Love, Spice, and Everything Nice
Sauce's Sauce, Gatorade's love for Serena, and Golf Canada's CP Women's Open
On Today’s Agenda:
New York Jets CB, Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner partners with Buffalo Wild Wings
Gatorade releases an ode to Serena’s legacy off the court
CP Women’s Open partnerships shine on a phenomenal weekend in Ottawa
The ‘Sauce’ Sauce
New York Jets CB, Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner partners with Buffalo Wild Wings
By AJ Hewish
For decades, top athletes around the world endorse products and collaborate with some of the world’s top brands such as Cristiano Ronaldo’s CR7 Mercurial cleats with Nike and most famously, the Jordan brand with Nike and Michael Jordan. Well if 2022 has taught us anything in the world of sports marketing, is that nothing is ever predictable.
Earlier this week, New York Jets cornerback Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner signed a deal with Buffalo Wild Wings (yes them) to introduce his own specialty sauce at Buffalo Wild Wing restaurants which they have officially named the “Sauce Sauce”.
Inspire brands, the owners of Buffalo Wild Wings, announced the new sauce in collaboration with ‘Sauce’, stating that its a “
a smokey, sweet, and spicy BBQ sauce which intercepts your taste buds and takes it to the house on your favorite wings and sandwiches.”.
It’s safe to say this is certainly a unique collaboration between an NFL CB and a nationwide chicken wing franchise, but we’re here for it! Check out the official launch video Gardner posted to his Twitter.
BWW launched Gardner’s sauce at an autograph signing session called “Signed with Sauce” in New Jersey where fans autographed all items with sauce, really stepping up all BWW marketing efforts to promote their new athlete-partnered product.
In his promotional video, Gardner even poured his new BWW sauce directly from a diamond-crusted chain hanging from the neck, that also just happened to be in the shape of a bottle of sauce (with a removable lid)
Some brands just go way too boring and safe with product and partnership announcements. No more posting a stock image of a player with the product like we’ve seen in the past, it’s time to follow BWW in “spicing” things up with their modern marketing efforts.
“Love is Everything”, for Serena Williams and Gatorade
Gatorade releases an ode to Serena’s legacy off the court
By Hiral Patel
When the US Open began earlier this week, the world had its eyes on their TVs and phones – as Serena Williams took the court in her final tournament. Stars like LeBron James flocked to social media to shout out Williams, and celebrities like Zendaya were amongst the tens of thousands in attendance at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A few editions ago, we talked about the gravity of her retirement and took a quick look at Serena, the icon. This week, Gatorade released a commercial commemorating the career of one of tennis’ finest. The almost 2-minute video, narrated by Beyoncé – is centered on the theme of “Love is Everything”, throwing in a fun tennis reference in a message about the impact Serena Williams had in her career.
The commercial outlines her entire career in the background, with highlights of her many accomplishments – but focuses on Serena Williams as an icon for black women, unapologetically being her and never compromising her beliefs and identity. The video demonstrates her inspiring spirit, and how young girls growing up are stepping up and doing what they love – centered around sports, which ties back to the Gatorade brand.
The video is sure to bring goosebumps throughout, and it all builds up to the Gatorade logo transforming from the iconic “G” to an “S”, for Serena Williams, another ode to the GOAT. When Pepsi announced that the Gatorade brand would not be renewing its deal with the NHL, they expressed interest in shifting their efforts to younger and diverse athlete communities. Their “Love is Everything” campaign checks off all the boxes and indicates that we can expect to see more of this from the sports drink brand.
As Serena played her third-round match on Friday evening, her defeat marked the last time we saw her take the court. However, as the Gatorade commercial indicates, her legacy goes far beyond her accomplishments as a tennis player. Serena Williams will forever inspire generations of black women to love themselves, to be bold, and to not apologize for who they are. Here’s to the next group of athletes who take on the role Serena Williams held, for future generations.
Golf Canada Continues Their Creative Roll
CP Women’s Open partnerships shine on a phenomenal weekend in Ottawa
By Christopher Nascimento
Earlier this summer we had an RBC Canadian Open special edition newsletter, that dove into numerous topics pertaining to why you need to keep an eye out for golf. Not only were big names finally returning to compete on the greens in the great white north but Golf Canada was LITERALLY taking the game to new heights, with their theScore bet activation. However, this article is going to be different as I was fortunate enough to attend the event and look at the various marketing and partnership efforts that were present.
Attending events like these are fantastic for us, Sport Marketeers, as they allow you to get ideas that are relevant but just outside the scope of thought you may typically have. This is why I want to share some of my highlights as I know how beneficial attending this event was for some of the projects we’re working on, at white whale mktg.
First, theScore. How did they follow up on their RBC Canadian Open activation? To be frank, the event level is different and the idea was so unique it was difficult to follow. What they did do was create an exclusive environment for theScore bet users, show you have the app, and get access to their lounge. On the famous 17th hole, deemed ‘The Rink’ users have a great view and betting space to enjoy the action.
Second, let’s continue with the theme of ‘The Rink’. This curated experience leverages Canada having a marquee sporting event. Around the tee box, boards are put up for fans to engage with the pros. Once the ball is in the air, you’re able to know from a few holes away, if it was a quality shot as fans begin to pound the boards with approval.
After hitting the boards in approval, you may need some rest and that’s when you head to hole 8. There Hilton set up a hotel suite with the perfect view right from the bed. Not only does it allow you to visualize yourself in one of their properties that features golf but it wasn’t a gimmick either. Sometimes you’ll just see a bed or a cardboard cut-out but this was an entire suite outfitted with their own porch to take in the action. Maybe in the future, we can see an opportunity for fans to win a chance to stay the night on hole 8.
Last but not least a charitable effort that I appreciated was ‘CP Birdies for Heart’. I thought this was a great way to engage fans on holes following the big ones. I found myself staying at this particular hole for over thirty minutes waiting to see how many groups were able to add to the total. This was also an idea that I thought could be very applicable to a variety of different sports/ events. Who knows maybe you’ll see this specific initiative inspire one of our upcoming projects…
I highly recommend taking in sporting events but from a different lens… then business expense it ;). If you weren’t able to attend this event yourself, here’s a 15-second clip to catch you up on what you missed.
