Adidas Football

Adidas Glitch

adidas Glitch is the new breed of football boot. Pieced together with the brands ‘football creators’, the boot is known for its interchangeable inner and outer skins which you can switch up depending on the gravity of the game or on your mood. It’s a new era, and adidas recognising this, the only way to get your hands on a pair is via the official app. But here came the problem: while thousands were downloading the app, not all were actually buying the boots.

Consumer Engagement Agency TMS and their insights platform Culture Labs were brought in to help solve problem. They wanted to place the app at the heart of the Glitch community and in doing so, offer people a fresh incentive to buy the boots. I came on board as a Cultural Writer and Strategist. Travelling across London I conducted 10 ethnographic deep-dive interviews with adidas’ ‘football creators.’ We spoke about life, football and culture. I gained valuable insights into their rituals, day-to-day lifestyles and their careers both on and off the pitch. Then, working with the Planning team at TMS, we then brought the influencers together for a co-creation session and set about the task of constructing a new Glitch experience.

When in the room together, the nine influencers arrived with differing perspectives on the beautiful game and the culture that surrounds it. So we went along with it and by the end they had split themselves into three cliques: Focus, Riiisk and The Pack. From there the campaign took shape. It was this co-creation session, and the interviews that preceded it that would lay the foundations for the Glitch Cliques brand experience. Not only did it drive awareness around the Glitch brand but also led to a mass of new followers on the platform. The campaign went onto receive wide recognition and was rewarded with a D&AD Pencil and two Creativepool Awards.