We're trying out something new – a pilot service that lets you return old products for rewards. As part of our commitment to sustainable fashion, we're making it easy for you to send back products that have reached the end of their life. We'll either find them a new home or recycle them.

This pilot includes a simple digital returns process in our app, setting up specific ways to bring products back to different markets, and creating content to explain why it's cool to change how we usually do things.

Our plan was to tackle a big problem people have with being sustainable – thinking it's too much work. So, our messages and how you use our stuff all followed one simple idea – 'making sustainability easy.' We talked about how it's fast, easy, and simple with relatable, real, and human moments like 'done with...?'

We addressed various situations when people are done with their products, tailoring them to specific groups based on their shopping history and user profile. These short scenes covered things like damaged products, outgrowing stuff, clutter, and cleaning out. By using data to decide what shows up where we want to make sustainable actions normal and meaningful for our customers.

Credits

Helen King Creative Lead
Charlon De Graav Art Director
Wawa Wang Copywriter
Juri Schier Project Manager
Nadine Kuilboer Producer
Countless others

Made to be remade

We're doing something new – a service where you send back products to adidas to make new stuff from them. The key to this working well is making people feel like they're part of a community that cares about sustainability. The more they see their actions making a difference, the more likely they are to return things.

The process video educated the audience on the circular steps and processes in an edible way, avoiding too much detail while still being comprehensive.

Here's how we build our community: We keep talking to them all the time, asking for feedback every month, sharing sustainability stories, and giving updates about our 'Made To Be Remade' in our app. We remind them each month to stay involved, and when we release new products, we show that we're still committed to sustainability and that their contributions really matter.

We used editorial content to explain circularity and keep people engaged throughout their MTBR journey, and to give them a better understanding of when and why they need to return their product.

UGC stills accompany the content we share throughout the MTBR experience.
It helped build a sense of community, illustrating contributions and questions from other members. It was used periodically throughout the experience in polls and feedback cards to encourage participation.

Infinite Play

Waste mountains and ocean plastic pollution are a growing threat to the planet. Plastic waste is permanent, toxic, and completely unnecessary. Unwanted clothing and footwear contribute to the problem massively.

A change of sport or change in style can mean adidas gear is relegated to the back of your wardrobe. Trainers you thought you’d wear. Socks you wore holes in. Leggings that no longer hug. Sweatpants that hug too much.

Whatever the reason gear sits on the sidelines, it has value. Don’t throw it away. There is no away. Let’s keep it in play. Together. It’s easy. We’ll take it back from you and give it a new life with someone else or turn it into something new. If it’s in play, it’s out of waste. Keep gear in play. Don’t throw it out.

Our communications aim to raise awareness that adidas now offer a trade-in service and activate customers to sign up and use it. Our messaging hierarchy will be as follows:

Outdoors rental service pilot

adidas launched a new outdoor pilot program in France with our partner Lizee. We've got over 40 products available for rent, and our goal is to reach 8500 orders.

The COVID pandemic was a bit of a wild ride for everyone, stuck indoors behind screens. But the outdoors were still there, patiently waiting for our return. We delivered the outdoor experience right to our user’s door. Just let us know when and where, and we have everything you need. It's all about the freedom to enjoy the outdoors hassle-free.