GATORADE “DON’T GO DOWN” 2016 JAY CHIAT AWARDS SUBMISSION GLOBAL STRATEGY

SUMMARY: This is the story of how Gatorade, born in the swamps and heat of Florida to hydrate American football players, galvanized the world of fútbol by championing the shared belief between the world’s greatest fútboler, Lionel Messi, and the brand that winning starts from within.

Instead of just selling carbs and electrolytes, we also inspired young fútbolers everywhere to play with honor, perseverance and courage — to never give in, never give up and never go down.

After all, in fútbol, as in life, greater things await those who keep standing on their feet.

BACKGROUND: Developed to help American football players hydrate in the heat of Florida and embraced today as a symbol of NFL success, Gatorade was irrelevant to the brand’s global teen-athlete audience because it had a very limited footprint in the world’s most popular sport – global football (aka fútbol or soccer).

To address the issue of consumer relevance in key markets, Gatorade steadily built up its sports-marketing relationships in global football.

Messi Signing Gives The Brand A Ray Of Light

After lengthy negotiations, Gatorade signed the world’s most coveted footballer, Lionel Messi, to a long-term partnership contract.

Challenge: How do we leverage the world’s greatest footballer to help Gatorade earn its place in global football?

AUDITING THE SPORT: To help Gatorade find a meaningful and ownable role in global football, we started with a cultural audit of the sport. The more we probed, the more it became apparent that, below the beautiful veneer, celebrating players and shiny jerseys, the game was far from pure and beautiful.

“With the cracks in football’s dignity, credibility and morality plainly visible, it’s becoming abundantly clear that the game is depraved and its protagonists rotten.” — Leander Schaerlaeckens, columnist at goal.com

Brands Are Spreading The Negativity

Brands were making it even worse by playing up global football’s selfish and arrogant side with brash messaging that hyped individual glory, brilliance and glamour above everything else.

YOUNG FOOTBALLER BEHAVIOR: From cleats to hairstyles, youth footballers were mimicking their favorite player’s every move.

Our conversations with teen footballers revealed that they go to extreme lengths to worship their idols even to the point of copying their questionable behaviors — obsessed with fame, flash and followers, and willing to do anything to gain an advantage — even cheat and dive.

THE TRUTH ABOUT LIONEL MESSI: From being severely undersized because of a growth disorder to fighting injuries and homesickness after moving away from his family as a 13-year-old to live in Barcelona, Messi has always faced gigantic obstacles on and off the pitch.

Despite the greatest of challenges, he endures and fights on. It’s a mentality he’s possessed since he was young.

“Even when he was very young, he’d get kicked at from all sides. He never complained. On the contrary, it seemed that fouls spurred him on — the more they went for him, the more he stood up to them.” — Adrían Coria, coach of Messi at Newell’s Old Boys when he was 12

In today’s game, players flopping to draw a penalty has become a common tactic, yet Messi never dives and stays on his feet. In spite of the most vicious tackles, he battles, never gives up and just plays on.

THE OPPORTUNITY: Football was ailing and we knew we had the cure. In Messi, we not only had an athletic superstar, but also more importantly, a powerful cultural force. He plays in a way that is inspiring – never falls, never concedes and always fights to overcome.

Messi was the perfect embodiment of Gatorade’s belief that you Win From Within.

We asked ourselves: Could Gatorade do more to impact young footballers? Could we speak to their hearts and not just their minds? Could Gatorade help them not just functionally perform better, but also be better footballers in terms of their attitude, mentality and personality?

Our opportunity was to create a deeper and longer-lasting connection with our core audience by celebrating the shared belief between the world’s greatest footballer, Lionel Messi, and Gatorade that winning starts from within.

THE IDEA: DON’T GO DOWN

Inspired by Lionel Messi, we championed a mentality and way of playing with honor, perseverance and courage.

We summed this up in a simple yet provocative thought: Don’t Go Down.

Beyond just playing at their best, we wanted young footballers to play the right way, to realize that what’s inside them will always overcome what’s outside.

“Don’t Go Down” was also meant to be a ray of light for a sport that was gasping for a shot of integrity.

THE CAMPAIGN:

RALLY THE WORLD TO KEEP STAYING ON THEIR FEET

Instead of launching the campaign through traditional broadcast channels, we launched the “Don’t Go Down” film on Messi’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Messi loved the campaign so much that he insisted we first launch it to his fans and followers. Our message became his voice. Ultimately, we transformed his social media pages into our media channels.

SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF FOOTBALLERS

To graphically capture the spirit of the campaign, we created a visual that showed Messi as an unstoppable force. We chose a style reminiscent of religious paintings since, to us, this was Messi’s sermon. We turned this into magazine ads and building murals.

CELEBRATE THOSE WHO EMBODY THE CAMPAIGN

We partnered with Messi to continue to spread the campaign’s message of perseverance and sent a care package to charitable organizations in major cities that support individuals who embody the “Don’t Go Down” spirit.

CREATE AN ICON, A VISUAL SHORTHAND FOR THE MESSAGE

We designed an icon that showed every letter trying to bring down the hero who continues to persevere. It was launched on the social channels of Gatorade and Lionel Messi. In addition, it was printed on T-shirts, soccer balls and stickers.

Spanish Version

Portuguese Version

CAMPAIGN RESULTS:

CREATED A CULTURAL SWELL AROUND THE MESSAGE OF NEVER GOING DOWN

ELEVATED GATORADE’S STATUS IN GLOBAL FOOTBALL

In less than two days, the “Don’t Go Down” film had over 10 million organic views and over 200,000 shares In total, the campaign film had over 29 million views (surpassed goal by 60%) It is the most shared video ever on Messi’s Facebook page

DIRECTLY BOOSTED BRAND ENGAGEMENT

Became Gatorade’s most engaging global campaign

The “Don’t Go Down” film outperformed global campaign benchmarks in shares and engagements: 6X more shares 7X more engagements (likes, comments)

BECAME A GLOBAL HIT, GENERATING POSITIVE, DEEPLY EMOTIONAL REACTIONS

INSPIRED YOUNG FOOTBALLERS TO PLAY WITH A DIFFERENT MENTALITY… …AND GO AGAINST DIVING AND FLOPPING

A well-known Brazilian YouTuber created a spoof that mimicked the “Don’t Go Down” film frame by frame.

This time it starred and mocked Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he called “The King of Penalty Diving — Penaldo.”