Yoga Village
adidas
TBWA\China
The Challenge
adidas introduced a new brand platform, “You Got This,” which aims to alleviate the pressure in sports.
In China, sports participation is growing rapidly. However, as a competitive society that values appearance and winning, the pressure we put on ourselves can be a barrier to truly enjoying sports, especially in the context of yoga, which has experienced significant growth in China.
The Solution
TBWA\China and adidas discovered a group of yogis in Yugouliang, an impoverished village where over 80% of residents are aged 65+ and face health challenges.
Since introducing yoga into their daily routine in 2016, they have transformed everyday activities into yoga movements, using wheat fields as their studio and repurposing mattresses and colorful headscarves as yoga essentials. The practice of yoga has significantly improved their lives, leading to reported health benefits.
To further cement the adidas “You Got This” brand platform, TBWA\China and adidas partnered with a photographer who documented the villagers’ story, capturing them in their natural state, wearing their own clothes, and doing their everyday yoga exercises.
To maximize impact, they placed the billboard images next to a leading yoga brand in one of Shanghai’s most prestigious shopping complexes and released the villagers’ stories online on International Women’s Day when yoga and sports brands advertise heavily.
The Results
The story of Yugouliang is an impactful way to show sports enjoyed without pressure. This led to widespread media coverage. Despite no media spend, the total owned media reach was 100K+ with 3.8K engagements in only seven days. In PR, there were 12.14 million impressions worth 4.8 million RMB. The out-of-home campaign generated an exposure of 3.2 million in only 7 days.
The feedback was tremendous, with comments such as “everyone has the right to enjoy sports,” “I hope that everyone, whether ordinary or extraordinary, love sports,” “While all sports brands are busy with promoting ‘brand’, adidas hasn’t forgotten about the essence of ‘sports’.” The primary goal of the campaign was to spark conversations about adidas and sports. The story of Yugouliang serves as a starting point, and adidas plans to continue celebrating other genuine sports stories to inspire a broader audience.
