Phase two will follow the same trajectory as phase one, making it an integrated campaign bolstered by several activation events.
The TVCs, which are launching in stages, feature the same athletes as the first wave of the Olympic campaign; Sui Feifei, Zheng Zhi, Hu Jia and the China women’s volleyball team. Unlike the first phase, the focus here is less on mass movement and more on individual athletes. “This campaign really takes the athletes’ point of view and brings these to the audience,” said Matt West, regional group head at TBWA\Asia Pacific.
“All of this is part of adidas and TBWA’s drive to make China a sports nation,” said John Merrifield, creative-at-large for TBWA\Asia-Pacific. China’s athletes are often regarded as medal-winning machines.
By bringing attention to their struggles, the challenges they have faced and their hopes for the future adidas and TBWA seek to show consumers how the ‘Impossible is Nothing’ tagline applies to elite athletes. “We’re staying with the idea of ‘quiet power’ for the second part of the campaign as we continue onto the second stage of our conversation with Chinese consumers,” said Merrifield.
“What we’re trying to build has become more apparent in this phase, but the core of the campaign is the same - a connection with real people, through our human Olympic heroes,” said West.
Adidas has done well in establishing its brand in the highly competitive Chinese sporting goods market, where it is one of the two top foreign brands, together with Nike.
“Adidas has been betting really heavily on the Olympics to raise brand awareness, while Nike is continuing to place a lot of emphasis on basketball and football - we’ll see how that pans out,” said a source.
“We’re making sure that this is a long-term dialogue where we speak to consumers on a human level,” explained West.
