In sport, you will rarely get anywhere without your team. Even in so-called individual sports, an athlete is only where they are thanks to the coaches, trainers, physios, or loved ones in their corner. And for those who do sport for leisure rather than a profession, it’s the teammates who cheer you on, the parents who take you to practice, and the friends who pick you up after a defeat. Perhaps it’s even a loyal pet offering some company while you train.

Those often unsung heroes of sport are being celebrated by adidas in a new campaign by TBWA\Neboko and 180LA, titled We All Need Someone To Make Us Believe, which builds on its You Got This campaign that launched ahead of Paris 2024.

The campaign film follows everyday people training, working out and playing sport, along with stars including footballers Aitana Bonmatí, Lamine Yamal and Trinity Rodman, and basketball players Aliyah Boston and Anthony Edwards. All of them, professionals and amateurs alike, have people hyping them up and cheering them on.

The ad was written and directed by Crowns & Owls, the London-based filmmaker and creative direction trio known for their work with music artists like Chase and Status and James Blake.

Their relationship with the latter clearly works both ways, as Blake has added some “wizardry” to the ad’s soundtrack – a mix of The Velvet Underground’s I’m Sticking With You featuring an ethereal opening and a boosted bassline. The music choice – an unusually cute song from a decidedly not cute band – sums up the directors’ ability to tread the line between gritty and feel-good, ensuring that the ad doesn’t veer into the saccharine.

Special props go to DoP João de Botelho and the post-production teams for the beautiful visuals, brought to life with a slow zoom and rich colours.

“The campaign seeks to motivate everyone to be a positive influence in sport as new global research uncovered that four out of five grassroot athletes regularly experience unhelpful sideline behaviours. This can lead to them dropping out of sport,” Markus Oettig, adidas’ director of global brand communications, says of the new instalment.

To support this mission, the brand is launching Sideline Essentials, which gives practical advice on how teammates, coaches and others can have a positive impact. Some of the guidelines seem quite rudimentary (“Use high fives, fist-bumps”). However the personas they have identified – such as the micromanager or the overbearing post-game analyst – are revelatory and probably very familiar for anyone involved in sport.

As part of the You Got This platform, adidas is also launching a four-part docuseries in April called Illuminated exploring the relationships between some of the athletes in the film and their all-important supporters.

It all lies in stark contrast to Nike’s dramatic gear switch last year, which has seen it dive head first into the uglier side of sport: the individualism, the sacrifices, the ego. The rivals are tackling sport in very different ways, so it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

Credits:
Agency: TBWA\Neboko, 180LA
Directors/Writers: Crowns & Owls
Production Company: Anorak Film
DoP: João de Botelho
Stylist: Larissa Bechtold
Set Design: Jonathan Blud
Edit: Carla Luffe at Cabin
Grade: Tim Smith