How @adidas became the real-time sports brand of the World Cup

In late 2013, @adidasfootball set out to be the most positively talked about real-time sports brand at the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a global campaign that was powered by Twitter.

The campaign centred on the hashtag #allin which was used to support something unique for the brand: the official FIFA World Cup match ball @brazuca, which adidas manufactured.

With its own Twitter username, @brazuca’s job was to become the voice of the FIFA World Cup well before it played a central role in every moment of every game.

On the road to Brazil, adidas built a campaign using key real-world moments such as the UEFA Champion’s League final. With only days between the #UCLFinal and the tournament kick-off in Brazil, @adidasfootball released its World Cup ad, backed by a global Promoted Trend on Twitter. Across the day, @adidasfootball used the global Promoted Trend to react in real-time to the build-up to the game, and during the game to add context to the campaign with live action.

As the FIFA World Cup commenced, adidas continued to seize key live moments and share them with fans. From its base in Rio, the company’s marketing team posted a combination of planned, anticipated and reactive content to drive conversation online. Focussing on positive share of voice and live moments, @adidasfootball racked up more than 2.1 million mentions of the #allin hashtag and a whopping 3.5 million followers for @brazuca.

The @brazuca Twitter account, was not only the fastest growing sports brand account on the platform during the World Cup; it was one of the most engaged Twitter handles during the tournament, with 530,000+ user interactions.

We’ve created this video to celebrate the scale and success of adidas’ #allin campaign. Enjoy.