Powerade, chosen by Cricket South Africa to hydrate the Proteas

The Powerade Chosen One campaign is ready to hit the cricket world for six through the use of varied mediums such as radio, print and digital whilst at the same time utilising tried and tested platforms such as player appearances, product placement and television.

Senior brand manager: Sports & Iced Tea at Coca-Cola South Africa, Ismail Nanabhay is thrilled to launch the campaign,
"The Chosen One campaign is about Powerade choosing South Africa's favourite fans. Just as Cricket South Africa chose Powerade to hydrate the Protea's, so too do we strive to be the country's number one! This cricket series against India is set to rewrite the record books and we are honoured to be a part of the Protea's set up."

Opening the innings for the Powerade Chosen One account will be The Powerade Chosen One Moment competition on Supersport whereby one winner will participate with his friends plus some Protea's in a Pro20 match at a provincial stadium, valued at R80 000. Running alongside this campaign and also on Supersport, Powerade will be giving away tickets to all the matches - see Supersport.com for details.

In terms of radio, both YFM and SAFM will be running ticket give aways, encouraging fans to support our Protea's,
"Radio is a platform which always delivers. The high listenership, enthusiastic presenters and varied audience as well as the interactive format of competitions means that this medium is one that cannot be ignored and serves as a vital ingredient to an all-round campaign," comments Nanabhay,

"In addition, we cannot ignore new age media such as Twitter and Facebook and we will look to saturate these mediums with informative and interesting content as opposed to dull dead end product messaging. Our experience has taught us that we can no longer dictate to our target market, but that we should instead strive to achieve an interest in our brand through the consumers choice. I thus encourage twitter and facebook fans to look out for some fun facts on Powerade and the Protea's throughout this series."

The greatest challenge of The Chosen One campaign is the incidental exposure to be achieved through product placement.

"When you are The Chosen One for your country, it is your mission to consistently perform at your peak," explains Nanabhay, "The team or individual that can best recover from strenuous exercise, replenish lost nutrients and electrolytes and then refuel sufficiently for the next day's play, is the team that will set history alight. It is for this reason that you will see the Protea's consume up to 7 Powerade's a day throughout the series. The trick however is for our activations team to consistently capture the consumption of the product by the player, thus ensuring that our target market understands the authenticity and uniqueness of our product. Because at the close of play, if the educated consumer doesn't believe in the product, he won't purchase the product."