In “Love Means Everything,” Gatorade and Beyoncé honor Serena Williams’ impact on Black women and girls.
The two-minute, documentary-style short film is a departure from typical short and snappy ad spots. It premiered on Aug. 28 at MTV’s Video Music Awards, and the extended cut was released the next day.
As Shannon Miller of AdWeek aptly puts it, “True icons are rarely defined by a single moment. This is especially the case for Serena Williams, who has changed the game of tennis so thoroughly over nearly three decades that she is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time.”
In the same line of thinking, this longer-than-usual ad makes sense. Fifteen seconds of Williams wouldn’t even capture her highlights.
Williams has been endorsed by Gatorade since 2009. Beyoncé, who seldom appears in ads, is her friend.
“‘So when we write her down in history—no matter who you are, no matter where you are—we’ll remember what she’s shown us: a movement to love you,’ Beyoncé concludes over a celebratory mosaic of Williams’ greatest moments that leads to a young Black girl preparing her own tennis racket. As a final tribute, Gatorade shifts its logo from a ‘G’ to an ‘S’-bolt ahead of her final game.”
-Shannon Miller in AdWeek
We’re interested to see more brands experiment with using longer, more documentary-style short films in the place of 15-30 second ads. This ad seems to have maintained its audience’s attention from beginning to end, but not every subject is as interesting as Williams, and not every narrator is Beyoncé.
Amazon’s first Thursday night Football ratings strong
NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” is available direct-to-streaming through Amazon. The first game was between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Amazon Prime averaged 11.8 million viewers, and local broadcasts averaged 1.2 million, according to Yahoo Sports. The broadcast received a Nielsen rating of 6.4, which was higher than expected.
Last year’s “Thursday Night Football” premiere, aired exclusively on NFL Network, averaged 7 million viewers with a 4.1 Nielsen rating, so a Prime subscription didn’t seem to be a major obstacle to viewership.
The move is part of a larger trend moving to direct-to-streaming. “Dancing With the Stars” made the move to Disney+ this year, as well.
Other news
- YouTube is opening up new ways for creators to earn money. (1/2)
- YouTube is opening up new ways for creators to make money. (2/2)
- TikTok launched a BeReal clone.
- What people say versus what people actually do are often different, but this primary data set from a company (based on post-purchase surveys) is interesting.
- This Subreddit has cool charts that are relevant to content or marketing.
That’s all for this week‘s Marketing Roundup. Check back next week for more news. And subscribe to our newsletter below for additional updates.
