Before the World Cup, one of the biggest discussions in the media was about how climate conditions in Brazil would affect England’s performance. The context was perfect for a sports drink that enhances hydration and fuels performance to lead the conversation.
So we created the Lucozade Sport Conditions Zone, a state-of-the-art facility where football met science. Teams could come and experience what it’s like to play in the conditions of Brazil and learn from teams of sports scientists who were monitoring them about the effects of the heat and humidity and the importance of hydration for their performance. Visitors could access their stats at any time and also advertise them on social networks.
But the building itself was just the tip of the iceberg. We launched it with a film that melted Steven Gerrard. We partnered with grassroots football communities, such as Pitchero, to recruit our target audience. We opened with a huge PR push, generating media engagement and column inches. We followed this with a programme of content, including films featuring John Barnes, a bunch of WAGS and some chickens to help explain the science behind the conditions and hydration. We pushed it out via our social channels and key sport influencers Gareth Bale and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Zone and what we learned from it enabled us to talk about the World Cup with a unique point of view, driving social conversation and publishing match-reactive content.
The result of this activity was impressive. We sold out all player slots in 2 days, had a featured spot on the BBC news, our online video view count reached 1.75 million and we had an estimated reach of 17.3 million from TV and press.