In the first half of the 2010’s, Adidas - the European giant - was falling even further behind Nike and were being threatened from below by Under Armour in the U.S. market.

The brand was in a strong position within youth culture and street fashion (thanks Yeezy), but had a lingering history of being perceived as traditional, safe, predictable and stagnant when it came to the performance side of the their business.

Our challenge was to help Adidas own a clear lane in the performance sportswear race, between Nike’s legacy of winning combined with their self-actualization-through-sport messaging and Under Armour’s gritty, blue collar workmanship approach to athletic achievement.

Instead of doing the obvious thing and shying away from the brand’s style creds, we saw an opportunity to harness Adidas’ ability to impact cultural through great design and augment it with a unique and powerful POV on what it means to be a great athlete in the 21st century.

We observed that the emerging generation of athletes - both amateur and professional - were taking their self-expression to new heights on the field of play, both in terms of the gear they wore and their aspirations to play the game in ways that grabbed attention.

Our big insight came from examining the notion of what it means to be “the best” in today’s sports culture. Through interviews and ethnographies we learned that today’s young athletes still respect and admire a gold medal (for example), but they also place a high value on the seemingly smaller, more attainable achievements like performing a touchdown dance that goes viral on social media. They told us that winning is good, but winning in style was far better.

With that understanding of our target audience, we needed to find a way to express those attitudes through our roster of professional athletes in an authentic way.

Listening to countless hours of pro athlete interviews, we learned that at the highest levels, most athletes possess very similar physical and technical abilities. What separated good from great, was something intangible and rare. It was a deep-seeded belief in their ability to do something special, something that even they didn’t expect to do, in the moments that mattered. Transcendent athletes see the game differently. They imagine possibilities that others can’t. They color outside the lines. They seek to create magic where others merely do their job.

Creativity was the X factor and the common urge shared by Adidas athletes, both amateur and professional.

I’M HERE TO CREATE became the rallying cry for athletes around the world who aspired to stand out from the herd - both in style and substance.

Our work showed that the ability to ‘create’ is what makes an athlete special, relegating Under Armour to the ranks of role players and bench warmers.

This brand platform also demonstrated that Adidas athletes had the willingness to ‘be a creator’ when the game was on the line….to try things and take risks that Nike athletes with their lucrative contracts and polished images couldn’t stomach.