adidas GROUNDPARIS

adidas GROUNDPARIS was a public event targeting Gen Z from Paris and Greater Paris. It was a festival of sport, music, and culture, offering young people an alternative to the institutional Olympics.

How do you unite Gen Z around an activation during the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games and turn it into a community communication platform with global resonance? Our objective was to engage a Gen Z audience that feels increasingly disconnected from the Games and a traditional mindset regarding sport. In promoting street sports often practiced in Paris and Greater Paris, we offered our audience an experience they could relate to, in an environment free from the pressure of performance. Our playground incarnated the identity of adidas, bringing together sport, music, and culture in a way that spoke directly to the younger generations in Paris. The entire programming was designed to meet them on their terms with competitions and performances that were co-created with the different sporting communities. The idea was to cement adidas as the premier brand in Paris most closely connected to not only sport, but culture as well – ultimately driving an affinity for the brand with Gen Z.

The creative idea – engaging the Gen Z sporting communities for the long term – was the force behind this activation. In 2022 research was conducted to unearth the standout figures within the street sport scenes of Paris and Greater Paris. Collaborating with these community leaders marked the beginning of a three-year journey. In 2023, via the Playmakers program – with the help of each community leader, we established strong connections with five key sport communities (Bike Life, Street Basketball, Street Soccer, Parkour, Hip-Hop Dance) while organizing events and creating tailored content for each discipline. The two years of groundwork were essential to the success of adidas GROUNDPARIS in 2024. We leaned on each community and their leaders, to not only recruit participants but co-design the entire program to ensure its authenticity. This enabled us to fully take over Le Forum des Halles, creating experiences specifically tailored to resonate with Gen Z.