Pioneered by creators around the world, RECODE RUNNING is a series of films documenting running’s creative rebirth. Focusing on communities that use running as a vehicle for change, we told the stories of three crews, each with distinctly different motivations: Shanghai’s Trash Runners run for cleaner cities, Berlin’s Tempelhoff Runners run to integrate refugees, and Warsaw’s SWORDS run to transform the perception of the sport altogether. Using reality as our compass, we aimed to portray each runner and crew as authentically as possible, structuring our films around their native environments. Weaving together a tapestry of live action footage, self-filmed video, anecdotal material, personal illustrations, and candid reflections, the RECODE RUNNING Series depicts an at once intimate, and inspirational view of how running can transform us as individuals and society at large.

We analyzed how running was changing and uncovered a constant process of reinvention: runners were ripping it apart, decoding it and sticking it back together in creative new ways - over and over again. “DECODE. RECODE. REPEAT.” became our articulation of ‘how’ the sport was changing, but we needed to answer ‘why’ it was changing. To do that, we used culture as our compass and set out to find and tell stories of runners with clear purpose, those using the sport as a medium for change – not just exercise. A digital & social publishing strategy saw the documentary series spread through running culture.

The first two RECODE RUNNING episodes aired on adidas owned online & social channels on 11/02/19. With a strong female focus, the third episode, ‘IN TRANSIT’ launched on International Women’s Day on 08/03/19. Building on this momentum, we activated adidas’ global running community with RECODE RUNNING Festivals, funding and screening dozens of short films that told the stories of how real runners are changing the sport from Tokyo to Berlin, and everywhere in between.

Within ten days of launch online views of campaign content was at 15.9m against a brand benchmark of 1.5m – up 960%. Video completion rates of RECODE RUNNING Series are high at 38%. While the RECODE RUNNING Series was not designed to sell shoes in isolation, it formed part of a broader campaign that championed both culture and product. Adidas’ premier running shoe, The UltraBoost 19 exceeded all expectations. The first shoe drop sold out in under 5 minutes in US, China, Australia, NZ, while total site traffic in the first 2 weeks of launch totalled 3.5m - 2m higher than the brand benchmark. The UB19 took only 14 minutes to break the AliBaba sales record for fashion brands.