TWBA\Canada’s Adidas ad wins Innovation Grand Prix
- Jun 26
- 1 min read
TRADITIONAL running shoes don’t fit the feet of athletes with Down syndrome. Adidas’ three year quest to address that gap has now won a Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Innovation.
Devised by TBWA\Canada, the project involved working with the athletes to understand their needs, then developing six prototypes on the way to the final commercial product. The Supernova Rise 3 Adaptive shoe launched on March 21, World Down Syndrome Day.
“What was impressive was that Adidas didn’t just create a product for athletes with Down syndrome."
"They created it with them, through long-term collaboration,” said Jury President Kazuhiro Shimura, executive creative director at Dentsu Inc.
He noted that how it was brought to market was equally important: it was not positioned as a ‘special’ or niche product. “It launched globally in the same channels, at the same price and with the same design standards as any other Adidas running shoe,” Shimura said. “And this work did not simply create shoes: it opened up an opportunity to run for people with
Down syndrome.
There were 162 entries for the Innovation category this year, with a Gold awarded to Publicis, Amsterdam’s ‘Utrecht Energized’ campaign for Renault.
Shimura outlined the jury’s priorities when choosing the winners. “We felt we had to look beyond proof of concept,” he said.
“Not just can it work, can it be built, can it be implemented in the real world? But also: has it already begun to create change? What change could it create next? And how far can it move people and society forward?”
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