Today, adidas announces the launch of the eco-focused extended reality (XR) pilot project to bring attention to the sports brand’s ongoing sustainability efforts. The experience will be offered to customers at the adidas flagship store at Champs Elysees in Paris and will run for six weeks during the holiday season. 

Customers who have the adidas app on their mobile devices can enter an Augmented Reality (AR) Ocean World while visiting the flagship store. There, they’ll witness the impact of consumption and plastic waste on the environment. Accompanied by a giant whale, users will be tasked with collecting ocean garbage, while observing how it breaks into microscopic plastic particles, spins into a thread and transforms into the latest shoe in the new adidas collection, based on recycled plastic waste gathered on beaches and in coastal regions. 

As part of the adidas Platform A program, the cause marketing campaign aims to improve brand and sales growth, as well as stress the positive impact of digital innovations on retail. The initiative was created in collaboration with the creative agency MONOCHROME and eyecandylab, a tech company, specializing in developing interactive video-based AR experiences. 

Robin Sho Moser, CEO at eyecandylab said in a press release shared with AList: “Through our cooperation with adidas, we again demonstrate how Augmented Reality is disrupting a wide range of areas and how our technology plays a key role. Augmented Reality is very effective as a medium for storytelling because it completely integrates the user. Our project not only serves to position adidas as an innovator but also highlights the company’s environmental and sustainability activities.” 

As the project integrates the existing digital video screens in the Champs Elysees flagship store, it raises awareness of adidas’ sustainability efforts through powerful storytelling, evoking strong customer response. 

“Storytelling and [creating emotions is harder to do with consumers these days]. A brand always comes to life through emotions–and with more immersive content, it’s easier to pull the consumer into the story and create emotions with them. It’s a new approach in storytelling we would like to test and see the consumers’ feedback,” Florian Fiedler, senior manager Innovation and Trends at adidas told AList.