Sports brands and football collaborations have been successful for many years in terms of pulling off an exciting and outside the box activations. Back in 2014, Adidas created the interactive Predator Instinct: The Game. I discovered this event when I was researching for my dissertation, around this time last year, and took many influences from it. 

But how did they come up with such a great concept? And how successful was it?  

'Well, the UK had seen a huge drop off in kids playing football. Instead they were turning to their Playstations and Xbox for their physical kicks. So the first challenge was to persuade them to try the boots on and kick a ball around rather than sit on their sofa playing FIFA.
Knowing that the real competition was gaming, rather than other football boots, they then built the life-size, living, computer game in a warehouse in London. Each player’s mission was simple. Get the ball from one end to the other. Score. Do it fast. And don’t get shot by predators armed with AK47 laser guns. Everything they created was designed to look and feel like a computer game – from the architecture, to online invitations, secret game maps, costume design, and the actors’ scripts. They used lighting, sound and design to make the entire experience feel like you were trapped in a real life version of GTA or Halo. Players’ journeys were choreographed through a series of immersive, interconnected spaces by a team of actors – a Lair where they were briefed on the game, a Weapons Depot where they picked up their boots, and two game levels where they battled the predators.
Launched online and on the streets, with secret maps and hidden codes, the game sold out in 24 hours. Within 48 hours it was oversubscribed twice over. The game itself turned every player into the hero of their own epic quest and successfully repositioned the boots as deadly weapons.The event alone hit 5 million people in the UK during its run, was ‘liked’ over 250,000 times on Instagram, and went on to hit another 27 million football across Europe as it achieved coverage in every market. Finally, sales of Predator Instinct boots were three times higher during and after the event than adidas had forecast, with conversation around the game keeping them front of mind when young football fans reached the shops.'**