Aldi is different from most supermarkets. Mainly because they don’t sell brands. They believe pretty, polished logos shouldn’t make things cost more. Their mission is to help people spend less. And that’s been their ethos since 1913.

They’ve democratised the food people eat, but we thought it was time to try the clothes they wear. Why? Because even though inflation is at an all-time high, and the UK is experiencing a cost of living crisis, big sportswear brands are ripping people off by charging more than ever. So, we decided to do something about it.

The brief was simple: Disrupt the sportswear market by highlighting how expensive and inaccessible it’s become. Oh, and have some fun along the way.

We played the sportswear giants at their own game and got Aldi to launch their own sportswear range which was much more affordable. They’re a German brand, founded by two brothers with a logo that has three stripes. So obviously, we wanted to call it Aldidas. But their lawyers prohibited it. We didn’t want this to turn into a lawsuit, so we turned to Aldi’s social community and asked them to name their sportswear instead.

They dubbed it ‘Aldidas’ for us, and this little loophole meant we wouldn’t violate copyright infringement laws. Once they said it, we could put their ‘Aldidas’ tweets and comments on Aldi’s sportswear ads as branding without worrying about any legal battles. This breakthrough made the campaign famous, and a result, made sportswear more accessible and affordable to all. In a market where logos raise the cost, Aldi used theirs to lower it.

Aldi’s sportswear looks like Adidas, and their name sounds like Adidas too. So, our strategy should take inspiration from them too, right? Adidas put the biggest names in their ads and give them a platform and a voice to maximise their PR.

We can’t afford to do that, so we’ll put consumers in our ads and give them a platform and a voice instead. These are the same consumers who Adidas have been ripping off for years. The fact that normal everyday people could be the face of our campaign is what will grab news headlines and create buzz around our sportswear. It’s a simple and clear message, that Aldi is making fashionable sports clothes more accessible.

Our legal loophole started with a simple question. We asked Aldi’s followers across our social accounts what we should call the sportswear range, and hinted it would have three stripes, like a certain big brand. They dubbed it ‘Aldidas’ for us, and then we could legally put their tweets and comments on all Aldi’s sportswear ads.

Now we could rip off the brand that was ripping off everybody else. Starting with their biggest sponsorship deal. They signed Messi for £18,000,000, so we signed Massey, from the Robin Hood pub in Macclesfield for 18 shirts. We also sent PR packages containing our sportswear to some of social’s biggest influencers, which looked like the iconic Adidas blue shoe boxes. They then unboxed it and modelled it in front of their millions of followers.

We officially launched during the World Cup in November 2022, across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok.

We played one of the biggest sportswear brands at their own game, and won. First, Aldi won on social. We generated a total reach of 11m, with 800k impressions. Plus, we increased their followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by over 200,000.

Then Aldi won with PR, by getting media coverage from over 50 news outlets, which added up to £500k worth of earned media.

And finally, Aldi won in business. The sportswear range sold out in just 3 hours. And they generated over £1,000,000 in sales. A record for a supermarket clothing range.

But the biggest winners of all? Their customers. Not only did they access to fashionable sportswear for low prices, they also profited by making copycats of our copycats. They created fake Aldidas merch and charged twice the price.

So really, everybody won. Well, you know, except for Adidas.