Accelerade Launches Sports Drinks Into the 21st Century with 24-Hour Endurance Run
What they Asked us to Do
Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, asked us to launch Accelerade, the first protein-enhanced sports drink with a patented 4:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio, with a big splash by creating a buzz and consumer awareness to drive trial and purchase. Positioned as the biggest stride in sports drinks in more than 30 years, Accelerade incorporates the use of protein during exercise which has been the secret weapon for serious athletes.
What We Did
Our strategy was to create a highly visual event to engage consumers on and off line. To bring to life the endurance message, Cohn & Wolfe and Accelerade worked with Dean Karnazes, often considered to be the world’s greatest endurance athlete, as a spokesperson. We created the 24-Hour Endurance Run to highlight the national launch. For this, Dean attempted the Guinness World Record for the longest run on a treadmill in a 24-hour period. The event was broadcast live from the heart of New York City in Times Square on June 21, the longest day of the year, as Dean ran on a platform on the side of the Reuters building and broadcast live on www.accelerade.com. In addition, Karnazes help raise awareness to find a cure for prostate cancer through a partnership with Athletes for a Cure. Dean conducted a four-hour SMT after he had already completed 6 hours of running. Broadcast outlets across the country spoke with Dean live as he ran perched 4-stories up in Times Square all while never missing a step.
Our Results
In less than one week, this program generated more than 300 stories and more than 86 million media impressions. Coverage highlights include: Good Morning America, Fox & Friends; ESPN First Take, CNN America This Morning, World News Now, CNN Headline News, Fox News Channel, Howard Stern On-Demand; Associated Press; United Press International; The Howard Stern Show, USA Radio, Talk Radio Network, and more than 150 regional network broadcasts from coast to coast. And the online community was enthralled too, more than 100,000 consumers visited www.accelerade.com during the event as well as thousands of views on YouTube, Veoh, MySpace and Google who all carried video clips of the run. Dean ran for 24 hours on a treadmill and completed a distance of about five marathons, just one shy of the record. Nevertheless, Dean helped Accelerade accomplish their goal of introducing a new protein-enhanced sports drink to mass consumer.