Historically, media outlets have deprioritized womens sports across the board, even on a national or international stage. This becomes glaringly obvious around All Star Weekends, during which the NBA garners massive recognition and the WNBA doesn’t get nearly the same attention.
As a brand that champions all athletes with elite energy, Gatorade’s Fast Twitch wanted to champion female ballers everywhere, giving them the recognition they deserve around WNBA All Star Weekend.
As part of the PepsiCo DE&I commitment, chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta notes: “ The ultimate objective is to become a company that’s focused on equity and genuinely inclusive.” The power of that value extends into the work being done across PepsiCo brands, and should certainly be demonstrated through the Fast Twitch Game Changers Collection.
In the lead up to the WNBA All-Star Weekend, Fast Twitch unveiled a limited edition “Game Changer Collection”. The bottles feature the faces and accomplishments of three of basketball’s most impactful players on and off the court: Chicago Sky’s Kahleah Copper, Las Vegas Aces’ Candace Parker and Washington Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne.
Fans were given an opportunity to get their hands on the collection – the first time any athlete had graced a Fast Twitch bottle – and one lucky winner and a friend were gifted tickets to the WNBA Finals to experience the energy of the WNBA in-person.
Fast Twitch, in partnership with Copper, Delle Donne and Parker, also donated $15,000 to the Women’s Sports Foundation to continue its pursuit of breaking down barriers for the next generation of women athletes.
This partnership was a strategic effort to position Fast Twitch as the ultimate hype brand for female athletes by featuring the undeniable G.O.A.T.s of the modern WNBA - Copper, Parker, and Delle Donne.
In particular, Kahleah’s authenticity and excitement for the collection resulted in high-quality interviews that showed Fast Twitch’s commitment to female athletes. She practically never let go of her bottle at the All-Star Game and provided added value with multiple unpaid social posts because of the authentic connection she has to the brand.
This partnership marked the first time any athlete would be featured on Fast Twitch bottles - it just so happened that these athletes were female. While male athletes (particularly basketball players) have historically been featured on all sorts of packaging, this was a critical moment to show our support of female athletes.
A Gatorade brand, Fast Twitch had the opportunity to partner with virtually any athlete, including bigger name male athletes in the NBA or NFL. The choice to make the first group of athletes featured female was a deliberate attempt to show Fast Twitch’s core values, uplifting athletes who are otherwise not given the same platform. This level of involvement enables Fast Twitch to authentically cement themselves as a core brand for female athletes everywhere.
Despite decreased media coverage on women's sports, we were able to coordinate four interviews with targeted media, which drove coverage across a range of sports and lifestyle outlets.
These include features in SwishAppeal, FanSided, a Peacock x NBC Sports interview, and more.
And with fan favorites on the bottles, it is no surprise the activation was a success, garnering the following results:
