Adidas strikes £2m Olympic deal with Metro
Olympic sponsor is launching what it claims is its biggest ever print campaign after signing a £2m deal with Metro that will see Team GB athletes appear on the covers of the free newspaper throughout the Games.
The 17 illustrated cover wraps will feature Olympic medal hopefuls including Bradley Wiggins, Tom Daley, Phillips Idowu from Saturday (28 July). The Metro is becoming a seven-day-a-week newspaper during the Games.
Adidas has created prints of each cover and readers will be able to trade their copy of the Metro for one of the limited edition prints. The tie-up is being supported by a social media competition.
Nick Craggs, UK marketing director at Adidas, says: “As a brand we’ve been involved in the Olympics Games for over 80 years, but for us, being the sponsor of Team GB and on home soil, that’s something really special – and we wanted something truly standout to mark this.
“A consecutive cover wrap of this scale has never been done before, and demonstrates our commitment to driving stand out as a partner of London 2012.”
It is the latest phase of the sport’s brand’s Olympic campaign “Take the Stage’, which showcases the “best” British talent including David Beckham, rapper Wretch 32 and comedian Keith Lemmon.
The campaign was planned by media agency Carat.
The tie-up comes just days after Nike stepped up its efforts to take on Adidas, which is reported to have spent £100m to be the official sportswear partner of London 2012. Nike’s ‘London’ campaign launched yesterday (26 July) and features amateur athletes taking part in Olympic sports.
Adidas will not sponsor the Olympic Games in Rio 2016, breaking a run of three summer Games where it has been a major sponsor.