Gamedayplus used adidas’ existing relationships with players in a new way, taking them out of their traditional interview situations and giving fans unique access to them. Not only that, but it went beyond what broadcasters can usually do. We went to Marcelo’s best friend’s tattoo parlour. We took Gerrard out golfing - just for fun.

It utilised assets that adidas has but other sponsors don’t: clubs and players. The other sponsors can activate ex-players, some current players and tickets. adidas can speak to and engage with the current superstars of the tournament in a way that appeals to our target audience.

But that’s not to say it was easy. The Gamedayplus product had to be sold to players who were suspect of the media for it to feel natural and for it to really work in the way adidas wanted it to.

adidas produced one full Gamedayplus episode per game week (currently at 24 episodes across two seasons, with more to come), consisting of at least four segments, one native YouTube comments-based competition and links to adidas product pages.

We conducted over 60 shoots in eight nations covering 12 clubs and over 40 superstars - not to mention integrating basketballers, freestylers and online influencers. Subtitles for the show were translated into 19 languages including Chinese and Russian to ensure a globally relevant show.

Each episode was supported with trailers - 30 second edits for YouTube that were also provided as native uploads to Twitter and Facebook platforms so that we could make the most of communities across the adidas ecosystem.

In addition, individual segments from the episodes were released as stand alone videos, which would all direct people back to the full episode. Stand-alone segments were then promoted by the players &clubs.

Gamedayplus became an anticipated part of millennials’ Champions League viewing habits.

With Season 1 complete and Season 2 halfway through, current results are as follows:

• 18.8 million views (87% organic)

• 297k new subscribers on adidas’ YouTube channel

• Organic views up 14% y-o-y

• Mobile views up 50% to 56% y-o-y

Additional Season 1 results (2 not yet available):

• adidas had the largest share of voice of all Champions League sponsors - 58%

• Over 2 million shares on China’s Weibo

• Influencer activation with the SkillTwins - further 4 million views

• 33,000 comments on YouTube; target audience love it and are constantly demanding more

Gameday has been all over the media, attracting press coverage in consumer titles like Daily Mail and Metro, sports publications like Soccerbible - even football TV shows like Match Of The Day Extra.

NOTE: case study video focuses on Season 1, as Season 2 is not yet complete.