“What’s G?” and related questions

Thu, Jan 29, 2009

By Rob Meyerson, RiechesBaird

Until I accidentally stumbled upon Bob Garfield’s article in Ad Age, I had no clue as to the meaning or significance of the recent “What’s G?” ads running during and since the Rose Bowl. With some light web surfing, I quickly discovered that many consumers share my confusion, and that the ads have sparked a small debate amongst advertising and branding experts. Mr. Garfield’s article basically gives the campaign a stamp of approval, calling it “good-so far at least,” while another Ad Age article by Natalie Zmuda labels it risky and confusing.

To kill the suspense, it turns out the ads are for Gatorade. The creative shop behind the campaign is TBWAChiatDay, and it appears that their strategy is threefold:

1. Continue to associate Gatorade with athletic performance, primarily through celebrity endorsements-the new ads feature Muhammad Ali and other great athletes of the past and present.

2. Begin to imbue the brand with a more pop culture-friendly, urban personality-evidenced by decisions to use Lil’ Wayne to narrate the ads, include the Jabbawockeez as celebrity endorsers, and even the one-letter moniker “G.”

3. Generate buzz through a teaser campaign that leaves consumers wondering what the ad is for and desiring more information, which they’ll (presumably) find online or in future campaign elements.

The ad rhetorically asks “What’s G?” But the questions swirling in the blogosphere are a little more pointed. Some of the most interesting questions are listed below, with a few additional thoughts thrown in.

1. First, what generated the need for such a dramatic creative shift from previous Gatorade advertisements? According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Gatorade controls 76% of the sports-drink market, and the fact that its market share has decreased at all recently (less than one percent) could be attributed to PepsiCo’s decision to raise prices. And, as one YouTube commenter put it, “the old Gatorade commercials were iconic. This is just weird.”

2. Why hasn’t Gatorade created additional campaign components, such as a microsite where curious consumers can experience more of the campaign? At this point, all that exists online is the YouTube site linked in this post. My guess is that Gatorade’s plan is to keep the questions mostly unanswered until the Superbowl, when they’ll launch another ad. Is this too long of a wait for the payoff? Does it put too much pressure on the next ad?

3. Why did Gatorade choose to use Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, and Olympic sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith, all of whose careers mostly preceded the existence of the product being advertised? Not to mention the (somewhat creepy) computer-made reincarnation of Jackie Robinson, whose retirement predated the invention of the drink by almost a decade? Gatorade is so pervasive in today’s sports world that they must have plenty of more current athletes to choose from (and they do use such greats as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods). Was this an overreach, or a savvy attempt to associate the brand with sports legend? Counter-productive or on-brand?

4. What is the story behind the decisions made in the execution of the ad? A perceived lack of production quality has generated a lot of griping from online commenters. One asks why the celebrity-athletes are “making uncomfortable stupid smiles,” and another compares the ad to “a high school video project shot on VHS.” My question—admittedly nitpicky—is why some of the athletes keep their eyes trained on the camera while others stare straight ahead and let the camera pan by.

You might be surprised to see a post about Gatorade in a blog called “The B2B Brand Debate.” But while Gatorade is obviously a consumer product, it’s easy to see how these questions are equally relevant for B2B brands, their marketing strategies, and their ad campaigns. All brands must answer tough questions about whether to begin new campaigns or continue old ones, how to ensure that marketing strategies are fully integrated across multiple media, choosing creative directions that are credible and relevant, and executing in a way that reflects well on the brand. If you have thoughts on the questions above, or on how they’re relevant to similar situations you’ve faced, feel free to leave a comment.

No matter what the “correct” answers to these questions are, the campaign has partly succeeded already by virtue of the fact that people are talking about it at all (this blog post is another example). Many have made that point already, but according to Natalie Zmuda’s article, hit rates on the YouTube posts are actually quite low. She also cites Matt Cutler, VP-marketing and analytics at Visible Measures, claiming that “if the videos don’t take off within four weeks of being posted, they likely never will.” Four weeks from the Rose Bowl pretty much gets us to the Superbowl, which is when I predict Gatorade will unveil some sort of follow-up. Which leads us to perhaps the most important question about Gatorade’s “What’s G” advertisements-the one TBWA is hoping we’ll ask: “What’s next?”

Share and Enjoy: