One for the records: endurance hits times square
Cadbury Schweppes needed a winning game plan to generate major buzz for the launch of Accelerade, the company’s new sports drink.
Cohn & Wolfe’s solution in one word: endurance. This platform would serve to differentiate the brand in a hot marketplace and inspire an idea so outrageous, it would make more noise than Yankee Stadium … during a World Series game … against the Red Sox.
Cohn & Wolfe drafted Dean Karnazes, the world’s greatest endurance athlete, to challenge the Guinness World Record for most miles run on a treadmill in a 24-hour period. Of course we didn’t make it easy on him: we strapped him to a treadmill … over Times Square … on June 21 … the longest day of the year.
…an idea so outrageous, it would make more noise than Yankee Stadium…during a World Series game…against the Red Sox.
In the end, he didn’t make it. But if we had made it easy, no one would have covered the event. Instead, his oh-so-close attempt delivered millions of media hits (all including the “endurance” messaging) and caused a flood of 450,000 visitors to the Accelerade website. What’s more, 82 percent of consumers said they would now be likely to try or buy Accelerade within six months, and 80 percent of Cadbury Schweppes’ own grocery customers expressed intent to carry Accelerade.
