Case Study: Adidas

Get 1 billion women and girls out of poverty through the power of sport

The Challenge

In its “Impossible is Nothing” campaign Adidas sought to use inclusivity for strategic growth—but to do so meaningfully required a new way of thinking.

Attracting new customers, such as underserved communities including minorities, low socio- economic and persons with disabilities, needed a shift in the definition of “athlete” and “sport”. Getting 1 billion women and girls out of poverty through the power of sport was a moonshot goal to galvanise the team.

The Process

Purpose Made worked as a co-conspirator with Conspiracy of Love to develop a strategic case for inclusivity. Our team led the development of an impact model including a Theory of Change and impact measurement framework.

By engaging with internal stakeholders and conducting research, this impact solution was grounded in evidence while also bringing about inspiration for team with a clear pathway tailored to the company’s unique position.

The Outcome

A Theory of Change visualised a strategy to include more underprivileged girls and women across global markets into sport.

Mapping barriers to sports participation at an individual level against interventions at the community and economic level demonstrated the power of sport. Interventions were mapped over four brand pillars: People, Product, Policy and Promotion.

An impact model demonstrated how Adidas could apply those learnings to its business model and media campaigns. Without an impact model, companies can fall trap to ‘purpose-washing’ meaning they make claims or commitments to inclusivity and impact without understanding how it applies to their business—and typically those initiatives fail.

Our data measurement fit with a global market comprised of communities at different level of measurement-readiness and operating in a range of local contexts. The ‘fixed’, ‘flexible’ and ‘free’ model allowed business units to enact measurement that was most relevant them.