adidas x Sports Direct
See how D4R successfully elevated the adidas wholesale presence in Sports Direct, resulting in a performance-driven concept that immediately secured lead-in space.
crafting a new wholesale identity
Delivering adidas a next generation performance identity.
THE BRIEF
This engagement centred on the complete overhaul of adidas’s branded retail spaces within Sports Direct stores, moving beyond the lifecycle of the previous concept. The objective was to develop and engineer a new, future-proof concept that firmly establishes adidas as a leader in all key sports categories within the wholesale environment.
Our work culminated in the delivery of a fully scalable brand toolkit and the successful implementation of a disruptive and performance-driven concept. This vision was first realised with the concept’s debut launch at the new Liverpool flagship Sports Direct on Church Street.
Idea
The core motivation for the adidas team was the necessity of revitalising their branded presence to secure their status as a best-in-class destination.
Recognising that the existing concept had reached its lifecycle limit, the brief demanded an evolution driven by a main strategic imperative, to inject a distinct performance aesthetic into the retail environment to facilitate new product storytelling.
This comprehensive scope went beyond simple visual updates, mandating the exploration of new materiality, pioneering the use of digital technology for interactive experiences, and establishing robust, stringent guidelines to ensure flawless global execution.
Ultimately, the idea was to craft an inherently disruptive design that would create significant brand impact, commanding attention, while remaining fundamentally flexible and scalable enough to underpin adidas’s long-term commercial strategy within the shop-in-shop wholesale channel.
INSIGHT & STRATEGY
Following the initial design direction and intent provided by adidas, our work was to refine and engineer the concept, adding value through our deep experience in retail execution. Our strategy was a multi-phase, end-to-end development process designed to translate the creative vision into a tangible, high-quality, and retailer-compliant solution. This involved technical engineering and development, creative refinement, the crucial development of the concept toolkit, prototype production for rigorous dry-build review, and final production and implementation.
The chosen aesthetic was a premium brushed stainless steel performance concept, defined by impactful branding and sophisticated illumination, and integrated digital engagement touchpoints, specifically focused on product heroing while meeting the challenging commercial and operational needs of the retailer, brand, and consumer.
Branded Space Areas
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Womens apparel
Kids apparel
Footwear
REALISATION
The successful delivery of the new branded space concept yielded immediate strategic benefits. We provided the adidas team with a refined concept toolkit that perfectly aligned with Sports Direct’s evolving retail identity while simultaneously delivering a disruptive brand solution that significantly outperformed competitor brands in visual presence.
Due to the commanding strength of the new design, the concept now occupies lead-in space allocations. The proven in-market success has directly resulted in the concept being rolled out to the retailer’s flagship location in Dublin, and the critical continued delivery and expansion of the branded space across the UK and European roll-out programme.
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