Gatorade is set to launch its new AR lens on social platform Snapchat, on June 20th. The development follows the present “Sisters in Sweat” initiative by the company’s parent brand PepsiCo. Sisters in Sweat is a short film where viewers will follow a young girl’s journey through an animated universe, as she focuses solely on her soccer ball. The soon-to-be-launched AR lens on Snapchat will give users a chance to become a part of the fantastical world.
Jill Abbott, head of consumer and athlete engagement, Gatorade, revealed more regarding the AR lens. According to her, the lens will require people to use the back cameras of their devices, as opposed to most lenses that utilise the front cameras. She explains that users can expect to feel that they are within a magical world themselves. Users can also expect to learn a few lessons learnt by the short film’s protagonist, that deal with understanding the positive impact of sports.
The upcoming augmented reality lens is a Snapchat portal lens, and the next Snapchat experiment initiated by Gatorade. A noteworthy example of Gatorade’s augmented reality efforts is Serena Williams’ Match Point game. Christina Kavalauskas, Snapchat create strategy lead, stressed that Gatorade has a track record of utilising its AR features for innovative launches. She revealed that the latest AR lens commemorates the Women’s World Cup. Users of the lens can score winning goals in AR.
According to Abbott, the latest AR launch is a part of the brand’s ‘video everywhere’ strategy. She revealed that the company has shifted its earlier video-related strategy which saw the medium suitable for premium and online modes of use. The new approach focuses on using video to focus on athlete audiences.
The video-centric strategy has helped the company surpass its own past medium intensive efforts, to eventually move towards a more channel-based approach. – Jill Abbot
An eye-opening fact that highlights the brand’s focus on “video everywhere” is that PepsiCo, this year, is set to spend about 45 percent of its media funds on digital. It is a considerable increase of 11 percent from 2018’s spending, which was 34 percent and mostly focused on the mobile platform. According to Kantar Media, Gatorade’s media spending in 2018 was $143.5 million, a notch above the 2017 spending of $133.3 million. Kantar has also revealed that Gatorade’s Q1 media spending of 2019 is $32.6 million.
Most eyeballs are on the mobile platform and video is watched across different platforms simultaneously. This reality has inspired the company to initiate testing and development in consecutive years so far. – Jill Abbot
Anthony Cospito, Moving Image & Content head of strategy, explained that the “video everywhere” strategy is a sensible move by Gatorade, which generally targets the youth.
David Srere, Siegel + Gale co-CEO, said that Gatorade investing in digital was a natural move, as more consumers are interacting with brands in the digital space nowadays.
The “Sisters in Sweat” experience has soccer stars Mallory Pugh and Mia Hamm in feature roles.
