Insight: Adidas “You Got This” — Turning Pressure Into Possibility

Adidas’s “You Got This” campaign, launched in February 2024, isn’t just another sports ad. It’s a strategic shift: one that recognises how pressure in sport has become a barrier, and seeks to dismantle that barrier by leaning into belief, support, and authenticity.

Key Elements of the Strategy & Intelligence Behind It

1. Consumer Insight at the Core
   What sparked the campaign: Adidas heard from athletes (amateur and elite) that expectations—from fans, coaches, partners, even themselves—was stifling enjoyment. Negative pressure was turning sport from a space of joy into something stressful.
   Adidas didn’t just take this as anecdote—they build the campaign around that insight, which gives it emotional resonance.

2. “You Got This” as Emotional Re-Frame
   The central message is simple but powerful: belief over pressure. The tagline encourages a mindset shift—“What if sport felt like what made you fall in love with it in the first place?”

3. Star Power + Relatable Journeys
   Adidas uses globally recognised athletes (Messi, Patrick Mahomes, Anthony Edwards, etc.) alongside everyday athletes. Showing the high-stakes elite and the amateur together normalises struggle and shows that self-belief isn’t reserved for the pros.

4. Behavioural Tools – Sideline Essentials
   It’s not just messaging. Adidas introduced “Sideline Essentials”—guidance for coaches, parents, supporters: how their behaviour affects athlete mindset. This turns a campaign from passive observation into a call to action for communal change.

5. Multichannel Storytelling & Execution
   The campaign isn’t just a hero film. It spans high-emphasis moments (major sporting events, out-of-home, broadcast), digital and social, tools for behaviour change, and localised content. Plus, the visuals are intentionally crafted—shifting from black-and-white tension to colour, contrast, and encouragement. Music, editing, casting all supporting message.

6. Neurological / Psychological Backing
   Adidas has worked with neuro11 and conducted international studies showing that while both grassroots and elite athletes experience pressure, elite athletes are better at managing it. But crucially, the campaign suggests that this skill can be nurtured—and positive behaviour from those around you (coaches, teammates, family) plays a big role. That gives the campaign both credibility and an actionable angle.

Emotional Intelligence in “You Got This”

This campaign scores high in emotional intelligence because it:

• Recognises existing emotions (stress, doubt, performance anxiety) rather than pretending they don’t exist.

• Acknowledges the role of community in influencing how people feel—support, encouragement, correct sideline behaviours are all called out.

• Gives tools, not just emotion: belief + framework (Sideline Essentials) = action.

• Balancing aspiration and realism: Showing elite athletes but also relatable moments; the campaign doesn’t only glamorise success, it shows human vulnerability.

Business & Brand Impact

• Brand Heat & Awareness: Adidas has reported better brand “heat,” a revived emotional connection with consumers. Marketers and investors have noted growth in metrics, sentiment and visibility.

• Commercial Outcomes: Increased revenue growth in key quarters. Adidas notes double-digit growth in the first half of 2025, attributing part of this to strength of marketing and high-impact campaigns like this one.

• Cultural Resonance: The campaign has tapped into broader social conversations around mental health, wellbeing, sports inclusivity, and how pressure shapes both performance and personal fulfilment. This allows Adidas to become part of that conversation, not just a brand shouting about performance.

What Marketers Can Learn from This

1. Start with real emotions
   Understanding what the audience is feeling (pressure, anxiety, burnout, expectation) is more resonant than simply selling performance.

2. Purpose + tools = credibility
   Messages of encouragement are much stronger when they are paired with practical tools, behaviour guidance or visible action.

3. Amplify the ecosystem
   Coaches, parents, teammates, fans—these aren’t just peripheral audiences. Their behaviour signals to athletes and shapes their experience. Including them makes the campaign more powerful and authentic.

4. Narrative arcs that shift tone
   The visual shift from tension → colour + release, the audio / music choices, the editing—all contribute to moving the emotional state of viewer from pressure to belief. That emotional journey matters.

5. Invest across funnel, not just hero moments
   Campaigns like this succeed when they combine major event-scale visibility with micro-moments and support content (social, guidelines, grassroots). It’s not one film, but many touchpoints.

Final Word

“You Got This” isn’t just a campaign. It’s an emotional movement. Adidas has taken the universal pain point of ‘pressure’ in sport—and turned it into a rallying cry that says: you’re not alone, you’re capable, and with support, you can reclaim what drew you to sport in the first place.

For brands looking to build emotional intelligence, “You Got This” offers a template: listen, empathise, equip, and perform. Because when you do that, you don’t just make people feel seen—you help them believe.

Brand EQ Score

Adidas You Got This scores very high on emotional intelligence. It’s empathetic, empowering, and relevant, with strong consistency and authenticity. Its only gap is in transparency — there’s opportunity for Adidas to open up more about its own challenges or partner with grassroots organisations for deeper credibility.

See how emotionally intelligent your campaign is. Get in touch to try our Brand EQ Reporting.