Adidas asked us to create an impactful campaign idea, culturally relevant for Gen Z, to launch the new German national team’s jerseys ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The main objectives were to create awareness, max desire and talkability of the DFB home & away kits as well as proving that Adidas is an active driver of inclusivity, ensuring that all consumers are represented equally.

Our tension to solve was how to be ‘mass popular’ but still culturally coveted and admired. We decided to change the traditional sports advertising narrative, designing a campaign framework from grassroots up, not superstars down. This approach would allow us to ‘leak’ the jerseys in the places Gen Z’s national identity lives (the places their hang out, their neighbourhoods, social platforms) so fans can discover them for themselves.

With 'Proud to be German', our creative idea, we wanted to reawaken a sense of German national belonging with all its diverse identities. We commissioned a bespoke track to up-and-coming TikTok artist Pajel, inspired by modern Germany’s diverse culture. The song, named So Wie Wir (Like Us), celebrated modern German national identity, reflecting the inclusivity present in youth culture.

To truly resonate with our audience and build credibility around the anthem we wanted to tell the story from the perspective of the community, in the places where the German identity lives and breathes. We leveraged the power of local TikTok creators to spread the brand message, getting them to wear the Adidas jersey first, before anyone else.

German Gen Z are the most socially, ethnically diverse generation ever. More than one third of people under twenty have at least one parent who was born in a different country.

The debate around what it means to be German is a big discussion point. Germans avoid being overly proud of their nationality in the way that people from other countries are, specially through patriotic symbols. There are only a few occasions when it’s acceptable to openly express national pride and the World Cup is one of those events.

We wanted to give people a reason to share a renewed sense of belonging by recognising diversity as something truly German. Showing the ways in which other cultures have enriched the German culture as we know it today, shaping and redefining its identity. Positioning the new DFB jerseys as one of the strongest national symbols to celebrate modern German national identity.

Pajel’s song, praised as ‘the unofficial anthem of the World Cup’, made it to the top 3 on TikTok chart, reached 1.1M plays on Spotify and got 228K organic YouTube views.

Overall, campaign recall increased 16.5% from control vs exposed group indicating the creative resonated well with TikTok’s audience. Intent to buy the new DFB jersey increased by 4,2% points and almost 17% of those who were exposed to the ad reported that are likely or very likely to buy the jersey.

The leak-video gathered over 5M organic views and got press coverage in all major news outlets in Germany.

The Top View placement of the campaign launch over-delivered by 106%. Reaching over 7 million users, the 6 second VTR was at 13.98%. This was above the benchmark range for Germany which sits between 12.15%-13.08%. AWD was 3.75s, also above the benchmark range for Germany which is 3.54s-3.73s.