As we have established in the very recent past, ESPN’s Darren Rovell doesn’t just cover sports. He also has some thoughts on advertising!
Yesterday, for example, he speculated on whether a new campaign for the sports drink BodyArmor might threaten Gatorade’s status as king of that market.
The key selling point for these four spots is that they were co-written and directed by the company’s most famous investor, Kobe Bryant, who brought along a few of his athletic friends.
See, the ‘Ade is for the Oldz.
Next, we do not really want to know what this “workout machine” might be.
James Harden, fan of Foot Locker and gummy snacks, also happens to prefer all-natural sports drinks. And dressing like a pirate.
We are totally into this last one starring Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Dallas Wings, mostly because mom was a huge fan of Jane Fonda’s Workout back in the day. Those leggings…
BodyArmor will not displace Gatorade anytime soon. But Kobe is feeling ambitious!
Thanks @Gatorade, @DrinkBODYARMOR will take it from here… #ObsessedWithBetter #ObsessionIsNatural @JHarden13 @MikeTrout @SkyDigg4 @kporzee pic.twitter.com/YeVOJFFhLE
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 18, 2018
Now, there is some agency talent behind this effort.
You may recall that Kobe co-founded Zambezi. That shop’s former creative lead and W+K veteran Brian Ford also helped launch the first BodyArmor campaign in 2015.
Kobe directed and co-wrote this new campaign, which was produced by Ford and Bryant.
“Kobe and I have been in cahoots for 15 years, so working with him on this BodyArmor campaign has been collaborative and fun,” Ford told us. “We concepted and wrote the scripts out together and then co-directed together. This is the most fun I’ve ever had on a project, thanks to the amazing group at BodyArmor and fishface, the production company. Gatorade might be Goliath, but we’ve got a nasty slingshot.”
CREDITS
Client: BodyArmor (Michael Fedele, Matt Dzamba, Mike Fine, Don Rouse)
Creative Agency: Brian&Ford
Writters, Producers: Kobe Bryant, Brian Ford
Production Company: Fishface
Executive Producer: Adrianne McCurrach
Head of Production: Alexis Celic
Junior Producer: Lauren Opatowski
Co-Directors: Kobe Bryant, Brian Ford
Producers: Malcolm Wax, Lisa Kjerulff
Director of Photography: Joshua James Richards
Production Designer: Itaru De La Vega
Stylist: Franzy Staedter
Choreographer: Bijoya Das
Still Photographer: Dominic Disaia
Editing and Finishing: Loom
Post Executive Producer: Corentin DeSaedeleer
Post Producer: Terry Huynh
Editors: Daniel Flesher, Sean U’ren
Colorist: Robert Curreri
VFX: Carlos Aldana
Post Coordinator: Jeff Watterson
Sound: Paul Hurtibuse @ Margarita Mix