Unfollow your heroes

Global – Adidas is calling on fans to unfollow their sporting idols and take the future of football into their own hands – or should that be their feet? – with its latest campaign.

• Create What’s Next, from agency 72andSunny, puts the spotlight on ‘the next wave of creators’ too busy to idolise sporting heroes
• ‘Messi. I’ve always wanted to play like you, be like you. But I am not you,’ the advert’s anonymous hero tells the world

The campaign is the latest chapter of Sport 15, a long-term vision for the brand based on the insight that ‘in sport, no one owns today – every minute of every game is up for grabs and yours for the taking’.

‘The line between artist and athlete is as blurred as it has ever been,’ 72andSunny CCO Glenn Cole told Ad Age. ‘Across the world, adidas has committed itself to being a sort of open-source sports brand that enables creators, whether that be Kanye or Messi, to do what they do better than anyone else – create.’

The Big Picture: Heritage is just one of the words that LS:N Global has banned in our Anti-authenticity Marketing trend. Find out more by booking your place at Beyond Borders, our forthcoming Autumn/Winter 2015 Trend Briefing, or speak to your account manager.