FC Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, two of the biggest friends in football, realize that the end of the European season is close. In that moment, everything changes between them and the viewer is taken along for a ride while they spar back and forth at everything from practice to social media and even to their advertising campaigns.

Everything changes. Except what is inside them: resilience, hard work and Gatorade.

We executed the idea through a 2-minute, 30-second film that was launched not only on traditional broadcast and social channels but also through the social media pages of Messi, Suarez and FC Barcelona.

By treating their social media accounts as “media channels,” we were able to tap their massive following to ignite and spread the conversation about the campaign.

The campaign aired throughout UEFA Champions League, one of the last tournaments of the year where we saw Messi and Suarez as teammates.

The campaign launched simultaneously across 30 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific, North and South America in April 2018. It is steadily gaining cultural momentum with widespread positive and emotional audience reactions and engagements. As more of the campaign components are rolled out, we anticipate even more success in elevating the status of Gatorade in football and cementing the brand’s role in fueling what is inside the best players.