Basketball Star Ja Morant Shares His History for POWERADE Campaign

POWERADE has announced basketball superstar Ja Morant as the brand’s newest athlete partner – the first athlete partnership for POWERADE in more than five years. As the face of newly rebranded POWERADE, Morant stars in the brand’s latest national marketing campaign and television spot, 'What 50% More Means.'  

The campaign is the largest in brand history and shines a spotlight on the hard work and after hours dedication that athletes everywhere put in behind-the-scenes, ultimately taking them to the next level. For Morant, that meant transforming from an unranked high school basketball recruit to one of the most dynamic and brightest stars in the league. For POWERADE it means putting in the work to reformulate, bringing more functionality to the sports drink category and allowing the brand to go head-to-head with the competition.  

Showcasing Morant’s journey in the most authentic way possible, his dad, Tee Morant, voiced-over the campaign and each scenario within the spot depicts real, recreated moments of Morant putting in the work to become the leader he is today.  

“I see a lot of myself in a brand like POWERADE,” said basketball star, Ja Morant. “I know what it’s like to be underestimated and seeing the vision this team has for the future – and all the hard work that they’re putting in to set themselves apart from the competition – it just feels really authentic for us to team up together and try to shake things up.” 

'What 50% More Means,' is the largest marketing campaign and media spend in POWERADE history, with activation across national television, digital creative, out-of-home, radio, and social media extensions. The new campaign features music from Memphis-born artist, NLE Choppa and the first national spot will debut on TV on Tuesday, March 14th during NCAA March Madness. POWERADE has been an official partner of NCAA March Madness since 2010. Morant truly broke through during the tournament in 2019 – being the last player to post a rare triple-double during the Big Dance. 

“POWERADE is a dynamic brand with a deep history, but it was time to evolve our game” said Matt Dzamba, chief marketing officer of BODYARMOR Sports Nutrition. “Partnering with a disruptive game-changer like Ja Morant, who truly embodies the spirit of the brand, will help re-energise POWERADE as we write the next chapter. We are excited for what lies ahead and there’s no doubt the brand will be a force to be reckoned and a relentless competitor as exemplified by Ja every time he hydrates and hits the hardwood.”

The launch of this campaign comes directly on the heels of the brand announcing an all-new formula, as well as new-look packaging earlier this year. The new, great-tasting formula now comes with 50% more electrolytes vs. Gatorade Thirst Quencher. It also includes Vitamins C and B12 – both of which are new to the POWERADE formula and not found in Gatorade. Along with the reformulation, POWERADE’s refreshed packaging featuring vibrant flavour colours on label to create an eye-catching line-up at retail.