(Herzogenerauch, January 18th) adidas Originals launches Original with a new film ‘Original is never finished’, featuring visionaries from the worlds of music, skate, sport, style and art. Rea
If you know what the image is above, you are officially rocking with the over 40 crowd. If you know who Brandon Ingram is, you are officially rocking with the millienial fans of basketball crowd. If you know who Kareem Abdul Jabbar is, you are rocking with the over 60 crowd. In other words, in one marketing campaign Adidas makes retro new again and touches every generation that the brand has been an important part of, and that’s how you utilize your history to maintain a marketing position.
The film blends renaissance art imagery, counterculture, Hip-Hop and sport in one short film that captures the moment that we are living in. Marketing no longer takes place on television, it happens through your phone and inside of social media. If the community does not sense the genuine in a marketing campaign, that marketing campaign will not perform very well. (See my recent post on the FKA Twigs led Nike campaign).
When you consider adidas is leaning heavily on its retro catalog, but reinventing the original footwear and apparel with current technology this nod to the history and tie into the future creates a seamless connection to all of the recent work done by the brand. If this is the way the marketing will work now that the Three Stripes has lost most of its brand visibility, adidas will actually maintain contrary to my thoughts on the brand. Dope ass work right here.
Here are the credits for this new Originals campaign:
Film credits, cast, scenes:
- Song: Remix of “My Way” by Frank Sinatra by recreated by Human
- Snoop Dogg in “Doggystyle”
- Stormzy in “Trap Syrup”
- Mabel in “Tunnel”
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Brandon Ingram in “Raining Basketballs”
- Dej Loaf in “Inflated”
- Dev Hynes in “Mirrors”
- Gonz and Lucas Puig in “Lucas & The Gonz”
- Petra Collins in “The Birth of Venus”, “Sneakerheads” , “Essential Squad”
Here is the video. Let me know what you think.