adidas sends long hashtags ‘back to the pavilion’
Creates the shortest hashtag for cricket: #III
adidas athletes Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant cast as cricket’s first superhero squad in the campaign
adidas is all set to blow away cricket fans with the launch of its latest digital campaign titled #III, cricket’s shortest hashtag – #III, aiming to make the hashtag synonymous with cricket. Interestingly, the three “I’s” in the “#III” not only look like the three stumps of cricket but also give a visual representation of the trademark three stripes of adidas. The idea behind the campaign is to keep hashtags concise and crisp, in line with the tenets of social media. The campaign is being led by adidas athletes Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant and each ‘I’ in the #III, represents each one of them. As part of the campaign all three athletes will come together as the adidas #III squad, to become cricket’s first 3D superhero squad who are here not merely to play the game but to entertain audiences at extraordinary levels.
The #III Squad (or the cricket squad) of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will regale audiences on field with their explosive performances and off-field with fictional storytelling around the game. These three superheroes will live two lives – one with fantastical superpowers and the other with cricketing powers.
“As the world’s leading sports brand, we decided to establish the world’s shortest hashtag that represents the game – #III. We also realized that it was time to bring back the excitement to the cricket season and hence decided to push our athletes to go beyond just being sportsmen. Today audiences are seeking entertainment in the sport of cricket and we felt that the time was right to showcase Rohit, KL and Rishabh as the explosive players and entertainers that they are. What better than their superhero avatars to showcase their super abilities.” said Dhanashree Sowani, Director – Heartbeat Sports & Outdoor Business Unit, adidas India.
The campaign kicked off on the adidas Cricket Facebook page on March 11 with teaser posts that were followed with a video that established #III, as cricket in three characters. The next phase of the campaign saw the unveiling of the superhero avatars of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant through animated posts on social media. A digital film is to follow early April cementing the characters and introducing their role in making cricket entertaining again.
Rohit Sharma said, “I am super excited with my superhero avatar and cannot wait to get back onto the field to start entertaining my fans. The #III is also a great piece of creative work from adidas, especially in today’s day and age of keeping communication short”.
During the upcoming cricket season, the #III squad will give epic live commentary through GIFs and cinemagraphs on social media especially during matches. The superhero avatars will also be placed at prominent malls and adidas stores in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. adidas will also giveaway limited edition merchandise to winners of online contests that will be run on the adidas cricket social media handles.