This is an oldie but a goodie. Before Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan. Before Caitlin Clark and Simone Biles. There were the athletes of the 1999 Women’s World Cup. I developed adidas’s global creative campaign to launch a new era in women’s sports.
Kristine Lilly, USA
Shannon MacMillan, USA
Sun Wen, China
Silke Rottenberg, Germany
Challenge:
For decades adidas had been the undisputed global leader in athletic footwear and the brand of choice among competitive athletes.
But by the late 1980’s Nike had dethroned adidas in the United States and come to dominate in many sports. Although adidas continued to lead in soccer, Nike had gained considerable ground and outbid adidas for the right to outfit the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Soccer Teams.
With the U.S. set the host the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, adidas was under enormous pressure to signal its continued leadership in soccer to retailers, investors and a burgeoning generation of female athletes.
Solution:
Research interviews with female soccer athletes revealed a pattern in their stories: that first prized pair of soccer “boots.” Understanding the power in these stories, we created There From The Start, a campaign that used humor to position adidas and the female players it sponsored as destined to arrive together at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
We promoted the campaign and a new line of products for female soccer players using broadcast and print advertising, retail marketing, PR, and grassroots events. The campaign also set the stage for the very first adidas e-commerce shop featuring FIFA Women’s World Cup licensed apparel.
At a critical time for the brand, the message of There From The Start was unassailable: adidas was both the history and the future of women’s soccer.
With the world watching and Nike biting at its heels, “There from the Start” helped adidas to defend its turf, while celebrating a new generation female athletes at a pivotal moment in the growth of women’s sports.
