adidas announced today the launch of a new global basketball movement featuring NBA All-Stars Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups and Gilbert Arenas.  The movement of the “It Takes 5IVE” campaign is based on the idea of believing in something bigger than the individual-believing in five, believing in team.

This movement will be showcased in the upcoming adidas global basketball campaign, “It Takes 5IVE.”  The campaign will feature situations highlighting the players as individuals, but in the end the players tell the viewers they have been fooled if they believe it is any one individual when “It Takes 5IVE” guys working together to do great things. 

The “It Takes 5IVE” campaign will debut globally on television beginning October 16th, 2006, and on www.adidasbasketball.com.  The campaign concept idea originates from conversations with the players and has been developed by adidas’ global advertising partner TBWA/Chiat/Day San Francisco, part of the 180/TBWA alliance. 

“We wanted to tap into the idea that there is more to the game then just individual achievement and focus on the value of being part of a team.  That is the true spirit of the game of basketball,” stated Eric Liedtke, VP of Global Brand Marketing for adidas.  “By bringing together five of the game’s most successful athletes and having them deliver the message that real success can only come from being part of a team, and that any individual achievements cannot measure to the success that five players on the court can achieve together shows that teamwork is the most essential aspect to a team sport.”

The television campaign was directed by Ringan Ledwidge and will launch with a :30 brand spot in which all five players will appear together.  The camera catches a glimpse of some of the behind the scenes moments that everyday fans aren't used to seeing: locker rooms, events, photo shoots and in the midst of these situations, the athletes break mold and turn to deliver their line directly to the camera.  They speak about their success as individuals, until the climax of the spot in which the player delivers the line that reveals where the true success comes from - "It Takes 5IVE."  Over the next six months, :30  and :15 spots for each of the five athletes as individuals will air following the brand spot.

The print for this campaign sums up the message of team by conveying a different characteristic that each of these All-Stars brings to the team.  The brand print ad features all five athletes blending into each other as they go up for a slam- dunk.  The copy points to the characteristic that each brings to the team, culminating with the line "It Takes 5ive."  The individual ads show each athlete receiving a pass, doing what makes him special, and then passing the ball off of the page.  All five single page ads work together to form one continuous play down the court.  This is demonstrated on one side of a five-page poster that will be running as an insert in SLAM magazine, on sale October 24.  The alternate side will carry the brand-spread creative.

The campaign will also carry over to the internet at www.adidasbasketball.com.  The site will feature a number of highly intergraded, on-line executions and an interactive component for those who truly believe in the idea of team and want to express that in their own words through the site.

During the campaign each of the athletes involved will also launch his own signature shoe.   “It is important for people to know that without my teammates I wouldn't have a signature shoe,” said Tracy McGrady.  “So for me, my signature shoe represents my teammates, not just me.”   The T-MAC 6 (Tracy McGrady) will kick off the shoe launches October 20, 2006.  Next will be the Gil Zero (Gilbert Arenas’ first signature shoe) on December 15, 2006, and the KG Bounce (Kevin Garnett) on January 20, 2007, followed by C-Billups (Chauncey Billups) on March 16th, 2007.  Lastly, the Stealth (Tim Duncan) will debut on April 13th, 2007.

To view both the “It Takes 5IVE” commercial and Behind the Scenes Overview go to www.newvisioncom.com/adidas/5ive/.

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adidas has been providing innovative products for the world’s best athletes for more than 50 years, from NBA legends such as Jerry West, Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to today’s superstars, such as Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett and to the players who are the future of basketball like Adam Morrison, Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Josh Smith, Sebastian Telfair and TJ Ford.