Water Drinks Gatorade
PepsiCo
180 Amsterdam
Overview
Due to the brand’s heritage and iconic advertising with some of the greatest athletes of our time, there had been a perception that Gatorade was only for professionals and serious athletes.
This meant that people who just hit the gym now and then, or played sports casually with friends, didn’t think Gatorade was for them. The introduction of Gatorade No Sugar gave us an opportunity to speak to a broader active audience, drive consideration in more occasions, and strengthen the brand’s position.
The Challenge
Coming out of the pandemic, Gatorade was struggling to maintain market share in the Philippines with its main competitors rapidly gaining ground – especially with a more casual active audience.
Audience research found that since the pandemic, people in the Philippines were taking their health more seriously. It also uncovered that 50% of fitness exercisers believed that water was enough to sufficiently replenish what they lost in sweat when active. This outlined the opportunity to drive relevance by delivering an educational message around the science of hydration: you lose more than water when you sweat.
Due to Gatorade’s limiting perception of only being for serious or professional athletes, we couldn’t rely on the traditional use of brand ambassadors to deliver our message, we needed to find a fresh approach that would connect locally.
The Solution
In the Philippines, it’s very common for people to get creative with naming their children – from Covid Bryant, to Sincerely Yours (yes, those are real). While working on this brief, one name in particular caught our attention.
A student called Drink Water Rivera had just gone viral due to his name, and from interviews we found out his life motto: hydration is life.
Some partnerships are meant to be.
This was the opportunity for Gatorade to partner with someone unexpected and relatable to deliver its key message in a fun and unexpected way.
The campaign idea was born: Water drinks Gatorade.
The Results
In a day, the film garnered over 2.9 million views and over 19 million earned media reach. The news spread even further as it was shared thousands of times and was even picked up by over 53 media outlets around the world. From the comments to the 93% net sentiment score, it’s clear that people absolutely loved it.
The campaign showed a completely new side to the “old serious sports performance brand” to a new active audience. Gatorade No Sugar sales increased by 237% versus the previous year, beating out all competitors’ growth rates.
