When adidas partnered with Real Kashmir FC, a rising football club from the strife-torn region of Kashmir in India, they didn't want to sell products. What they wanted was to prove to the world that as a global brand they stand true to their driving philosophy - "sports has the power to change lives". For people to believe in the new Kashmir, news media had to believe in the story first to spread the word. So channeling the campaign through PR platforms became a must.

Kashmir is synonymous with terrorism, curfews, rioting, stone-pelting, violence, territorial conflict, civil unrest, bomb explosions, insurgency and a negative grammar both visual and lingual, developed over decades. ‘Sports has the power to change lives’ is a philosophy that drives adidas. So they partnered with Real Kashmir FC, a rising football club from the strife-torn region of Kashmir in India, that broke through the coveted i-League against all odds. We had to tell this story to the world. A world that has been carpet-bombed with nothing but negatives from Kashmir by the international media over the last 7 decades. The world sees what the media shows and the media has shown Kashmir through just one lens. A hopeless, violent one.

Partnering with a leading Kashmiri newspaper, The Kashmir Monitor, we flipped the daily cover story of conflict & pain with the positive back page of sports.

For the first time in history, Kashmir woke up to inspiring stories of their local football club

and media got a new lens to see Kashmir. The lens of football.

But we wanted the mainstream media to join this positive change, so we sent an open letter from the Chief Editor’s desk to global media powerhouses, both online and offline. Inviting them to cover the neglected stories of hope from Kashmir. Their response, was phenomenal. Premier news channels and publications joined us. Governors and Ministers in the Indian Government strongly came out in support.

What happened on social was historical.

Target Audience: General Public and International Media & PR Firms

Approach: While Kashmir has become a blind-spot for the news media, defined only by conflict and pain, adidas a brand that believes in the power of sports, makes it visible to the news media again, with a brand-new positive lens of football.

To do so we partnered with a leading Kashmiri newspaper, The Kashmir Monitor to carry our message through an innovation because the biggest change is possible when it starts within.

Partnering with a leading Kashmiri newspaper, The Kashmir Monitor, we flipped the daily cover story of conflict & pain with the positive back page of sports.

For the first time in history, Kashmir woke up to inspiring stories of their local football club

and media got a new lens to see Kashmir. The lens of football.

But we wanted the mainstream media to join this positive change, so we sent an open letter from the Chief Editor’s desk to global media powerhouses, both online and offline. Inviting them to cover the neglected stories of hope from Kashmir. Their response, was phenomenal. Premier news channels and publications joined us. Governors and Ministers in the Indian Government strongly came out in support.

What happened on social was historical.

Date of Release: 31/10/2018

The newspaper innovation was carried out in Kashmir itself for a week's duration.

The Results:

42% RISE IN POSITIVE CONVERSATIONS about Kashmir on social platforms, beating negatives at a low 15%

The club was invited as a special guest to the global ‘FOOTBALL FOR PEACE’ event under the high patronage of HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London

INR 20,000,000 Donated by the Indian State Government to the club as assistance post the campaign

The club’s story makes ESPN INDIA’S LIST OF TOP 10 inspiring sports stories

67,837 UNPAID PR ARTICLES by 640 global news/media agencies

400% INCREASE in fan following on club’s twitter, facebook & instagram

29M IMPRESSIONS GLOBALLY

$28M IN EARNED MEDIA