ROBYN PAGULAYAN
GATORADE:
BEAT THE HEAT
For my senior year Public Relations Campaign class, my team was tasked with a new business pitch for a real-world client given to us by Fleishman-Hillard: Gatorade's Beat The Heat campaign. In the brief, Gatorade discussed its current Beat The Heat sports camp program. The biggest problem faced by the company was the target audience's unwillingness to listen to, or care about, science.
Our goal with this campaign was to inform the target audience of core athletes, ages 13-18, about hydration science in a fun, interesting, and effective way.
THE PITCH
THE BRIEF
Many teen athletes, media, and parents don't understand the role of hydration in sports performance. Teen competitive athletes are often turned off by overly science-based/educational messages. In order to help athletes reach their full potential, they need to understand the importance of hydration and heat safety.
Comms Strategy:
1.) Meet our audiences where they are
2.) Build relationships with media by introducing Gatorade portfolio and the science-backed formula behind each product
Comms Deliverables:
1.) Develop overall program messaging (leveraging narrative)
2.) Create three distinct executions to educate three distinct audiences
- Culturally relevant execution that reaches GenZ
- Beat the Heat camps in key local markets (tapping into camps Gatorade has already been doing)
*Actual data from our primary research
Tactics
Developed from both our primary and secondary research, we thoughtfully developed these tactics to connect with our younger target audiences and teach them about heat science. This is all to build up the hype for Gatorade's camps at the end of the summer, getting people to know what "Beat The Heat" is.
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Campaign Leaders
Bill Nye is a well-loved and trusted source of science education for kids across the nation. Shedeur Sanders (son of Deon Sanders) is a new Gatorade partner and the first partner from an HBCU--he is a fresh and inspiring face of the campaign. Ms. Frizzle of the Magic School Bus brings a little magic to this campaign, giving us our "Space Jams" moment.
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Plunge
Set on National Hydration Day, we organized Plunges in Gatorade's key markets. At the same time on June 23, everyone at these plunges across with nation will be jumping into the water to showcase the importance of hydration. Athletes and influencers from these markets will be invited and Gatorade and food will be provided. We invite people online to participate in the plunge at the same time--whether it be in their local lake or bathtub--and post a video online, creating social media buzz. This is the kick-off event for the travelling science pop-ups.
Heat Safety Kits
Drawing from past Gatorade Beat The Heat campaigns, we've seen that heat safety kits had been distributed to families in the past; we decided to bring them back. Influencers and athletes will receive the full kits (includes a Gx water bottle, Gatorade pods, sweat patches, info pamphlets, etc.), while families have the chance to receive smaller kits at all Gatorade-organized events. All kits will also include our limited edition comic book.
Heat Science Pop-Ups
Drawing examples from Japan's National Hydration Museum, these pop-ups will provide fun and interactive ways to learn about hydration, heat science, and electrolytes. It features a scaled-down version of the Gatorade Fuel Lab where guests can create their own Gatorade drinks. Like the Plunges, local athletes and influencers will also be invited to the exhibits. Guests also receive heat safety kits and comic books.
Comic Books
Kids these days don't want to read a wall of text about hydration; they don't want to read a textbook. From our interviews and focus groups, we found that the majority would rather watch a movie or read a graphic novel. So, using our campaign leaders, we developed a comic to visually show how Gatorade and electrolytes work in the body. Plot-driven pictures have the power to educate; we've seen it before in The Magic School Bus books, in Osmosis Jones, and in sports comics.
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Magic School Bus
What better way to travel around the country teaching the power of hydration than with our very own Gatorade Magic School Bus? Like the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and the CTA Christmas trains, this is sure to attract media attention. And media coverage is just what we need to make sure "Beat The Heat's" sports camps don't go unnoticed anymore.
RESULTS
As this was a new business pitch, we presented it in front of our class, the professor, and professionals on Fleishman Hillard's account. The first was the senior account executive at Fleishman Hillard supporting the Gatorade account team, and the second (who was also the most senior executive ever brought in for this class) was Fleishman Hillard's PepsiCo Global Client, leading the agency’s work for Gatorade, Quaker, and Lipton Iced Tea.
Out of three teams, our team won the new business. Although all teams had their own strengths and weaknesses in their campaigns, the feedback they gave us is that we had the most well-rounded and in-depth campaign that covered the most aspects in their brief.