Gatorade Match Saver is an app designed to connect teams missing a player with those who really wanted to play.

It solves the problem of missing players to prevent game cancellations, ensuring more sports can happen and providing participants with more game time.

In Argentina, where amateur sports are deeply ingrained in culture, Gatorade identified a common frustration: canceled games due to missing players. With over 27 million weekly participants, this problem not only disrupted sport but strained friendships. The Gatorade Match Saver app was born as a solution, connecting teams needing players with willing participants. The peer-to-peer mobile app used geolocation to help players “match” and keep playing sports. The campaign resonated culturally, and in the Argentine sports culture, the social media engagement was massive. Gatorade demonstrated its commitment to supporting amateur athletes, reinforcing its brand values, and fostering deeper connections with consumers.

In Argentina, over 27 million people participate in amateur sports weekly. However, when a player drops out, the game is canceled, leading to strained friendships. The abrupt cancellation of sports due to missing players is a well-known issue among amateur athletes, disrupting both the enjoyment of sports and social connections.

Gatorade, renowned for its expertise in hydration and longstanding support of professional athletes, recognized the need to deepen its connection with amateur players. The objective was clear: to connect with amateur players in a meaningful way and reinforce Gatorade's brand values of empowerment, teamwork, and perseverance within the amateur sports community.

What better solution than to provide amateur players with a means to continue playing sports?

The strategy for making Gatorade Match Saver a success targeted two key audiences. On one side, we aimed at over 27 million weekly amateur sports enthusiasts in Argentina familiar with the problem of players dropping out before games. On the other side, we targeted individuals willing to play and save matches.

Our approach involved developing a user-friendly app that addressed their specific needs by allowing teams to find replacement players seamlessly. To drive adoption and engagement, we implemented a multi-faceted digital campaign, leveraging social media, sports influencers, and former athletes to amplify our message.

Our call to action was clear: download the Gatorade Match Saver app, connect with teams, and keep playing sports. Through targeted messaging and a compelling call to action, we successfully connected with our audience and drove adoption of the app within the Argentine amateur sports community.

Gatorade Match Saver is a peer-to-peer app designed to connect teams missing a player with those who really wanted to play. With the app, teams could search for a missing player by selecting the sport, day, time, and location of the game. Players who wanted to play selected their sport, availability, and the distance they were willing to travel to play. Through geolocation, they received notifications for games within their specified distance range, and if there was a match, they were connected. By saving a match, the app pinpointed the location and unlocked Gatorade coupons to share with the team. This seamless connection of amateur players to play sports aligns with Gatorade's brand storytelling, while the unlocked coupons reinforce the brand's message of performance and victory.

The implementation of Gatorade Match Saver App unfolds in a strategic three-step process. Initially, a beta testing phase began from Feb 22 to 29, exclusively available to selected users from Gatorade/Agency employees. This phase aimed to assess functionality and gather feedback. Following this, a teaser campaign started on March 1 for a week, creating awareness of the upcoming app release. Finally, on March 12, the app was officially launched to the public, available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. To support the launch, the strategy included generating app downloads through a full-funnel campaign: online videos, organic social media posts, and sports venue posters. Former famous athletes activated the campaign by saving the first matches, even Real Madrid's star Vini Jr. helped us promote the app. And the campaign was supplemented by influencers promoting the app on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch.

In just one month since its launch, Gatorade Match Saver reached a 45% reach of the population of Buenos Aires, which means 6.3 million people. We verified that Gatorade's proposal to save games addressed a real pain point, as it had a great reception from the amateur sports community: the videos had a 15.7% engagement rate on social networks (people who liked, commented, shared, or followed Gatorade), surpassing the brand's benchmark with similar campaigns. Additionally, it had a 96% positive sentiment, 110 million digital impressions, resulting in 17,000 downloads and over 250 matches. This means that in just one month, Gatorade's solution generated 17,560 new minutes of sports in Buenos Aires. The final objective was proving the concept worked so then could be escalated into the LATAM region.

Gatorade Match Saver was inspired by Argentina's fervent passion for sports and the tight-knit bonds formed within the amateur sports community. With over 27 million people actively participating in amateur sports weekly, the cancellation of games due to missing players is a common frustration that impacts both the sports experience and interpersonal relationships. Recognizing this cultural insight, Gatorade developed Match Saver to preserve the spirit of sports and strengthen social connections within the community.