Adidas "All In" - The Largest Campaign in the History of the Brand

In March, Adidas has just released their biggest and most expensive marketing campaign in the history of the brand.

The creative strategy used in the campaign, captures the passion of athletes, musicians and artists put into their “game”, and takes a gritty and authentic look into the visceral nature of raw passion. These celebrities give an insight into their lives and make the viewers realise that these celebrities got where they are today because they were determined to get there.

They did this by releasing numerous online and TV commercials, where various celebrities speak about their passions and show the viewers that anything is possible if you put your game face on. These celebrities include Katy Perry, rapper B.O.B, skateboarder Silas Baxter-Neal, soccer players David Beckham and Lionel Messi, and NBA star Derek Rose, to just name a few.

A strong brand always has to be efficient in the telling of a story. A story that rings true with the audience. But the challenge in brand communication is to develop its messages to be strategically consistent. And that is exactly what Adidas has achieved in their celebrity ads. Soccer Star Lionel Messi tells the audience how he started playing soccer at a young age, that he joined his first soccer team when he was about 4 years old,

  and that anything you love doing has sacrifices, but these sacrifices are always worth it in the end. Derek Rose spoke about his proudest moment in basketball, and that when he is on the court his mind is blank to everything but the game and how much fun he is having. B.O.B also spoke about his proudest moment in his career, but he also mentioned that his worst low in his career was also the best thing that could have happened to him as it gave him the fire to succeed. David Beckham summed it all up with “if you don’t enjoy the game, then there is no point in playing it”.

The campaign allowed viewers to get involved with the campaign through allowing them to interact with the website, posting comments on how they would run a soccer match if they could call the shots, enter into a competition to be a music reporter for Adidas and meet the biggest music celebrities, and picking an obstacle for Adidas to build at the International Skateboarding competition in London, and winning a chance for a paid trip there. This goes hand in hand with the marketing campaign, to show that no matter who you are, no matter what the game, you can play it and live the lifestyle if you put your mind to it.

At the heart of the campaign is the celebration of the game face – which is the look of glory or defeat we reveal at pivotal moments in a game. So Adidas asked its facebook fans to submit their own best game face photo for a chance to be in a special Adidas commercial that would be played at the MTW Movie Awards in June.  Adidas already engages in excess of 10 million fans of the brand on a regular basis across this platform.

One creative execution that Adidas has used is not a new one and has been used by many other brands, including Ralph Lauren, Samsung, Matell and Nike. Im talking about the use of 3D Laser Projections to give viewers an out-of-this-world experience that they will remember forever.  However, the grand scale of this particular project blew the others attempts at 3D mapping or Laser Projections out of the water. Adidas threw a laser exhibition at the “Palais du Pharo” in France, where the general public was astounded. The show featured massive projections of athletes playing basketball in the Palace and breaking it down to the beats of DJ Cut Killer. People stood amazed as jumbo-jet sized athletes and musicians did their stuff, and some even screamed when it appeared that the building was collapsing. Therefore Adidas’ strategy to get noticed and remembered, worked out extremely well as it hit newspapers and news channels all around the world. I highly recomend you watch the video, YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED!

The use of so many celebrities is Adidas’ massive marketing push to showcase the brand’s distinctive presence across different cultures and lifestyles, fusing the world of sports, music and fashion. Erich Stamminger, a member of the executive board responsible for Global Brands said that the brand’s  “creative concept brings together the diversity of the brand under one strong roof. From the court to the catwalk, the stadium to the street, we are giving an authentic statement with the credibility only Adidas has.”  At the heart of this campaign, the marketing message to the viewers, customers and the public in general is that when you love your game, whatever the game, you put your all into it.