Activating its shirt supplier status, Adidas leverages the start of the new soccer season with a groovy, slightly unorthodox Manchester United campaign positioning the club and its players as entertainers and creators.
Launched to coincide with the start of the 201/18 premier League season, the sportswear giant’s #HereToCreate club campaign positions the team as performers rather than just football players.
The initiative is spearhead by a 60-second social spot which mixes animation, virtual reality and real footage and features Herrera and Mata as puppets, Lingard as a rapper, a drumming De Gea and features plenty of Pogba tricks.
The film finishes with a bewildered figure dressed as a rabbit hopping out of the frame, while manager Jose Mourinho watching the ‘show’ from Old Trafford’ss stands before closing the commercial with the endline “Ok! that’s it!”
On YouTube, the German sports apparel behemoth describes the video as: “In the Theatre of Dreams, only the creative shine. Manchester United are always ready to perform.”
As well as YouTube, the spot is also amplified across Adidas’ digital platforms and social channels from Facebook,
to Twitter.
In the Theatre of Dreams, only the creative shine.@ManUtd are ready for action.#HereToCreate pic.twitter.com/7a1N1KWa2V
— adidas Football (@adidasfootball) August 12, 2017
Comment:
Of course, this positioning concept and creative approach doesn’t sit in Adidas isolation.
In fact, as Adidas leverage the new European football season it also recently released a similarly-styled spot starring Barcelona’s Messi and Suarez and Liverpool’s Firmino (giving the former the epithet of ‘The king creator –
while Utd’s Pogba’s royal title is merely ‘Prince’).
It is also running a parallel football-focused partnership social spot series with Hypebeast featuring a series of video profiles of a generation of Adidas footballer endorsers.
All these content pieces and campaign strands continue Adidas’ ongoing and award winning ‘Creators’ umbrella marketing concept – which has been one of the driving forces behind its recent commercial upturn.
Other initiatives within this big global positioning push range from its early August ‘Create Positive’ campaign (see case study), and its pre UEFA Champions League Final 2017 work (see case study), to its partnership with Stormzy for the Manchester United film in First Never Follows series (see case study 1 and case study 2).
The brand also allowed fans to design the third kits of its big teams, a part of Adidas’ ambition to be the most shared and engaging brand amongst its rivals,
including the new Man Utd kit (see case study).
Perhaps its not surprising that the Man Utd video has received something of a mixed responses from the team’s fans around the world.
What the hell did I just watch? Tell American Marketing company to take a hike.
— SoccerJedi (@SoccerJedi) August 12, 2017
Dope pic.twitter.com/tTZn6yBElD
— M A Hakim (@FergieGrandson) August 12, 2017
Recent years have seen Utd be anything but entertaining performers on the pitch, but the first game of the new 2017/18 season saw the side play with an attacking flair and verve reminiscent of the best Sir Alex Ferguson teams.
Perhaps, after the functional approach under Moyes and Van Gaal, Mourinho and his man have finally understand the marketing message – Manchester United are creative performing entertainers.
Links:
Adidas Football
https://www.youtube.com/user/adidasfootballtv
http://www.adidas.co.uk/football
https://www.facebook.com/adidasFootball
https://twitter.com/adidasfootball
Manchester United
http://www.manutd.com/
https://twitter.com/ManUtd
https://www.facebook.com/manchesterunited
https://plus.google.com/+manutd
https://instagram.com/manchesterunited/
https://www.pinterest.com/manutd/
http://www.manutd.com/en/Club/Sponsors.aspx
