On 11 February, a day ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, adidas launched a new global brand campaign called ‘You Go This’ featuring a strong line up elite endorsers and amateur athletes which sets out to help athletes handle sporting pressure.
The global content series, which is led by a spearhead spot, features a team of adidas endorsers – including NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes and US soccer star Trinity Rodman – explaining how they deal with pressure to perform at their highest level.
Adidas’ in-house marketers worked with agency TBWA on creative, We Are Social on social media, The Sphere’s creative team for the Las Vegas launch phase and with EssenceMediacom on media.
The campaign’s objective is to inspire everyday athletes to do the same as the creative carries an adidas’ message dedicated to the next generation of athletes encouraging them to believe they can overcome pressure to achieve their possible possibilities in sport.
This is brought to life through a series of content and activations which are timed to roll out in time to leverage some of the biggest sports events on the calendar – from the Super Bowl to the Olympic Games.
The hero, 90-second launch commercial rolled out to leverage Super Bowl LVIII and featured game-MVP Patrick Mahomes alongside a slew of athlete ambassadors including Trinity Rodman, Lionel Messi, Linda Caicedo, Rohit Sharma, Anthony Edwards, Jude Bellingham and the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.
The spearhead spot opens with several amateur athletes – shot in black and white – getting advice from parents, facing up against competition and falling short as they train for a race. As the narrative arc evolves to discuss ‘rivalryl’ and ‘noise’ set to the Queen and David Bowie track ‘Under Pressure’, the video turns to color footage and features professional athletes training and the narrator then breaks down sport into smaller components that the athletes have trained asserting that ‘It’s only a game’. The ad then closes with the message ‘You got this’.
The campaign will evolve through the year across other multi-platform executions with content linked through the hashtags #YouGotThis #adidas #sports and driving viewers to find out more online at http://www.adidas.com
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This supporting content series features athletes across a wide range of sports talking about the pressures they face and the tools they use to overcome those feelings to perform at their highest levels.
To understand the physiological effect pressure has, Adidas worked with German based neuro outfit neuro11 and the episodic, fly-on-the-wall style digital series features neuroscientists exploring how and why negative pressure hinders play and performance and then provides guidance on how athletes at all levels can help to disarm this feeling.
During penalty shootout testing, Martínez showed that he excelled under pressure, as he was 90 per cent more in the optimal zone during high pressure moments in the penalties test.
For example, one spot sees Argentina and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez is tested during a penalty shootout and finds that he excelled under pressure because he was 90% more in the ‘optimal zone during high pressure moments in the penalties test’.
As well as multi-media content, the brand is also holding events and activations for consumers throughout the year and will further support the effort through an out-of-home campaign in major cities.
“In a year of unmissable sport, where our Adidas family will undoubtedly inspire a new wave of athletes across the globe, we have created a campaign to help young players confront a universal barrier – pressure,” said Florian Alt, Adidas vice president of global brand communications. “Our new campaign is designed to help bring the joy back to sport and equip all athletes with a simple message: You got this.”
Saudi Arabian soccer star Farah Jefry said: “In the realm of sports, pressure is the opponent we face as much as any competitor. But it’s not about succumbing to its weight; it’s about leveraging it as fuel for our fire. Through resilience and focus, I transform pressure into the driving force behind my success.”
While fellow Saudi alpine climber Raha Moharrak added: “Mountains aren’t the only obstacles I conquer. In the arena of sports, pressure looms tall. Yet, just as I ascend peaks, I rise above the weight of expectations. With a steady mind and unyielding determination, I navigate the cliffs of pressure and emerge stronger on the other side.”
This global brand campaign was driven by consumer insights from around offering adidas feedback into how negative pressure affects their enjoyment of sport and their performance. So the sportswear giant decided to provide inspiration, expertise and guidance materials designed to help athletes at any level to disarm pressure in sport.
Here was have a sportswear brand platform setting out its belief in its ambassadors and its customers alike. A campaign positioning it as a company that provides not just sports apparel and equipment, but also motivation, determination and support to help its brand fans handle the pressure and achieve their goals.
Adidas, coming off a better-than-expected financial performance in Q4, is staking its claim as a brand supporting athletes of all levels.
The new campaigns arrived ahead of one of the biggest sporting events in the United States, the Super Bowl, and well in advance of the biggest sporting event in the world, the 2024 Summer Olympics. And, speaking of the Super Bowl, there was a perfect live illustration of an adidas ambassador handling pressure as three-time champion Patrick Mahomes showed (once again) how to handle the challenges and stresses athletes face as the crucial sporting moment.