The Campaign

With the rise of fitness awareness in the Philippines, we thought of utilizing Erwan Heussaff to introduce ‘plogging,’ which is a Scandinavian trend for picking up litter while jogging, to the Filipino audience. In his video, Erwan went plogging to show the evidence of plastic pollution in Metro Manila. Since plogging is a relatively new activity in the Philippines, viewers were excited to learn about it and see how it positively affects the environment and our overall fitness.

Execution

Erwan’s video, which is 6 minutes and 55 seconds long, was posted on his YouTube channel — over a week after the global launch of Run For The Oceans, adidas x Parley’s running initiative that aims to raise awareness on marine plastic pollution. In the core of the partnership with Erwan Heussaff lies the agency’s trust in his ability to creatively utilize the digital space, powered by his authenticity and influence, to bring to life the creative idea. Through the video, Erwan began a conversation on the problem and what can be done to help save the oceans now, with something as simple as plogging. To further highlight the local plastic pollution we are facing, Erwan executed the video in one of the busiest avenues in the Metro. The surprise participation of his brother-in-law Nico Bolzico, a social media sensation, also helped increase the reach of the video.

- A Total of 1,682,878 impressions on Erwan’s three campaign-related Instagram posts, YouTube video, and Facebook video in the span of six weeks (2,764,878 with Stories). - The campaign story was picked up by several key media online outfits such as GMA News Online, Spot.ph, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer and MSN to name a few. It reached an estimate of 74,521,588 people. These are all organic pick ups. - It also got featured on the top commercial broadcasting network, GMA Network’s, primetime news show ‘24 Oras’, which reached an estimate of 10,846,500. - 98% of comments on Erwan’s pages showed a positive reaction on his video’s message. People were commending him for producing quality content that highlighted the importance of taking action. - A handful of his followers also tried plogging and even tagged Erwan in their photos. - Within 24 hours of posting, Erwan already received messages and comments that said they too would try plogging in the hopes of being part of the solution to plastic pollution. -Google trends in the Philippines show that after the video was posted, Google search for plogging jumped from 0 to 17/100. "adidas Parley" also spiked from 0 to 18/100 on the first weekend from the launch of the video material, and peaked at 37/100 when news sites started to pick up the online video.

The Situation

With the rise of digital, traditional media like print and TV begin to lose its relevance. Brands are now utilizing digital and social media to reach their target audiences. Specifically, brands are collaborating with Key Opinion Leaders to create relevant content that communicates the brand’s key message. With a highly saturated digital space where individuals can simply brand themselves as influencers by the sheer number of following, it takes a unique individual to truly send out a message that resonates. By working with content creator Erwan Heussaff, adidas Philippines proved the influence he has on inspiring others.

The Strategy

People nowadays don’t care if the brands they use disappear. Data and purpose are becoming the rocket fuel to transform brands and campaigns into something greater. For adidas Philippines’ Parley project, the strategy was simple - to use an influencer’s voice for change, which ultimately contributes to positive brand affinity. Wanting to have a unique and hardworking localized initiative, adidas Philippines collaborated with Erwan Heussaff, a fitness, nutrition, sustainability advocate, and also a well-known Youtube creator to give local context to a global problem of plastic pollution, encouraging him to use his freedom in the digital space. Freedom of information to state facts about the local scenario, freedom of expression to share his thoughts on the issue, freedom of opportunity by trying out the pair of UltraBOOST Parley that are made from Parley Ocean Plastic™ and freedom to belong in the adidas global movement of running for the oceans.