Results and Effectiveness

We turned a low budget of $10,000 into 200 wholly owned, fully targeted media placements. These were exposed to 2 million people and engaged over 40,000 people in street basketball. Up to 20,000,000 related sites on Google search. Became the hottest topic on Weibo, China’s top social networking site with 140 million users. $10,000＝200 basketball courts＋2 million audience＋40,000 ballers＋immeasurable passion for street basketball Most importantly, Gatorade became perceived as the brand that champions the unconventional spirit of street basketball.

Creative Execution

The game itself became the media. We created a simple “D.I.Y Streetball Kit” which could be easily assembled anywhere by anyone. 200 of these were produced and distributed them to streetball lovers via online application. And they did the rest. Power poles, brick walls, trees, traffic lights and assorted street furniture were transformed into basketball hoops. Having constructed their very own basketball playgrounds, teenagers became an advertisement themselves when they played the game in unlikely locations -- it was not just a game, it was more like a spectacle. Street basketball became basketball streets.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Background: Gatorade’s primary marketing objective for 2011 is to be the sports beverage brand that does not merely communicate with consumers, but to play together with them. Basketball has been identified through research as the one sport that youths feel most passionate about. But in Shanghai, the ratio of people to public basketball courts is an abysmal 10,000 to 1. Gatorade wanted to change that and give every player a place to play. And indirectly create opportunities for them consume its thirst-quenching products. Our total budget to achieve this ambitious goal? $10,000. Which was barely enough to construct even ONE basketball court. Insight: Active teenagers are also highly creative; they enjoy the thrill and satisfaction of creating their own solution to the problem. With that insight, we realized our effort would be more effective if we simply provided them with the means to solve the problem of scarce basketball playgrounds.