Gatorade: Efficacy 2.0
Overview
The Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida is a cutting-edge facility that studies athletic training, nutritional science, and the role of hydration, and developing innovative solutions to meet the needs of athletes and help them improve performance and optimize their body.
Florida is a prime winter training ground for tennis players and track and field athletes, among many others. Hence, it often provides these services to elite athletes.
We partnered with Detour out of Canada to execute spots that touted this cutting-edge technology featuring tennis star Leyla Fernandez and Canadian six-time Olympic medalist Andre DeGrasse.
Process
Creatively speaking, projects like this present interesting opportunities to challenge yourself, taking what simple ingredients and limited time you have and trying to make something great out of it. Celebrities, and especially athletes, usually have tight time restrictions around shooting commercials.
And in terms of look and feel, an athlete running on an open track or a tennis player on a court is a common image, requiring us to think very carefully about cinematography and how we could elevate the imagery into something fitting the prestige of the brand.
We wanted to focus on the details, shooting at a high-speed frame rate to give dramatic effect, and allow for a lot of energy and flexibility in the edit. We shot in a wide aspect ratio to bring out the cinematic quality of the footage, used extensive sound design for visceral immersion, and a high-energy edit that captured the pace of intense training.
The facilities themselves gave us the most unique looks in the piece. We found it a natural creative choice to darken the room to present a moodier, edgier neon look that helped highlight the advanced technology, even when presented for just fractions of a second in the spot.
We wanted the spots to be dynamic, so we spaced out the shoot into several locations across Bradenton (beach, park, tennis court, track, the facility, etc.). And given the limitations of working with celebrities, this means we had to have a lean crew that was capable of quick company moves.
This goes without saying that this was a great opportunity to apply our great logistical expertise, helping the brand get the absolute most footage out of their investment in the partnerships with Leyla and Andre (who, by the way, were incredible to work with!)
Results
This project produced a high-end TV campaign for Gatorade Canada, featuring :30 and :15 edits with each athlete.
Artex was responsible for the production of the spot.
We look forward to working with Detour to create many more amazing spots in the future!
