adidas Footbal Collective
Experiential Marketing
Guerilla, Street & Viral Marketing
Project Overview
Football is the most popular sport in the world and has the incredible power to bring people together... as long as it remains accessible and playable for everyone! Because of their demographic or economic situation, too many people do not have access to football (price of the clubs’ licence, saturation of time slots at pitches and playgrounds in big cities). The pandemic has also had a devastating effect on amateur sport as well as on associations, particularly in low income neighbourhoods. In addition to these structural problems, there are other obstacles, notably gender discrimination. The end of gender mix on the fields at the age of 12 in clubs often sounds like the definitive end of practice for young girls and constitutes a major obstacle to the feminization of sport and football. To break down these barriers, enable everyone to play, and help improve social cohesion through football by restoring confidence and enjoyment, adidas has launched, the adidas Football Collective program, deployed by Rosbeef! in France. With the aFC, adidas is making a long-term commitment to inclusive, mixed-gender football accessible to all: by supporting emblematic collectives (clubs or associations) that carry out remarkable citizens’ initiatives, by offering fields’ access and playing time, and by highlighting exemplary actions on and off the pitch to create social ties.
Details
In a society that is increasingly divided, adidas has relied on the strength of the collective and has created a network of a dozen partners in three major French cities (Greater Paris, Lyon and Marseille). All of them are at the crossroads of amateur football and the associative sector and share the common value of developing initiatives that are part of a more inclusive and mixed football and that use sport as a pretext to have a positive impact in their communities.
These collectives are supported financially and with adidas equipment, but are also accompanied throughout the year in the development of their actions, their communication skills and their partnerships strategy. We reinforce their skills in leadership, team management, daily management of the association, how to motivate young people who are losing confidence, etc.
For this reason, we created the aFC DAYZ, a bi-annual event that brings together the entire network and confronts the beneficiary associations with the best inspirations in terms of social innovation. The first edition took place in June 2021 during the UEFA EURO 2020 and involved the most prestigious figures of the social economy such as Les Déterminés or Ghett'Up. The second edition, scheduled for early 2022, will take place at the Olympique Lyonnais facilities and will focus on developing women’s sport practice.
In order to federate a growing community and to encourage exchanges with a large public, a Discord server was recently created. This collaborative tool ideally complements our influence strategy to inspire communities throughout France. You will find useful resources (toolkits, masterclass) and the possibility to chat at any time with collectives’ leaders and engaged members.
These collectives are supported financially and with adidas equipment, but are also accompanied throughout the year in the development of their actions, their communication skills and their partnerships strategy. We reinforce their skills in leadership, team management, daily management of the association, how to motivate young people who are losing confidence, etc.
For this reason, we created the aFC DAYZ, a bi-annual event that brings together the entire network and confronts the beneficiary associations with the best inspirations in terms of social innovation. The first edition took place in June 2021 during the UEFA EURO 2020 and involved the most prestigious figures of the social economy such as Les Déterminés or Ghett'Up. The second edition, scheduled for early 2022, will take place at the Olympique Lyonnais facilities and will focus on developing women’s sport practice.
In order to federate a growing community and to encourage exchanges with a large public, a Discord server was recently created. This collaborative tool ideally complements our influence strategy to inspire communities throughout France. You will find useful resources (toolkits, masterclass) and the possibility to chat at any time with collectives’ leaders and engaged members.