On the list of the greatest rivalries in soccer that could play out at the World Cup, there are Argentina versus Brazil, England versus Germany, United States versus Mexico… and Nike versus Adidas.
The athletic apparel brands have both rolled out star-studded, cinematic videos ahead of the tournament, as well as collaborations and activations that speak in a deeper way to these brands’ identities, marketing methods and financial goals. And while both campaigns speak to the joy and freedom of play on the pitch, they demonstrate how each brand plays differently in marketing.
“Football fandom is immersive, and the Nike and Adidas brand films match that depth for the World Cup stage,” said Allison Arling-Giorgi, head of brand at agency Method1, in emailed comments. “They are rewarding attention and driving repeat viewing with their style and approach. It’s truly indulgence by design, building excitement and emotional connection that keeps fans coming back.”
The month-long tournament and the brands’ campaigns around it, arrive as the companies themselves continue on separate trajectories: Adidas’ record growth and Nike’s lagging turnaround. While Adidas notched another quarter of growth in Q1, with revenue up 7%, Nike’s revenues were flat year over year.
Each company hopes its World Cup marketing pays dividends both now and in the future. Nike is “utilizing the World Cup as an opportunity to catalyze the football marketplace for quarters to come,” CEO Elliott Hill said on a recent earnings call, while Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden has noted that soccer is not a “one-time wonder” for the brand.
“Nike, facing significant pressure in much of its business, is pulling football into its world. Adidas, buoyed by strong momentum and deep confidence in its sporting credentials, positions itself inside football’s world,” Eric Tsytsylin, partner, brand strategy, at Lippincott, said in emailed comments. “Neither approach is right or wrong, but each reveals a brand on a very different trajectory.”
Adidas assembles legends
In this year’s battle of the sports apparel brands, Adidas made the first shot, debuting its five-minute short in “Backyard Legends” in May. The video stars Timothée Chalamet in a modern version of his hyperactive hustler in “Marty Supreme” as he assembles a trio of soccer stars — Spain’s Lamine Yamal, England’s Jude Bellingham and America’s Trinity Rodman — to compete with a legendary street ball team.
Much of the short is focused on Chalamet’s telling of the story of the three street ballers, which plays out in episodes set in the late-1990s and 2000s, as styles of clothing, technology and play evolve. The narrative peaks during an imagined 2002 match with legends David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero; features cameos from soccer stars as the legend grows; and culminates with a reveal that Bad Bunny and Lionel Messi are watching the final match. While that match is unseen, the video closes on the Adidas match ball and tagline, continuing a years-long campaign that focuses on overcoming pressure on the field.
“Everyone remembers that feeling: playing for the joy of it, no pressure, no expectations. With ‘Backyard Legends,’ we celebrate that freedom. It’s a reminder that self-belief and playfulness are the real winning mindset,” Florian Alt, vice president, global brand communications at Adidas, said in a statement. “As our athletes and federations take to the biggest sporting stage this summer, we know that pressure is part of sport, we hear that directly from them. While we encourage competitiveness, our ambition is to inspire everyone, to disarm that pressure through playing free and believing, ‘You Got This’.”
Adidas has built on the campaign with a new Bad Bunny signature shoe, a Bringback Collection of iconic national team jerseys, a collaborative campaign with Coca-Cola and an activation that turns the soccer emoji into the official match ball on WhatsApp.
“Adidas nicely taps into all their brand assets and elements as it pertains to World Cup,” said Jasmin Fischer, senior vice president of research and insights, at social-first agency Samy. “It’s easy for the audience to participate through [their] jerseys and to be part of the game without necessarily making it about Adidas. It’s a nice way for the brand to carve out that space and to be part of it.”
As for the creative approach of “Backyard Legends,” Adidas, agency Lola and director Mark Molloy crafted a narrative-centered film that uses nostalgia, time shifts and cultural references to build emotional depth.
“By using celebrities as more of characters to propel the story, the storytelling stays anchored in the game,” Method1’s Arling-Giorgi said. “The campaign strengthens fan connection through legacy, familiarity, and cultural memory delivering on their broader brand message of ‘You Got This’ in a way that feels authentic and grounded, while still embracing the drama and excitement around the World Cup.”
Nike tears up the playbook
With its decades-long endemic connection to the World Cup, Adidas can comfortably and authentically deploy nostalgia and celebrity in its campaign. Nike, which didn’t launch its first major World Cup campaign until 1994, is playing disruptive interloper — a flip to how the mega brand usually markets itself.
To do so, Nike on June 4 rolled out “Rip the Script,” a six-minute short film that starts with the type of on-field action typical of soccer-related ads but quickly gives way to a metatextual, behind-the-scenes approach to ad making.
After one take, contemporary soccer stars including Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior reject a director’s “no improv, no theatrics” instruction, tearing through the soundstage and an impromptu chase that interrupts blockbuster productions, a “Fortnite” motion-capture session, a sports analyst chat, a music video and more. Legends including Zlatan Ibrahimović and Eric Cantona reimagine moments that are instantly recognizable to superfans, while pop culture icons including Kim Kardashian, Travis Scott, Channing Tatum and Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso service a general audience.
“We made this film to meet football communities exactly where they are, not just on a screen, but in their world and deeply engrained into their subcultures,” said Helena Thornton, vice president of Nike global brand management, in a statement. “We didn’t want to follow the traditional marketing playbook. We wanted to give them something worth talking about, worth clipping, worth wearing, worth showing up to. A story they don’t just watch — one they can make their own. That’s the whole idea behind our universe of Nike Football.”
Nike has extended that universe with apparel, boots, capsule collaborations, livestreamed street football competitions and more. But much of the focus has been on “Rip the Script,” which has surpassed 66 million views on YouTube in less than a week, while Adidas’ “Backyard Legends” has not broken 7 million views despite being on the platform for more than a month. The former’s view count is a likely symptom of how it was made: full of cameos, Easter eggs and details that demand a rewatch.
“It’s been engineered for craving: blink and you miss something, so you choose to go back for seconds and thirds,” Method1’s Arling-Giorgi said of Nike’s video. “From a behavioral standpoint it’s all about giving people permission to define greatness on their own terms. It’s far less about a linear story and more about creating one that keeps fans engaged and replaying – which judging from the play count on YouTube is already happening.”
Feud forever
As with many major marketers, including official sponsors Coca-Cola and Budweiser and other players like Modelo and Mondelēz, Adidas and Nike are looking to engage consumers during the World Cup, which is expected to inject more than $10 billion into the ad market, even as marketers may struggle to prove the value of pricey sponsorships.
Despite that investment, less than 1% of total U.S. World Cup-related social media conversations have featured brand mentions, per research conducted by Samy. Even with the noise around the tournament, Adidas notched a 58% share in brand-centric World Cup social conversations, per Samy’s research. About four out of ten tournament followers named the company as a World Cup sponsor, per YouGov data, a role it has held since 1970 — placing it behind only Coca-Cola in sponsor recognition by tournament followers. That puts Adidas ahead of Nike, which was named as a sponsor by 32% of respondents despite not being an official FIFA partner.
And while Adidas’ brand value of $16.3 billion is dwarfed by Nike’s brand value of more than $41 billion, Adidas is now ranked the top sports brand in demand power in the U.S., per a recent BrandZ report from Kantar.
“Adidas, which has half the size of Nike in terms of brand value, has been gaining momentum, whereas Nike has been losing momentum, and executing well against the World Cup could provide a pivot point,” said James May, co-lead of Kantar’s Sports Marketing Practice.
It remains to be seen which brand will come out stronger when the World Cup ends in July. Along with other activations and partnerships, the brands are likely to repurpose long-form content for social media; Nike’s segment featuring a GOAT debate between LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo seems destined for a deeper dive. And no matter how each brand is able to build on this year’s World Cup campaign for deeper engagement and higher sales with soccer fans, this is just the next battleground between Nike and Adidas — not the last one.
“It’s like the cola wars, right?” said May. “There’s been a bit of a feud forever.”
