Adidas Football animates a team of its big name football endorsers in a new ‘Here To Create’ spot and associated campaign released in early June to leverage peak football passion (generated by the UEFA Champions League Final) around the planet.
An impressive line-up of ambassadors in the Adidas stable – including Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, Roberto Firmino and Luis Suarez (and a F2 Freestylers cameo) – all get the cartoon treatment in a film which aims to inspire general creativity and football invention around the world.
The spearhead spot opens with a black and white close up of Messi, before it transitions into animation and bursts into colour.
Thus, Barca’s Messi transforms into an electric figure bursting past opponents, while United midfielder Pogba becomes a tuxedo-wearing star of stage and soccer pitch. Liverpool’s Firmino morphs into a spinning, smooth operator and Suarez channels the Incredible Hulk.
Combining animation with a boxing voiceover, the film portrays soccer stars as super heroes and assigns each athlete ambassador a super power based upon his own specific skill set.
An approach which some argue that actually reflects the way many fans view professional players.
Debuting on Adidas Football’s YouTube channel on 1 June, the ad is set to a track called ‘Giant Robot Danz’ is by WOST.
The film, supported by a set of digital and social content pieces connected by the #HereToCreate hashtag, is part of Adidas Football’s ongoing umbrella ‘Here To Create’ concept (see case study) and specifically pushes viewers to ‘Shop the Dust Storm pack at adidas.com/football’
It ran in parallel with a more specific set of Adidas Football content pieces focusing on the UEFA Champions League Final itself and fronted by players participating in the final.
The Addias Football channel itself is a digital and social brand platform that aims to bring fans closer to the ‘world of cutting edge football’ through exclusive access to players in the Adidas stable, as well as getting supporters behind-the-scenes with Adidas teams and unveiling the brand’s football innovations.
The objective is to ‘push the limits of the game forward’ and to ‘drive the performances of Messi, Pogba, Bale, Rodríguez et al, plus Sunday League players around the world’.
The spot itself was created in harness with agency Iris and Blink (Blinkink and Blink Art),
The Iris London team was lead by director Simon Yoxall, group account director Matt Glyn, account directors Ben Buchanan and Simone Botherway, senior account manager Theo Jenkins, account executive Jasmina Cigoja, agency producer Ash Durrant, design director Iain Robson, associate design director David Missen and designer Mitch Gibbons, agency producer Sid Daffarn, senior creatives Matt Tassle and Marc Owens, plus creative director Adam Fish.
The film was directed by Blink’s Nicos Livesey, other members of the team working on the campaign include co-director and illustrator Stevie Gee, agent/producer Katy MacGregor, producer Jen Coatsworth, executive producer Bart Yates.
Editing was by Work Editing and The Mill, while sound was by Unit.
Activative Comment:
Stars, striking visual, catchy music and a boxing voiceover – it seems this is the combination for a soccer spot hit.
The spot notched up an initial 315,000 YouTube views in its first few days
Bursting with life and colour, this high energy, mixed media spot blends player endorsers with psychedelic illustrations and offbeat animation, it is visceral, metaphorical and a touch retro.
In fact, when every other piece of contemporary sports brand and sponsor activation sees to feature AR or VR, this old school animation approach feels like a return to creative craftsmanship.
Links:
Adidas Football
http://adidas.com/football
https://www.youtube.com/user/adidasfootballtv
http://snapchat.com/add/adidasfootball
https://twitter.com/adidasfootball
https://facebook.com/adidasfootball
http://instagram.com/adidasfootball
Iris
http://www.iris-worldwide.com/
