• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 9, 2023

Gatorade is heading into its busy summer season with a new campaign to build brand heat. "The Way To Be Great" kicks off with the "Be Like Mike" jingle the company first introduced in 1992 with NBA legend Michael Jordan.

But this time around, the frenetic spot has plenty of others, including Serena Williams and Lionel Messi, along with a sprinkling of next-gen superstars, including the NBA's Jayson Tatum, WNBA's Elena Delle Donne and Sydney McLaughlin, the sprinting and hurdling phenom.

Narrated by Eminem, the 30-second spot kicks off with the "Be Like Mike" homage, quickly transitioning to what the future will look like.

It's the PepsiCo-owned brand's first campaign under Anuj Bhasin, who started as the company's first chief brand officer in January. (He's been with Gatorade and associated brands for 12 years, most recently as vice president of marketing and general manager.)

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY LA created the spot, scheduled to debut on broadcast TV during NBA Finals Game 4 Friday evening. It's also expected to run across linear, digital and streaming during high-profile sports events, like the NBA Draft, WNBA All-Star and the College Baseball World Series, and will air on ION this season during WNBA games.

Gatorade also brought Jordan back into the fold in 2021 when he recreated the "I Can Do Better" spot with Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach and Usain Bolt. 

Despite a growing field of rivals, Gatorade continues to dominate the sports-performance category. In its latest quarterly earnings report, PepsiCo says its beverage unit gained 12% and that Gatorade, Aquafina, LIFEWTR and Rockstar all notched double-digit sales gains in the period.