There are a number of sportswear brands currently, but there are a few that stand out amongst the rest in a congested industry and one of those heavyweights is Adidas.
Since it’s creation in Germany back in 1929 and rebranding to Adidas in 1949 it has become one of the sport businesses on the planet, with their brand emblazoned on some of the best and most famous athletes in history.
Like every major business Adidas put a big emphasis on their PR campaigns, with the company producing iconic pieces of work such as the Jose +10 campaign for the 2006 World Cup.
However, it has been in the 2010’s that the brand has really come into it’s own, with their campaigns been named the best of the year on numerous occasions.
Holding that mind, here are some of my personal favourites of Adidas campaigns from the last few years.
Manchester United: Break Expectations/#BeTheDifference
Been a firm Red Devil myself, when I saw that my team were pairing up with Adidas and saw how much that they would be paying to have their logo on our shirts I was more than content with the proceedings.
Adidas launched the £750m 10-year deal with an inspiring advert showcasing the new kit alongside the current side with highlights of the club’s historic success in the background.
This #BeTheDifference proved to be a success for both the club and Adidas, with the video receiving 737,000 views (as of December 2016) and brought in $2.6m in the first three days of launch.
New Zealand – force of black
Adidas’ effect is not only in football, but has spread to multiple sports and showed that their ‘force of black’ campaign for the All Blacks.
New Zealand headed in the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England looking to retain their 2011 Webb Ellis Cup and for certain their advert will have struck fear into the hearts of their opponents.
The advert which has been seen 1.4m times featured the likes of Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu and Jerome Kaino. It features imagery of Cheetahs volcanoes and tornadoes to convey the All Blacks as a force of nature.
That ‘force’ theme carried over into the kit launch with Adidas building a wind tunnel under London’s Hungerford Bridge, to replicate the feeling of playing the All Blacks.
It seemed to work out on the pitch as New Zealand retained the trophy and Adidas will look to continue their strong partnership until their contract end in 2019, which was described as by New Zealand RFU CEO Steve Tew back in 2008 as “biggest sponsorship package in the world of rugby.”
Adidas – There will be haters
In the age of social media, criticism of footballers is more frequent and more prominent than ever and Adidas took that on board in one of their edgiest campaigns to date.
The ‘there will be haters’ campaign brings together; James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Luis Suarez in what was an edgy advert campaign.
The quick editing, close camera shots and the flashing of hashtags such as #FAIL, #FREAK and #FUGLY which seems to give off a certain perspective of what athletes face in the modern era.
Adidas sprinted in the opposite direction of what people will have expected as they attempt the “playing football is hard, woe is me” assumption, and judging by it’s 160,00 shares and it’s 21.6m views show that it proved to be quite the popular campaign.
Paul Pogba – Never follow
Going back to the Manchester United and Adidas partnership, that was pushed into overdrive this summer when they secured the world-record return of their former midfielder and Adidas superstar.
His return to Old Trafford has not only been a success on the pitch, but also off it with the announcement video with grime artist Stormzy reaching 2.04m on YouTube and had millions talking on social media with #POGBACK.
Pogba is one of the best young talents on the planet, and with that it is expected that many youngsters would inspire to base their game on the Frenchman, but their ‘never follow’ campaign to look to counteract that.
The advert begins with the seemingly obnoxious stating to the viewer “You ain’t never be me” but is met with the response of “You! I don’t wanna be you!” and continuing triade of not wanting be like the Frenchman.
It is somewhat a contrast from a typical campaign which looks to promote the player, instead encouraging the audience to create their own style of play. That positive message coupled with Pogba’s appearance made a very effective campaign.
Olympics 2012 – #takethestage
The final campaign I will look at arguably takes the crown, with the giants producing an excellent campaign for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
A lot was expected of the German brand having paid £100 million for the privilege of been a tier-one sponsor of the event and they certainly didn’t disappoint. It started with bringing in fashion designer Stella McCartney to design the kits and snowballed from there.
Multiple publicity stunts and adverts involving the likes of Louis Smith, Tom Daley, Jessica Ennis-Hill, David Beckham etc. brought them right to the forefront and it is clear that Adidas’ #takethestage campaign will live long in the memory.
Sports and Public Relations 