The Campaign

Even though many people in China love to watch soccer, most of them barely find time to play. Prior to the World Cup matches kicking off around mid-night, Gatorade spurred people to go out and play the football game at night, therefore riding on the momentum of the soccer season, and further illustrates the brand spirit of ‘sweating ‘. A viral video was posted online and watched thousands of times in weeks. Sporty consumers were encouraged to book a free evening soccer field through the Gatorade PC or mobile site, which automatically placed consumers into teams, inviting them to ‘Fight at Night’. Free equipment were given to participants who watched the video and shared their stories on line to further generate the buzz. By letting people play soccer, FIGHT AT NIGHT successfully introduce a new way to play football to Chinese people and also illustrated its sporty spirit again.

Success of the Campaign

On social media #FIGHT AT NIGHT became a trending topic. The campaign reached out to a massive 18 million people. Offline: some 600 soccer games were played, 380 teams were formed and 7300 people participated. With the viral video receiving 11.5 million views, the interaction rate on Sina Weibo and WeChat surpassed a staggering 3.1 million. Traffic to the Mobile and PC site reached 2.661.164 clicks, while BBS discussion boards saw traffic rising to more than 710.000 comments. More than 50 prominent media outlets reported on the event, by which media value soared to up to 10 million RMB.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

Firstly, the viral video of “Night Fight Chapter” was released online showing consumers a completely new way to play football. Within just ten days, it saw more than 1,858,000 views. Meanwhile, Gatorade’s official PC and mobile site were launched and open for consumers to book free evening soccer football field. Players were placed into teams through a booking system, gearing them up to fight at night. Consumers can also win free equipment to set up their own night-fight football field. On the 5th of June, Gatorade’s 20-day free evening football field opened. During the whole campaign, Gatorade’s official Weibo and Wechat posted updates to generate social buzz. More than 50 popular media sites reported on the events. The whole channel reached out to a massive 18 million people.