Gatorade
The Last Dance
How to unite 3 million sports fans on social for one of the biggest broadcast events of 2020, starring Gatorade and the 🐐.
THE BRIEF
The Last Dance, a documentary about Michael Jordan’s historic final season with the Chicago Bulls, aired in April 2020. With the world in lockdown, it instantly became essential viewing.
Gatorade, a long-time partner of Jordan, asked us to cash in on this cultural moment to introduce the GOAT to a new generation of Gen Z sports fans on social.
THE SOLUTION
The defining moment of Jordan’s legacy was Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, when his final shot as a Chicago Bull won the team a record sixth NBA title.
But Gen Z weren’t alive in 1998 to see it. So, we decided to travel back in time. Immediately after the final episode of The Last Dance aired, we threw a watch party on Twitter and invited Gen Z and some Gatorade friends to join us for #Game6Live.
PARTY PREP
To build hype for the livestream, Gatorade debuted a new version of the iconic 90s “Be Like Mike” commercial, including NBA and WNBA stars of today.
We tweeted invites and reminders to get people to tune in, and even convinced the NBA to help promote #Game6Live to their followers.
TIP OFF!
As soon as The Last Dance finished, fans headed to a dedicated Live Event Page on Twitter to watch #Game6Live.
It was hosted by Ahmad Rashad (the original TV host back in 1998) with NBA stars past and present joining via their official Twitter handles to talk ball.
Although a “live” event, every tweet was written in advance to ensure Gatorade’s irreverent tone came across. We live-tweeted the whole game, keeping viewers engaged by asking opinions, giving game updates and goofing out just like real fans do.
MVP NUMBERS
In total 2.8million people joined the party, outperforming similar livestreams, bringing in 3.2x more views on the Live Event Page.
#Game6Live was the 22nd top trending topic in the US during the live event, with a 96% positive sentiment.
But beyond the stats, by crashing into culture, Gatorade didn’t just bring Michael Jordan to a new generation of sports fans, we brought sports fans together.
Credits
AGENCY
Swift
Portland, OR
2020
ROLE
Creative Direction
Concepting
Copywriting (Social)
Social Media mgmt.
MVPs
Chase Stevens
Jay Taylor
Scott Campbell
Zoe Galindo
Annie Viera
Chris Pozzi
Nadya Ighani
Martin Warszawski
Cade Wallace
Matt Berry
Breanna Wilson
Rachel Ehlers
Lacey Link
Alex Cecala
Meagan ‘2019 NBA World Champs’ Kiene
Kate McElroy
Don Shelford
BACK TO THE WORK •
BACK TO THE WORK •