Athletic participation plummets drastically once individuals graduate from High School. Family, career and increasing obligations inevitably replace sport.Per US government statistics, 7 in 10 adults over age 30 don’t exercise regularly. And thus, aren’t using Gatorade like they used to.Our objective was to reignite the athletic spark within this group of former Gatorade loyalists.

Insight:No matter how great they are or how many championships they’ve won, all athletes have one game they wish they could change the outcome of. But in sport, there are no second chances. We wondered, what if we could change this truth. What if Gatorade fueled a second chance?Execution:Gatorade reunited the original players (now in their mid 30s) from two high school football teams to replay a game that ended 15 years-ago in a tie. Except unlike most sponsorships, Gatorade became a true partner by devoting 90 days to train and coach participants for the rematch.

Game sold out in 90 minutes. Tickets fetched 6X their face value on eBay.

Stadium was at full capacity with 15,000 fans in attendance.Picked up as a documentary television series by Fox Sports. Season 1 content aired nationally to 90 million households.

Thousands of nominations from former athletes around the US have been submitted for upcoming seasons of Replay.Season 2 and Season 3 of the show have been announced.Named one of CNN’s Top Stories of 2009.Created news, not advertising. Generated US$3,415,255 worth of earned media (from just US$225K in paid media.) - 14,000% ROIRegional Gatorade sales increased 63%.

This promotion wasn’t just another page from the same Gatorade marketing playbook of the past.It was more than simply saying something from the TV.It was about getting off the couch and doing something.What we did was weave the DNA of our brand into the DNA of culture to find more authentic connections with our audience.

Our actions spoke louder than our words in order to:1. Get people to experience what Gatorade stands for – A Catalyst for Athletic Achievement.2. Demonstrate Gatorade’s functional reason for being – Fueling Athletic Performance.