Adidas released a new spot, called ‘Ready For Sport’, offering sports fans some hope for the future in a poignant campaign aiming to reassure fans and athletes that “we’ll compete again.”
Officially the objective is not just to remind viewers of what they love while they wait at home during the pandemic, but to remind them that now is the time to keep moving, to pull together, to share skills, positivity and hope.
It runs under the German sportswear giant’s pandemic #hometeam initiative (see case study).
The spot takes in a whole range of sport, from basketball and rugby to yoga and surfing and includes a range of its leading athlete ambassadors (eg James Harden) and team sponsorships (eg Manchester United).
Staring with scenes of padlocks and empty stadiums and then action shot memories of athletes competing, the copy says “We will run again…we will freeze in the stands again. And spring, and sweat and fly” and ends with the message that “when the time comes, we will be ready.”
The spot was created by regular Adidas agency Iris and used stock footage and existing campaign imagery.
It is narrated by New York rapper Princess Nokia.
The ad is running across Adidas global social channels and as part of the campaign, the brand has also created Instagram stickers and invited consumers to post about which sport they’re most looking forward to experiencing again.
The campaign was created by Gabi Mostert, Henry Scotland and Rachid Ahoiuyek, and directed by Gabi Mostert through Iris Pops.
Outcome:
Within just 24 hours of its being posted across Adidas social platforms the spot had generated 225,000 views across the major social channels (including 162K on Instagram, 70K on Twitter, 4K on YouTube and 1K on Facebook)
Comment:
This is a kind of pandemic-meets-World-War-Two ‘we’ll compete again’ ode to sport and it is none-the-worse for that.
Well, it is the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
But is the timing really quite right?
Does its 28 April roll out unofficially hint that Adidas is now supporting a loosening of the lockdown?
The campaign comes as Adidas is being hit hard by the effects of the pandemic. At the end of April it reported first quarter results that were worse than expected, revealing net profit down 97% – with 70% of its stores closed worldwide.
It said the outlook was so uncertain that it could not provide an earnings forecast for the full year.
Links:
Adidas
https://www.adidas.co.uk/hometeam
https://www.youtube.com/user/adidas
https://www.facebook.com/adidas
https://www.instagram.com/adidas/
Iris
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