Powerade on Thursday (Dec. 5) announced The Athletes Code, a contractual provision that allows athletes to pause their partnership commitments to focus on mental health without losing their sponsorship, per details shared with Marketing Dive. The program is an extension of the Coca-Cola brand’s “Pause is Power” platform that encourages athletes to take a break and come back stronger.
“The Athletes Code is, for us, a first-of-its-kind commitment to be more inclusive and progressive in terms of the relationships that we have, and it also allows for the athlete partners to be protected in terms of wherever they are and the space that they’re in,” said Matrona Filippou, president of the global hydration, sports, coffee and tea category for The Coca‑Cola Company.
The program, which covers all of Powerade’s athlete partners, is launching with Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup Champion Alex Morgan, Olympic gold medalist swimmer Tatjana Smith, South African footballer Linda Motlhalo and Brazilian Paralympic swimmer Douglas Matera. Those athletes are featured in a moving 3-minute hero film that was developed by Ogilvy New York and directed by Babak Khoshnoud.
“As part of our partnership with Powerade, it was our ambition to build an initiative that captures the holistic athlete mindset — not just the moments of glory, but the everyday grind,” said Guillermo Vega, global creative network lead at Ogilvy, in a statement. “Interacting with Athletes when and where they need the most. Outside of the cameras and the fame. Supporting them every day when they train and endure the physical and when they face mental challenges to perform at their maximum level.”
The Athletes Code will cover additional athletes from countries including Australia, Chile, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea. The program was created by WPP Open X, led by Ogilvy and supported by agencies Burson, EssenceMediaCom, Hogarth, Village Marketing and VML. Agency 160over90 helped manage production logistics, content strategy and messaging to the featured athletes.
A growing trend
Many brands in recent years have put mental health and the well-being of athletes at the center of their marketing. The trend responds to changing consumer attitudes and as former stigmas around the topic have subsided. Powerade since 2022 has iterated on its “Pause is Power” platform, which seeks to challenge the “win at all costs” mentality common in sports.
The brand earlier this year launched a global campaign timed to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Along with an emotional spot featuring iconic gymnast Simone Biles that focused on her own pause from competition, the campaign included an Olympics Village experience that sought to provide athletes with a space for recovery and respite. The Athletes Code grew out of the conversations with athletes and consumers that have driven the “Pause is Power” work.
“Athletes have had, over the last few years, a lot more courage to be able to speak up on this topic and actually not be shunned,” Filippou said. “It’s not frowned upon when athletes now actually raise their voice and say, ‘I need to take a break,’ or ‘I’m just in a space where I cannot perform my best, and I need to just step away and then come back stronger.’”
The Athletes Code allows Powerade to further support its athletes, but it is not without its costs for the company when it comes to shooting and releasing marketing work.
“In instances where the athletes have chosen to take a pause, we fully respected it, and we’ve stepped back,” Filippou said. “Sometimes, are there impacts there? Yes, absolutely, but it’s a risk that we prepare to take.”
For example, Powerade has worked with Biles even when it wasn’t clear if the gymnast would ever return to competition. But respecting athletes and their mental health with The Athletes Code isn’t purpose-washing.
“If the partner doesn’t come back, I think the story becomes even stronger, because we’re willing to stand by partners at any given time, whether they perform and go get their gold medal or actually choose not to go on to perform, but they have a very different story to tell and they become an everyday athlete that does something different,” Filippou said.
