32% of women in the world don’t feel comfortable swimming in public.

In the Middle East, that number rises to 88%.

Being raised in a society where swimming isn’t widely accepted as appropriate for women, they lack the motivation to step into water. In addition, being surrounded by ads with models and professional athletes has further deteriorated their body confidence.

Despite MENA region being surrounded by beautiful beaches and pools, water activities have a limited appeal to women. Whilst other sports have adapted their product ranges to cater to the needs of women in MENA, the swimwear category hasn’t.

Adidas believes that sports belong to all. On our mission to strive for inclusivity and closing the gender gap in sports, the brand created a new line of modest swimwear designed to achieve the perfect balance of fit, features, performance and coverage. The goal was to offer swimwear for all women in MENA regardless of shape, ability or belief because nobody should be prevented from enjoying the benefits of being in and around the water.

While globally, 32% of women don’t feel comfortable wearing a swimsuit at a public beach or pool, in MENA the number is 88%.

The world’s first swimmable billboard. Made to encourage every woman in Dubai to become ambassadors of adidas’s new inclusive swimwear collection, irrespective of their shapes, ethnicities, abilities or religion.

By physically diving in, each woman became part of the global conversation.

Universally, water represents inclusivity and freedom. But, for women in MENA, water represents judgment and restrictions created by conventional media

Our core challenge was to inspire women across the region to find their freedom in water and start a worldwide conversation about making water sports more inclusive for women.

So we wanted to transform a traditionally passive channel, the outdoor into an interactive media that spoke to women everywhere and invited them to come be part of the experience irrespective of shape, ethnicity, ability or faith.

The 5-meter high and 3-meter deep that doubles as a fully usable swimming pool capable of holding 11500 gallons of water, was built in less than three weeks.

The structure was fitted with special underwater cameras that transformed every woman’s experience into personalized adidas posters, and live-streamed every dive on the city’s largest digital display at Dubai Mall.

Women who’ve only seen athletes and models on billboards, saw themselves celebrated the same way. Breaking down personal and societal barriers to finding their confidence in water.

350 million total reach

$6 million earned media

60+ countries across 6 continents

17.7% engagement rate on social media

70% sell-through rates in just the first 4 weeks across flagship stores