DDB Shanghai turns to Chinese war stratagems for Gatorade

The campaign consists of a TVC that will run on CCTV5 during the NBA Finals this week and a viral video launching through social media sites including Sina Microblgog, Tom Sports, QQ Sports and Hoop China.

The 36 Stratagems is a text akin to the legendary 'Art of War' by Sun Tzu. It describes unorthodox or deceptive ruses used in politics, warfare and civil interaction. The Gatorade campaign leveraged on the well-known Chinese idioms or stratagems from the text and applied them to the competitive, gritty world of Chinese street basketball, where players need every deceptive trick or skill they possess to score the next point. 

Gatorade partnered with S.K.Y. Streetball Syndicate to engage with its young and sports enthusiasts target market in China. In the TVC and viral video, the players use several tricks from the 36 stratagems to get past their opposition, aided by the refreshing and replenishing power of Gatorade.

Stratagems such as 'Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west', 'The cicada sheds its skin', and 'The beauty trap' are used in creative and skillful ways. Alongside the viral video on QQ Sports, DDB encouraged viewers to upload videos of their own streetball skills that fit into one of the 36 stratagems. The best three entrants will be chosen by Gatorade to participate in a national streetball training camp.

Jesse Lin, president of DDB Shanghai Group, said, “Combining the ideas of the 36 stratagems with streetball skills made the campaign more fun and relatable to today’s Chinese youth. We wanted to provide a platform that personalises streetball moves with the Chinese culture of ‘multiple tactics’ – where players could publicly showcase their individual skills and tricks but also breathe new life into the ancient Chinese idea of ‘36 stratagems’.” 

“China has over 300 million basketball fans and players, 99 per cent of whom have played some form of streetball. Basketball is the most penetrated sport for Gatorade’s target market, and I’m confident that with this campaign, we’ll be able to build stronger links between Gatorade and sports occasion consumption,” explained Paul Hong, senior marketing manager of Gatorade.   

Credits:

Client PepsiCo China
Creative agency DDB Shanghai
Creative Michael Dee & Billy Deng
Account management Margaret Wu, Jason Ng, Judy Chen
Production house Sparkle Film
Director Lai He