Adi Down Under: How a Group of adidas Employees Experienced the FIFA Women’s World Cup

If you have a passion for sport, there is no better place to be than inside 3-Stripes. From athlete visits to watching sports matches in the office or working out in your lunch break – it’s easy to become immersed in the world of sport the moment you arrive at any adidas location.

For the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, we were determined to take this level of immersion to the next level, so we sent a group of lucky employees to experience the tournament on the ground in Sydney with an all-expenses paid trip. This was their chance to soak up the energy, watch Australia’s opening game, and meet with employees from all corners of the world in a celebration of football and women’s sport.

This is their journey to the tournament and beyond.

The first challenge was assembling the group. “Among our global employees, we have a whole host of sports enthusiasts. So, ensuring our ///-team had a fair shot at victory, and we send those who know how to convey a story to take their colleagues with them to Sydney, was key. We took a unique approach as we handed voting power to the people and challenged our employees to get creative to showcase how badly they wanted to win,” says Tanja Kaiser, our Director Internal Communication, who orchestrated the project.

“And the submissions speak for themselves: From poems, to videos, songs, and artwork, our people went above and beyond sharing their creatives via our intranet, where their colleagues had the important task of voting for their winners by liking and commenting on each post.”

After two weeks of intense competition filled to the brim with passion, voting closed and we set about counting the votes to find our winners representing each market from across the company. After careful counting we found our champions and so the journey began.

Following weeks of planning, a heap of visa applications, and final flight bookings our winners made it down under, landing in Sydney in the week leading up to Australia’s opening match on 20^th July, 2023.

“The first day was kind of hard for me because I got to Sydney at 11 AM, from a journey that lasted around two and a half days! In any case, I was still motivated to enjoy all this journey was going to bring. We had a dinner to get to know all the contest winners. It was fantastic to see a table of people from different countries and cultures getting to know each other.” Andreas Cruz, Specialist Accounts Payable

After a restful night’s sleep for some – and an early morning wake up for those recovering from jetlag – it was time to kick off the week. While this trip was about meeting new people and exploring a new city, above all, it was about promoting women’s football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup with the help of our 23 employee winners! What better way to spread the hype around the tournament across our global team, then by bringing our employees on the journey with us and asking them to share their experience of Sydney and the tournament with their peers.

Welcome to Country (or Acknowledgement to Country) is a ceremony performed at the start of an event to acknowledge that it is taking place on traditional Aboriginal lands. Country is the modern Aboriginal term for Australia and any words of welcome pay respects to the indigenous people of Australia. Given that the tournament is co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and that our Pacific team is made up of both countries, it was important that we also recognised Māori people who are indigenous to Aotearoa. Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand.

We were honored to see Ariana Stephens, our winner from Aotearoa New Zealand and proud Māori woman, perform this Welcome to Country, the perfect introduction to this important custom. You can see the text read as part of the Welcome to Country below.

“I would like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are meeting and to pay my respects to Elders both past and present and extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people from Australia. In recognition that we are a bi-national team, I would also like to pay my respects to Māori as Tangata Whenua of Aotearoa”

Ariana finished with a mihi which is a tribute in Māori.

Following the beautiful welcome, it was time to get down to business. From running through our agenda, to explaining our goals for the trip, and finally going through the best tips and tricks for content creation, our employee influencers were ready to go!

First stop, our trade zone tour and Sydney brand centre visit! Joined by Manager, Key Account Sales Elena Kambas, our employees gained a deeper understanding of Pacific as a market and our consumers in the region. As we walked through Sydney’s busy CBD shopping area, we arrived at our brand new adidas store, the 3-Stripes shining bright as we walked through the door.

With a greater understanding of the Pacific market, it was time to see the sights of Sydney. Bring on day three and a sightseeing bus tour around Sydney. From the iconic Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, and down to Bondi, what better way to hype our employees up and they were ready to capture the experience.

“The weather was absolutely perfect for our city tour. The bus has an upper level with an open top. We were able to experience Sydney with the warm Australian sun on our faces – it was great. The best part was stopping off at Bondi Beach. It brought a smile to my face to see how amazed everyone was by the scenery. Eddee and Joao even braved the freezing cold water for a swim, and I couldn’t believe their courage – I could never do that!” Elise Zinna, Sr. Specialist e-Com Onsite Conversion

As part of this World Cup experience, our winners were given the opportunity to meet leadership teams from the region to talk business, network, and gain some nuggets of wisdom from across our organisation.

Hosted at a rotating restaurant with a changing vantage point of Sydney’s skyline, each table mixed employees from around the world with our leaders. The main topic of discussion the Women’s World Cup and how adidas as a brand planned to show up and amplify the women’s game and our athletes. From the local activations to big picture discussions on the grass root game, it was great to see the passion and commitment of our 3-Stripes team, true football fans on each and every table.

Day four and it’s match day! From the moment we left the hotel lobby to entering the stadium, our employees were busy capturing the atmosphere and energy. On the ride to the stadium, we sat amongst Irish and Australian fans, a sea of many shades of green, gold, and orange moving through the train.

There is a friendly glow with families grouped together on their way to support their teams, children, young girls, a new generation ready to take in this historic moment.

It’s electrifying to be part of and as we walk up towards the stadium the sounds get bolder, louder, more defined, drums beating, dancing. In the distance people step up to an adidas booth, each walking away with a bright gold and green branded World Cup cape to keep them warm on this winter evening down under.

As we enter the stadium, the size of the venue hits us and so does the scale of this tournament. The world is waking up to women’s football and we’re here to witness it. Before the match starts, we’re embraced by another Welcome to Country.

“The Welcome to Country was absolutely beautiful. The best I have ever seen in my life. The Aboriginal culture was front and center with a woman elder hosting. Followed by a Māori woman and they embraced in a hongi which was such a beautiful moment in woman’s sport and indigenous culture.” Ariana Stephens, Sr. Specialist, Field Key Accounts

The players walk out onto the pitch and the crowd roars. For us, all eyes are on Australia’s Mary Fowler and Caitlin Foord, two of our top adidas players, with Mary featured in our global brand campaign. The whistle blows and the two teams get off to a mixed start and by half time both are still goalless. But the mood is up and lifted again in the first 10 minutes of the second half when a penalty gives Australia the first and only goal of the match.

Our trip was coming to a close and after a busy week it was time to reflect and consider the true impact of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on women’s sport and future generations. Hosted by Pacific & Singapore Women’s Network, we joined the adidas Sydney team and members of the leadership team to network and listen to an exciting and empowering panel discussion on the topic of promoting gender equity across sports with a focus on football.

Head of brand in the APAC region Simon Millar was joined on stage by Steph Brantz and Fiona Crawford, two women from within the sporting world.

Steph Brantz is a freelance sport and events presenter, producer, and commentator with 20 years of experience across a wide range of sports including tennis and football. Fiona is a former softballer, who has represented Australia in softball for 223 games, competing at two Olympic Games, three World Championships, and 28 international competitions. She later transitioned into the corporate space with 25 years of experience in human resources.

Both women highlighted the importance of reliance and touched on the significance of representation in women’s sports for future generations. From investing in grass roots communities, to thinking about the language we use in media and beyond when discussing pro athletes, it was an exciting discussion that left an impression on all.

As we walked side by side on a networking walk to our adidas brand center store, the air was buzzing with memories of the trip. We were ready for the future of women’s sport and determined to be allies from within adidas on the journey to greater equality.

Thank you to all of our employee winners for their passion and enthusiasm throughout the trip, it was a true pleasure to experience Sydney with you!