In a sports marketing landscape often dominated by intensity and competition, Adidas has taken a fresh approach with its latest campaign, “We All Need Someone to Make Us Believe.” This new initiative, by creative agency 180LA, addresses the high-pressure environments many athletes face.
Set to the soundtrack of The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Sticking with You,” the campaign captures the moments where athletes across various sports experience moments of doubt and exhaustion—featuring individuals like Anthony Edwards and Aliyah Boston—only to find strength through the encouragement of supporters.
What makes this campaign particularly notable is how it positions Adidas in contrast to competitors like Nike.
Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the campaign.
The Details:
- While several creatives within the new “We All Need Someone to Make Us Believe” campaign outperformed apparel & footwear advertising norms (past year) across many performance areas, the :30 “Emma” stood out as the most resonant while also delivering one of the highest positive impacts on consumer intent (at 58%; +8 pts above average):
- The 2:15 anthem boasted an intent rate that was just +1 pt higher than “Emma,” pointing to the shorter “Emma” as a particularly strong creative to consider additional support behind without the higher Spend the anthem would require for Adidas.
- While the brand’s Super Bowl post-game “Sideline Hype” enjoyed a warm reception from viewers, the ad did not move the needle in driving business outcomes ahead of the category average.
- Nike’s Super Bowl “So Win” placed ahead of each Adidas ad iSpot reviewed in response and consideration (with a 65% Top 2 Box intent) while On’s Sesame Street themed ad trailed.
- The 2:15 anthem boasted an intent rate that was just +1 pt higher than “Emma,” pointing to the shorter “Emma” as a particularly strong creative to consider additional support behind without the higher Spend the anthem would require for Adidas.
- Modeling of the past three years of Adidas General Apparel ads reveals that the spots that drive higher consumer intent stand out by hitting strongly on Relevance while also delivering Likeability and Change (in direction or something new/different). Grabbing Attention and delivering Information are contributive, but to a lesser extent, as seen on the Optimal Profile depicted on the chart below:
- This chart also compares the :30 “Emma” to that Optimal Profile (right side of the chart) and indicates that the spot significantly outperformed on the key Relevance as well as Change and Information while generally meeting optimal Likeability and Information.
- While Information and Attention are overall less contributive, this could also reflect the historical approach of Adidas ads being more message-focused.
- Based on this profile, the :30 easily placed (on the left side of the chart) in the upper right quadrant of Adidas General Apparel ads, indicating that it would be expected to drive higher consumer intent vs other brand ads (as reported above, consumer testing showed an above-norm 58% Top 2 Box Intent rate).
- Armed with this information on each of Adidas’ creatives (ads can be pretested to confirm potential even before airing), the brand’s media team is empowered to allocate budget accordingly to optimize business results.
- Note that other brands will have their own unique Optimal profiles.
- This chart also compares the :30 “Emma” to that Optimal Profile (right side of the chart) and indicates that the spot significantly outperformed on the key Relevance as well as Change and Information while generally meeting optimal Likeability and Information.
- Over the past 30 days, iSpot media measurement reports nearly all Adidas Impression delivery on both linear and streaming was allocated to the :30 “Sideline Hype:”
- Based on consumer response seen above, consideration of replacing this activity with “Emma” :30 going forward is an opportunity.
- “Emma” and the anthem long form ad appealed most broadly across age/gender and was the most Empowering creative to viewers:
- Comments on “Emma” reflect the Inspiring nature of the message (rated Single Best Thing about the ad at 2.5X the rate of the typical apparel & footwear ad and similar to Nike’s Big Game spot) and the strong Likeability. Some felt the brand was not linked closely enough or was not present enough in the spot but most recognized the Adidas brand by the end of the ad.
Sample comments on “Emma” :30
“What I thought about the ad was that it was motivating, inspiring and memorable. I like the realism of this ad, it was powerful.”
Female 36-49
“I really like it, the fact that you have a mom character adds warmth to the ad. It brings me back to when I was younger and my parents were cheering me on like that.”
Female 21-35
“It doesn’t encourage me to get the product. It doesn’t show how the product would actually help me.”
Female 16-20
“I was surprised they were encouraging someone who looked like they were barely able to walk to continue for another 10k. Seemed dangerous.”
Male 36-49
“The ad was inspiring and well thought out. I like that Adidas explored diversity and gender equality. The ad is forward-thinking and evolving with the times, which is encouraging to see.”
Male 36-49
“I like how you guys showed that you can keep moving with a little help…because really, someone at their lowest just needs a little help so they don’t end up lower.”
Female 16-20
“I like the message but I feel like they should have shown the product more.”
Female 16-20
“The warm vibe and heartfelt message about persistence is a great attention grabber.”
Male 36-49
- Of the new Adidas ads, “Emma” actually cemented the highest level of unaided recall, at more than eight in ten viewers after first view:
- Second-by-second trace also shows the breakthrough ability of “Emma,” seeing strong early engagement and maintaining the third highest level of sustained engagement as the creative continued.
- The campaign is also meeting the objective of connecting with a range of everyday athletes and their supporters, as the level of fitness activity did not affect the impact of each Adidas ad:
Advertisers need to identify the creative that will drive business outcomes and ensure that in-market execution aligns against the highest potential ads.
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Creative Agency: 180LA