GATORADE
EFFICACY 2.0
THE CHALLENGE
Director Jesse Blight has spent the past nine years collaborating closely with Gatorade’s marketing team, often filming high-energy scenes with world-renowned athletes in gritty, visually striking settings. For this project, the goal was to capture Gatorade’s six signed athletes in action, building a versatile content library for use across Broadcast, Print, Digital, and Social platforms.
Despite an initial script, the shoot demanded adaptability to produce evergreen content for future campaigns tied to live sports moments. The biggest challenge lay in navigating tight athlete schedules, scouting visually impactful locations, executing complex technical setups—from underwater to on-ice cinematography—and directing in a way that drew out authentic, high-impact performances while keeping the shoot fun and engaging. Fortunately, this kind of creative challenge is familiar territory for Jesse and his team.
the process
Shooting across Toronto, Miami, and Montreal allowed the team to tap into top-tier local production talent and technology, ensuring maximum resources made it on screen. The visual style of the campaign evolved the traditional Gatorade aesthetic by embracing gritty, weathered locations that echoed the raw determination and intensity of athletes like Sidney Crosby, Marie-Philip Poulin, and Andre Degrasse. Emphasis was placed on bold compositions and cinematic grandeur to elevate the athletes' presence and make each shot instantly brandable and memorable. Unique environments—from Miami’s urban underpasses to Montreal’s Olympic pool—provided textured backdrops that brought each athlete’s story to life in an unexpected way.
Set design leaned into the organic textures and subdued palettes of these real-world locations, allowing Gatorade’s signature orange to pop naturally through key props like bottles, coolers, and banners. Advanced cinematography tools like techno cranes, Steadicams, and underwater rigs helped capture dynamic, emotionally charged content—whether tracking Andre Degrasse’s explosive speed or showcasing Aurelie Rivard’s power beneath the surface.
The authenticity of the performances was paramount, with sweat not only present but celebrated as a central visual element—proof of the athletes’ relentless effort and Gatorade’s enduring message of high-performance grit.
While the footage captured has been leveraged across Social, Broadcast, Print and Digital mediums in a ton of different forms and edits, theEfficacy 2.0 Multisport edit garnered one of the highest ratings atPepsiCo ever – not just in Canada, but globally. It’s audience engagement and review all scored extremely high, and the print has been used both online and in store via Out-of-Home executions.
As partners, we are extremely honoured to have partnered with Gatorade, and count ourselves extremely lucky to get to work with such a passionate, collaborative and flexible marketing team on the regular as we continue to find new ways to push the brand and to capture star athletes.
