As a part of adidas’ new global brand platform: “We Gave the World an Original. You Gave Us a Thousand Back” our work helped reignite the brand's cultural legacy as the original sport-to-culture brand by celebrating creators' originality and creativity. Our key objective was to continue adidas’ impact as a brand deeply rooted in cultural progression and change, leveraging the influence of creators to amplify this message across social media platforms. Through a multifaceted approach encompassing experiential activations, original songwriting and content creation, we aimed to cultivate authentic connections with consumers while driving engagement and brand affinity.
The campaign strategy revolved around harnessing the unique perspectives of creators and integrating them into the fabric of adidas' new global brand platform. We orchestrated a three-part influencer program with 18 creators that leveraged the TikTok platform and showcased their originality through immersive experiential elements. To kickstart our approach, TikTok hosted a Songwriting Camp held at a recording studio in Los Angeles, where TikTok SoundOn artists collaborated with Grammy award winning producers and songwriters to develop original music on behalf of adidas Originals, along with Highsnobiety’s 1000 Originals talent that made each city so special. This collaborative environment not only showcased the artists' originality but also celebrated the cultural tapestry of their respective hometowns, while highlighting the impact adidas had in each artist’s story of originality. Creators captured behind-the-scenes moments, immersing viewers in the creative process and the authenticity of each artist's inspiration. The resulting two-part video series tapped into “drop culture” by teasing the new song, followed by sharing a longer-form video documenting the songwriting journey on site.
In addition to the Songwriting Camp, the campaign featured an innovative OOH Hybrid initiative in collaboration with HighSnobiety. Bespoke newspaper boxes were strategically placed throughout Manhattan and Los Angeles, each containing a limited collection of tailored newspapers that celebrated local vendors and businesses while paying homage to 1000 Originals. Creators brought their unique perspectives to these pop-up experiential destinations, inviting viewers to join them on a journey of discovery and city adventure. All OOH TikTok content seamlessly integrated original audio produced at the Songwriting Camp, establishing a cohesive narrative thread that spanned multiple touchpoints.
Further enhancing the campaign were the cypHERS Event and cypHERS Sessions, two immersive experiences designed to empower local artists and celebrate female creativity. Our VIP creator, @cultureunfiltered was the anchor and throughline of all four events held across Houston and Atlanta, celebrating the unique culture rooted in each city, while capturing behind-the-scenes footage of the cypHERS talent. While on site, Masani (@cultureunfiltered) interviewed cypHERS talent about what it means to them to be original, while fostering an environment where the musicians could create and record original songs inspired by their respective hometowns. The subsequent cypHERS Sessions showcased the official music videos filmed in each city, while a variety of creators engaged in interactive discussions and celebrated their own originality, capturing behind-the-scenes content of the events. Throughout these events, adidas Originals audio served as a unifying element, reinforcing the brand's commitment to championing creativity and authenticity.
The detailed planning required for seven total experiential onsite events, along with the process shifts required when working with music artists (as opposed to standard content creators), our collaborative efforts ensured a seamless execution and dynamic content creation. By prioritizing creative freedom, we empowered all artists and creators to showcase their originality authentically, resulting in engaging and resonant content.
The campaign results speak for themselves, having effectively achieved our objectives of driving engagement and amplifying adidas' cultural resonance. With 18 creators producing 25 pieces of organic content, we garnered a total of 957,723 organic views and 14,601 organic engagements. Our collaborative and authentic approach led to impressive results. By fostering meaningful connections between adidas and its audience, we successfully helped re-established the brand as a trailblazer in the intersection of sport and culture. The success of our campaign truly shows the power of influencer marketing when married with experiential activations in driving brand affinity and engagement in today's digital world.
