THE BOY WHO LEARNED TO FLY
To celebrate the winning spirit of Usain Bolt, Gatorade produced an animated short film inspired by real-life childhood moments that transformed Usain into the greatest runner who ever lived. The film debuted before Usain’s final Olympics in Rio where he won three Gold medals cementing his legacy.
My Role: As Brand Director, I collaborated with our ECD from TBWA\Chiat to conceive and pitch the idea of an animated film to Gatorade marketing leadership. Serving as an Executive Producer, I also led the creative development and marketing activation plan for the film’s release.
Teams I empowered: TBWA\Chiat, Moonbot Studios, OMD
“WHY WE CARE: As the marketing mantra goes, if you’re going to make branded content, it better be good enough that people would actually want to watch it. It sounds like common sense, but to an industry traditionally built on interruption and force-fed attention, it’s no easy task.
Here, Gatorade takes that message to heart by combining a compelling story–Usain Bolt’s journey to the top–with Oscar-winning animators at Moonbot Studios (whose brand work includes Chipotle’s award-winning spot, “The Scarecrow“) to create a fun short film that’s long on entertainment, and short on logos. There’s just one subtle brand mention at around the five-minute mark, with a brief cameo from a familiar green bottle, but other than that the brand stays out of it until the final credits.”
