Adidas: Hey Jude
Adidas tasked Johannes Leonardo New York with reclaiming brand dominance during Euro 2024 despite not being the official England kit sponsor. They needed to connect with cynical English football fans and inspire a younger generation by positioning Jude Bellingham as the face of hope, aiming to drive emotional engagement and brand sentiment across the UK and Europe.
Creative Idea
Used a legendary Beatles anthem to turn a player's name into a national promise.
Adidas transformed the weight of England's historical football failures into a message of hope by using the Beatles' "Hey Jude" to celebrate Jude Bellingham, proving that a new generation could turn a "sad song" into a victory anthem.
Turning a Sad Song into Sports Marketing Perfection
The 16mm Texture of Hope
Director Greg Hackett and Spindle Films opted for a nostalgic, cinematic aesthetic by shooting on 16mm and 35mm film. This choice was deliberate, allowing the production to seamlessly blend grainy archival footage of England’s "58 years of hurt" with modern - day shots of Jude Bellingham. By avoiding a polished digital look, the film captured the raw, emotional weight of a nation obsessed with football. The strategy focused on the individual athlete and the official match ball to bypass the fact that Nike, not Adidas, is the official England kit sponsor.
A Reactive Masterclass in Real Time
The campaign’s most viral moment was a pre - planned "contingency" creative. When Bellingham scored a 95th - minute overhead kick against Slovakia, Adidas instantly deployed a social post featuring an upside - down logo to mimic his position in the air. This single reactive post generated 17.35 million impressions and 1.82 million engagements with zero paid media spend. The "Life Imitated Art" narrative was so strong that Spotify reported a 19% increase in streams of The Beatles’ "Hey Jude" following the launch.
Legends and Cultural Icons
The production featured a high - profile cast including David Beckham, Frank Lampard, and Ian Wright, alongside celebrity fans like rapper Stormzy and presenter Laura Woods. According to Steve Marks of Adidas, the goal was to inspire fans to follow Bellingham's example of playing for the love of the game. The effort was highly effective; DAIVID ranked it the most emotionally engaging ad of the tournament, with 52.8% of viewers reporting intense positive emotions.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Adidas leveraged its roster of elite athletes and official match ball sponsorship to dominate the European football conversation.
Category
Sports brands often focus on individual performance stats or generic motivational montages without local cultural depth.
Customer
English fans felt a cycle of perennial heartbreak and immense pressure, needing a reason to believe in a new era.
Culture
The rise of Jude Bellingham coincided with a national desire to move past decades of tournament disappointment and 'sad songs'.
Company
Adidas leveraged its roster of elite athletes and official match ball sponsorship to dominate the European football conversation.
Category
Sports brands often focus on individual performance stats or generic motivational montages without local cultural depth.
Strategy:
Reframe historical collective failure as the necessary prelude to a new generation's triumphant cultural anthem.
Customer
English fans felt a cycle of perennial heartbreak and immense pressure, needing a reason to believe in a new era.
Culture
The rise of Jude Bellingham coincided with a national desire to move past decades of tournament disappointment and 'sad songs'.
Strategy:
Reframe historical collective failure as the necessary prelude to a new generation's triumphant cultural anthem.
Strategy Technique
Borrow Equity
By anchoring the campaign in the cultural heritage of The Beatles and the collective trauma of English football, Adidas borrowed deep-seated national emotions to build immediate relevance for their athlete.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Use a famous song
The campaign leverages the lyrical coincidence of "Hey Jude" and Bellingham's name to reframe a national anthem of longing into a literal rallying cry for the player and the nation's future.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional due to its masterful use of music and editing to create a powerful emotional journey that resonates with a national identity.
The use of 'Hey Jude' as a unifying anthem perfectly captures the shift from national despair to collective hope.
The rhythmic editing perfectly syncs with the music's build-up, heightening the emotional impact of the narrative.
The blend of intimate close-ups and epic stadium shots effectively conveys both personal and collective emotion.
The simple yet powerful tagline 'YOU GOT THIS' provides a perfect, empowering conclusion to the ad's emotional arc.
The synergy between the iconic music and the rhythmic editing is what truly elevates this campaign, creating a visceral sense of shared national experience.
