JD Sports x Adidas Climacool Campaign

Intro
Adidas and JD Sports brought back the Climacool, a sneaker with cult status, with a campaign designed to land in the right places with the right people. Murals, tram stop takeovers, and landmark placements put the trainer back on the streets in a way that felt authentic to its roots. The aim wasn’t just reach, it was about creating presence in cultural spaces that mattered.

Formats Used
Guerrilla OOH, tram stop takeovers, murals, landmark placements, bus, rail, Uber in-app ads, flyposting

Challenge
The return of the Climacool needed to mean something to sneaker fans who value exclusivity and credibility. The task was to avoid generic placements and show respect for the culture by placing the shoe in real, relevant environments where communities already gather. This was about connecting with loyal fans while sparking curiosity among new ones.

Approach
Liverpool Lime Street and central Manchester were at the heart of the first phase, giving the campaign credibility by tying it to iconic city landmarks. Tram stop takeovers ensured the shoe was impossible to miss on the commute, while murals painted directly onto shutters took the campaign into hyper-local spaces. These sites weren’t pulled from a standard inventory; they were sourced to meet the brief, creating a connection that felt more like art than advertising.

That was part one. The second phase pushed the Climacool even deeper into culture through a Parklife takeover. We built a plan that met the audience on their way to, from, and inside the festival.

• Buses dominated Manchester streets with over 90 formats live, delivering 613,000 impressions and a 29% overshow.

• Rail placements hit festivalgoers as they travelled, with 1.9 million impressions across LEPs and 36% overshow on core 6-sheets.

• Uber in-app ads reached people heading directly to Parklife, delivering 33,755 impressions and a 9.55% CTR, perfectly aligning with the journey to the event.

• Flyposting and street-level placements built grassroots visibility, adding an extra 351,000 impressions at the moment the city’s streets were busiest with festival traffic.

Every element was backed by data and designed to funnel the right audiences toward the product, whether commuting through Market Street, scrolling Uber on the way to Heaton Park, or walking past hyper-local murals.

Results
Across both phases, the campaign secured significant overshow, with values exceeding £15,000 and impressions topping 7.8 million. Murals and tram takeovers drove standout attention in the streets, while the Parklife execution achieved over 4,300 tracked Uber trips and more than 7.8 million impressions from bus, rail, and street-level formats combined

Impact
By combining a hyper-local city approach with a cultural festival takeover, Adidas and JD Sports reignited excitement around the Climacool. This wasn’t about blanket exposure, it was about being present in the right places, with the right formats, at the right time. The result was a campaign that respected sneaker culture, dominated touchpoints, and tied the return of the Climacool to moments and spaces fans will remember.