An innovative strand of Adidas’ ‘Beyond The Surface’ campaign backing its commitment to more inclusive swimming and promoting its latest swimwear range for all athletes everywhere saw the German-headquartered sportswear giant build a world-first liquid billboard on the beach in Dubai.
This immersive, swimmable out-of-home initiative, created by agency Havas Middle East, is essentially a five-meter high and three-metre deep swimming pool billboard holding 11,500 gallons of water and which saw the brand invite women visiting Dubai’s most popular beach to take a literal leap of faith and dive ‘beyond the surface’ into the OOH ad.
The aquatic billboard was erected on 24 June and amongst those who took a public plunge into the watery ad during its opening event were a team of Adidas ambassadors including amputee triathlete Dareen Barbar and Raha Moharrak (the first Saudi Arabian female to climb Mount Everest).
The activation, equal in size to 3,319 Adidas standard shoe boxes, is made of reinforced transparent acrylic and took a 32-strong team three weeks to build. It was promoted through social content and led by a hero spot showing women how to take a public dive.
“Our belief is that nobody should be prevented from enjoying the benefits of being in and around the water,” said Adidas Senior Brand Director Amrith Gopinath. “Each piece is also carefully crafted to ensure that additional fabric does not reduce a swimmer’s ability to move in the water. The range went through a detailed testing process with consumer groups across multiple regions to help find the perfect balance of fit, features, performance and coverage.”
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The initiative follows on from a YouGov survey commissioned by adidas in 2021 which revealed that only 12% of women in the United Arab Emirates are completely comfortable wearing a swimsuit at a public beach or pool. The research also found that body shame and lack of privacy are the two main reasons women do not feel comfortable in their swimsuits.
This is an inventive strand of Adidas’ wider mission to enable more women around the world to embrace the water and gain from the mental and physical benefits of swimming: regardless of their shape, ability, or religion.
The liquid billboard is a fresh phase of Adidas’ integrated ‘Beyond the Surface‘ campaign launched in June and led by a hero film featuring a poem from a spoken word poet and sports inclusivity activist Asma Albadawi.
This inventive and immersive OOH installation follows in the footsteps of some standout billboard marketing in recent months including Specsavers giant Euro 2020 England ‘Its Coming Home’ stunt in July, the deliberately controversial ‘We Are Right/Left’ Davis Cup billboard in Madrid in May and Decathlon’s simple ‘Get Outside’ posters in Canada in August 2020.
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