'80% of kids have dropped out of sport entirely by the time they’re 13.'
It’s really all of the stuff that comes as a byproduct of sport, that makes it so special
- the friendships, the experiences.
What sparked the idea for this project?
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BWA & 180LA came to us with a statistic—80% of kids have dropped out of sport entirely by the time they’re 13. As three people that met through skateboarding, this blew our minds a little and made us quite sad. The brand’s competitors focus on exceptionalism and unrivalled greatness. For us, it’s really all of the stuff that comes as a byproduct of sport that makes it so special, the friendships, the experiences. How do you make something that really celebrates that and serves as a counterpoint to winning being everything? How do you spotlight the places where belief comes from and excite people while doing so?
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How does this campaign differ from ,traditional’ sports advertising?
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So much of sports advertising has fallen within a very narrow visual language. It’s either mega stars taking penalties in CGI stadiums with the nervous locker room sequence, maybe intercutting with kids in Rio, or alternatively, it’s stuff that feels indebted to Megaforce’s “Londoner” campaign.
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We wanted to make something adidas could really own, that felt confident, honest and timeless.
What inspired the ‘one-shot zoom’ concept?
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We wanted to make something Adidas could really own, that felt confident, honest and timeless - and above all else, something that was in stark contrast to the quite tired feeling epileptically edited sports marketing language. The one-shot zoom idea was born from that mindset. Zooming into a scene from a fixed position - you’re dropped right in the middle of a moment, the zoom taking you past the sport, and into the person who instills the belief; a friend, a stranger… a dog. We wanted to emphasise real storytelling, real character studies that leave you feeling something, via moments that just breathe. The zoom retains a viewing interest in a waning attention economy as it immediately proposes a hook - what am I meant to be looking at? Of course, from a filmmaking perspective, they become very ambitious and technical - and as directors it forces you into a space that feels almost like live theatre. It was an amazing sandbox to immerse ourselves in.
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How does the storytelling help convey the campaigns message?
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The project was comprised of lots of individual storytelling - 30 second films that depict the strap line; “we all need someone to make us believe”. Amongst these hyper relatable stories, we also had star athletes; films focusing on the people who genuinely give them the lift to achieve greatness - real friends and family.
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What role did music play in the campaign?
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We had some amazing collaborators across the project, one most notably being the musician James Blake - who C&O have served as the creative director of for several years now. James reimagined The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Sticking With You” - a song we were so passionate about using as it just says everything that campaign intends to - providing this iconic track with even more kinetic energy for the brand’s anthem film; scoring to picture and crafting the ups and downs of a film which rolls all of the individual stories into a celebratory fanfare.
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Photos by Thomas Jullien on disposable cameras & by Pablo Dunkerly on Nikon.
“We all need someone to make us believe.”
What do you hope people will take away from the films?
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That sport isn’t just about winning—it’s about the people who lift you up. The moments that stay with you. We wanted to make something timeless, something that feels real. Something that makes people believe.
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- CROWNS & OWLS
Directed by @crownsandowls
DoP: João de Botelho @joaodebotelho, Evan Prosofsky @evanprosofsky , Diego Garcia @dieguesz
Managing Director: Christiane Dressler
EP: Tobias Steinhauser @tobiassteinhauser
Line Producer: Birgit Damen, Björn Krüger Levy
Coordinator: Nasibe Kocas, Chiara Walde, Ivi Rangelov, Jana Schneider
DA: Pablo Dunkerly @dunkerlyyyyyyyyyy
Styling: Larissa Bechthold @larissabechtold
Soundtracked by @thevelvetundergroundofficial with added @jamesblake
Agency TBWA\NEBOKO @tbwaneboko
Global CCO: Ben Williams
CCO: JD Jurentkuff
CCO: Darre van Dijk
CD: Thomas Jullien
CD: Simone Di Laus
CD: Dan John
CD: Christian Lopez
CD: Darren Cronje
ACD: Inna Vartazarian
Senior Writer: Hampus Elfström
Senior Writer: Nick Bristow
Art Director: Tracy Kintu
Copywriter: Natalia Zapata Fernandez
Lead Designer: Callum Jackson
Senior Designer: Billy Dupee
EP: Rosemarie Praaning
Senior Producer: Annelien Orbie
Senior Producer: Sylvia van Elmpt
Producer : Olivier Nass
Producer : Olinda Da Achada
Producer : Sansan Krijgsveld
Junior Producer: Robyn Ransmeier
Global Business Lead: Caroline Jackson
Business Director: Tomas Pruijs
Senior Brand Director: Tiernan Silcock
Brand Director: Emma Chote
Brand Manager: Patrick Stone
Chief Strategy Officer: Natalie Gruis
Strategy Director: Keke Mahlelebe
Strategy Director: Lauren McIlroy
Editorial: Cabin - Carla Luffe, Lainy Black, Craig Griffiths
Final Cut: Nayim Saati
Grading: Rascal - Tim Smith
Music & Sound Design: King Lear - Jack Sedgwick, Ed Downham
Post-Production/VFX: ETC, Glassworks
Service Companies: 24/7 , LS productions , HPLA, paigedorian
Photographer : Robbie Lawrence
Post-Production: Loupe