Usain Bolt’s power as a global athlete ambassador extends well beyond the sporting arena, as this PokerStars campaign demonstrates with the planet’s greatest ever sprinter faces off against comedian Kevin Hart in a social media battle of wits.
The world’s fastest man squares up to the world’s funniest man in a comic social skirmish (and poker game) to see which one has the most maverick mind.
The athlete and the comedian gear up for a fun social struggle of banter and brains as they seek to outsmart one another using the metrics of their social media channels as scorecards and allowing fans to determine who wins each battle.
This competition, with echoes of drop-the-mic, will culminate in a live face-to-face battle at the poker table in January 2018 during PokerStars Championship Bahamas.
The #GameOn format will embrace the core qualities and skills of poker with challenges that range from reading people, bluffing and risk management.
The assets – developed by agency Gravity Road and linked by the #GameOn #TeamBolt #TeamHart hashtags – are led by online video which spans the brand’s website and ask fans to decide which side they are on.
The content runs across web and online video
plus on the brand’s and the stars’ Twitter feeds,
The battle will commence on Wednesday 5th of July. Where will you be? #GameOn pic.twitter.com/lQETQ4VW2R
— PokerStars (@PokerStars) July 1, 2017
Are you #TeamBolt or #TeamHart #GameOn pic.twitter.com/meE1cU663e
— PokerStars (@PokerStars) June 30, 2017
Kevin Hart throwing some serious shots at Usain Bolt @PokerStars #ad pic.twitter.com/ifm8zzDwDM
— UNILAD (@UNILAD) July 6, 2017
It’s #GameOn little @KevinHart4real. I see your pair and raise you three of a kind. #ad pic.twitter.com/iAw3lTfl90
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) July 9, 2017
Facebook pages,
and Instagram accounts.
To view the videos and content just keep watching the social sites of Poker Stars, Bolt and Hart.
“Usain and Kevin represent two of the most popular personalities on social media, each with unique characteristics and loyal worldwide fans,” outlines director of poker marketing at PokerStars Vadim Soloveychik.
“It’s the fast vs the funny. The gloves are off and it’s about to go down. There can be only one winner and it will take a smart, shrewd, maverick mind to win this battle.”
The work was created by Gravity Road’s Andrew Younge and Mitch Sutton and the rest of the agency’s team included business director Alexander Preece, account management Oli Timbs-Harrison and Michelle Dam, planning head Ruairi Curran, communications planner Ally Kingston, creative director Shruti Veeramachineni and producer Kate Pirouet.
Activative Comment:
The campaign follows on from the global success of #RaiseIt: an earlier PokerStars campaign featuring football stars Neymar Jr, Ronaldo Luis Nazario and Cristiano Ronaldo, plus NBA hoops hero Dwyane Wade.
This initiative saw the sports super stars showcased their impressive skills in a bid to #raiseit to the next level and out-do each other.
The online video led multi-asset campaign generated impressive social engagement.
While the roots of this latest celebrity rivalry between world-record breaker and Hollywood actor/comic actually date back four years to when they raced one another on a basketball court at the 2013 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.
Both ambassadors are well loved and well used by agencies and brands to front ad campaigns and marketing initiatives.
Links:
Poker Stars
https://www.youtube.com/user/Pokerstars
https://twitter.com/PokerStars
https://www.facebook.com/PokerStars
https://www.instagram.com/PokerStars/
Gravity Road
