cola owned Powerade well behind with just a 16.1% share.
While PepsiCo has publicly said on an earnings call in February that it is decreasing some of its marketing spend in 2020, this doesn’t seem to apply to its flagship sports drink.
While 2019 saw a 12% rise in marketing spend, 2020 sees its chief financial officer announce cuts with most investment going towards its classic brands such as Doritos, Cheetos, Rockstar and Pepsi Zero and also Gatorade.
Links:
Gatorade
https://www.youtube.com/user/GatoradeUK
https://twitter.com/gatoradeuk
https://www.facebook.com/gatoradeuk
https://www.pinterest.com/gatoradeuk/
TBWA
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