Entry Type
Product/Service
Medium
Branded Entertainment/Content
Category
Athlete Storytelling
POWERADE is the official sports drink of March Madness. The 68-team, single-elimination basketball tournament that grips the nation with massive viewership and tradition.
For 35 years, men’s March Madness has had an anthem: One Shining Moment. The women’s tournament? No song. No sound. Nothing.
So we changed that. We teamed up with NIL athlete, LSU star and Roc Nation rapper Flau’jae Johnson to create What It Takes: the first-ever anthem for the women’s tournament.
Written and performed in Flau’jae’s own words, the track fused her two worlds, basketball and hip-hop, into one hit song. Produced by Grammy-winner Fatboi, who once worked with her late father, rapper Camoflauge, the song was more than music. It was history.
Each verse was a lesson in building something that lasts. Not just for the players on the court, but for every young girl watching at home. A reminder that greatness isn’t given — it’s earned. One step. One shot. One verse at a time.
What It Takes powered POWERADE’s most successful March Madness campaign ever, generating over 1.4B engagements and 27M plays.
And more importantly, we gave the women’s tournament a soundtrack. Its own voice. Its own anthem. Its own shining moment.