2017 marked the 45th anniversary of the passing of Title IX in the United States. Title IX was a groundbreaking piece of legislation that said that students could not be denied access to educational programs or activities on the basis of gender. While this included all academic and non-academic programs at school, what Title IX is most known for is its impact on girls’ access to sports in school. In the years since Title IX was passed, girls’ participation in sports has increased dramatically and the benefits have been confirmed in countless studies.

However, sports remains a male-dominated arena, where despite the fact that 40% of all athletes are female, only 4% of media coverage is devoted to women’s sports. In turn, while girls may play sports, the role of sports in their lives and the contributions they make to sports culture overall are dramatically underappreciated, if not dismissed entirely.

Furthermore, outdated but persistent stereotypes and gendered expectations, create additional pressures for young female athletes to devote their time and attention to “more appropriate” activities and interests despite the fact that it has been proven that girls who play sports are happier, healthier and ultimately more successful throughout their lives.

World champion tennis player and new mother Serena Williams offers advice from the heart. The wisdom that she gives to her newborn daughter, Olympia, becomes a message for all girls. It doesn’t matter if they’ll never go pro. The lessons they learn from sports will help them win beyond the field. So…keep playing.

We used the voice of a teenage girl (our target) to hum our lullaby version of Alicia Keys’s “Girl on Fire.” Her voice grows stronger and more confident as the song progresses, acting as a metaphor for our emotional intent. This provides the backing track for Serena’s heartfelt message to her daughter and girls everywhere, growing in strength as we highlight other powerful women who credit high school sports as part of their success.

Sisters in Sweat received 715,429,091 impressions with placements in the LA Times, Teen Vogue, InTouch and espnW. The film was shared by key influencers including, Tory Burch, Serena Williams, Dwyane Wade and Olympians Sarah Gross and Sophie Schmidt.

The #SistersInSweat promoted trend led to 2.5x more mentions than Twitter benchmarks.

Brand interest results were up 3429% thanks to viewers actively searching to re-watch the ad on YouTube and Google, placing it in the top 25% of US ads.

The message went viral, with over 10 million views and girls and women around the world sharing stories of what playing sports means to them and encouraging each other to stay in the game.

As a brand, Gatorade believes that athletes Win From Within. More than scoreboards or stats, the biggest “wins” from sports are the powerful lessons of empowerment, teamwork, commitment and perseverance shared by all athletes at all levels who push themselves to be their best.

We started with research that showed that by age 14 girls drop out of sports 1.5x more than boys. Diving deeper into this disparity, a custom study revealed sports often got deprioritized and girls refocused on other efforts/activities as a “personal pessimism” crept into their identity as athletes. Because they didn’t see a future in the sport beyond high school, or didn’t want to hold their current teammates back, it wasn’t worth playing at all.

Our approach was to encourage young female athletes to see sports through the ways it would help them in their lives long after they hung up their jerseys.

The benefits of playing sports are widely recognized as far greater than technical mastery and championship records. The life lessons, interpersonal skills and personal growth gained through sports are powerful tools that lead to greater success in life both on and off the field. In turn, Gatorade’s commitment to fueling athletes extends beyond its products on sidelines and in locker rooms. With a core belief that you Win From Within and an understanding that “winning” is about much more than points and stats, Gatorade also fuels athletes emotionally by celebrating the passion, commitment and dedication they show every day.

Recognizing that sports are historically a male-dominated arena, with female athletes relegated to a secondary, if not ignored, position in culture, Gatorade has been a long supporter of the Women’s Sports Foundation and has been committed to both representing and celebrating female athletes at all levels from high school to pro.

But when research showed that girls drop out of sports at 1.5x the rate of boys by age 14, Gatorade wanted to speak to them directly and show girls that staying in sports throughout their teenage years has long-term and wide-reaching benefits that go far beyond the game.