Brands play a vital role in football everywhere in the world. They not only help clubs stay afloat but also help to create the unique atmosphere of a live match, suggesting interactions with fans and at times with players. As expected, being part of the event is getting increasingly disputed and costly, demanding unique ideas and approaches to attract the attention of huge crowds.

The intent of this work is to create a proprietary approach for a brand in a football match without interrupting its natural flow.

Unlike in Europe where football jerseys are “clean”, displaying just a master sponsor, most team jerseys in Latin America have turned into a “Times Square lookalike”, loaded with brand logos. The aesthetics of a kit is sacrificed but this business decision is necessary for clubs to exist.

Today, Gatorade is an official supporter of Independiente de Medellin, one of Colombia’s most popular clubs. In a country with low per capita isotonic consumption (2,2liters/yr.), gaining a foothold in football is a strategic decision to reach the masses.

Usually, supporters don’t have their logos printed on a football jersey, sponsors do. In the case of Independiente, fans can find logos of dairy, beer, telco and even rum brands on it, products that have less to do with football than Gatorade.

We wanted to change that and give Gatorade a place on Independiente’s jersey that would do justice to such a vital brand to sports.

Gatorade is an isotonic drink; it replenishes all the minerals and liquids that are lost through sweat whenever people practice a sports activity. Everybody sweats, but professional football players sweat even more intensely during the 90 minutes of a match. If we wanted to display Gatorade on Independiente's jersey in a unique way for the first time, we would have exactly that timespan to do so.

Proprietary Visibility. That’s what we were after strategically speaking.

Gatorade would have to be displayed in a way so that its core benefits could be apparent to anyone:

Functional: the best hydration for when we need (and sweat) the most

Emotional: a brand that drives us forward into achieving our goals

Without sweat there would be no Gatorade, and without it clubs and their players couldn't give their best to be victorious. Sweat is the signature of genuine effort and that's also the core of our insight:

Why settle for a cluttered and expensive spot on the outside of a football jersey when we are talking about Gatorade, a hydration expert that knows that sweat comes from inside each of us?

That's the idea. Transform Gatorade into the official sponsor of Independiente's sweat.

Sweat comes from the inside of a football jersey, not its outside. A unique placement, capable of giving a supporter brand the attention and status of a master sponsor.

But hold on. How will someone notice a logo that is inside a jersey?

Gatorade is part of the game, so it knows the ropes. It's no secret that football players dry the sweat from their faces with their jerseys. They bring its bottom part towards their faces revealing the inside part of the jersey to everyone.

We especially prepared 50 kits of Independiente for the match against America de Cali that took place on Easter Sunday, a special occasion to reach the thousands of fans at the Atanasio Girardot stadium and the millions watching the match online and on TV. The Gatorade logo was printed upside down on the inside of the jersey, so that whenever a player used it to wipe their sweat off, the logo would be properly seen by the fans at the stadium and those watching.

We created a genuinely proprietary sponsor platform and from now on, the sweaty side of football belongs to Gatorade.

The match that happened on March 31 triggered a massive response from people and the press. Gatorade reached the number one spot in Colombia's trending topics on the night of the match. Our paid media reached 750.000 people.

The following day , seven of the main newspapers from Antioquia (Medellin's state) spontaneously published releases mentioning the unusual sponsorship, reaching 619.514 people. Also, on April 1, the jersey was shown on the Pulzo Deportes YouTube channel by Clara Támara, the show’s host. The CTR to the video reached 4%.

On April 4, the jersey made it to Saque Largo, one of Colombia's most watched TV sports shows.

Most importantly, the idea saved Gatorade US$ 3MM, which is the cost of a jersey sponsorship in Colombia.