Case Study – Sports Fashion meets Street Art

 

There are companies in this world that simply don’t do ordinary: those who are not satisfied with staying at the pulse of time but who dictate its rhythm instead. One of these companies is Adidas, the soon to be 100 year old manufacturer of sports attire and accessories. The Adidas brand is known and valued all across the globe, not only for its outstanding line of products, but also for its image as a trendsetter.

 

It seems fit that even for internal events Adidas goes that extra mile in order to make an impression. This was especially the case at the Brand Day of the company’s Central Europe East branch, which presented new marketing strategies and product lines for the year 2014 to Adidas wholesalers. The event took place in the NH Sports Hotel in Olomouc, Czech Republic, which converted their tennis hall into an enormous conference room. 

 

As ‘ordinary’ was not an option for Adidas, a plain presentation with a common projection setup was out of the question. Instead, the finest Czech event specialists were hired to create an extraordinary experience: JAD Productions (www.jadpro.cz), known for their exceptionally high standard of art production and multimedia implementation focusing on entertainment, dance performances and fashion shows, founded by world famous artist and producer Yemi A.D. (www.yemiad.com), the renowned stage designer Martin Hruška, and XLAB, 3D designers and projection experts, and also one of the oldest Ventuz users worldwide. 

 

Together, they came up with a concept that reflected the brand image as well as the company’s sense of ingenuity. On stage they installed a large structure consisting of different elements that gave the background an urban look and feel. The structures help spotlights and were strong enough for performers to stand on, but their main purpose was to serve as the backdrop for a sophisticated projection mapping installation. Four HD projectors by Panasonic illuminated the stage setup from all angles with colorful 3D graphics and Adidas image videos.

 

The agency XLAB has gathered quite some experience with projection mapping over the years, having projected into and inside of buildings all over the country. Ever since it first appeared on the market in 2004, Ventuz has been an important software tool in their work.

 

“We started out as young VJs looking for a tool that supported our creativity instead of limiting it”, explained Jindrich Trapl, CEO of XLAB. “Ventuz provided us with great flexibility and at the same time ran much more reliably than any other solution in that area.” Today, XLAB creates stage graphics and projection mapping for some of the country’s finest events, such as the Miss Czech Republic Pageant, the Czech Music Awards and many more. “Especially with the release of the new shaping and mapping editor in Ventuz 4, we have been able to create truly stunning installations with no difficulties. A growing number of customers come to us looking for a way to impress their audiences, and we are able to provide solutions quickly and at the highest level of technology and design. The Adidas event is a great example for that.”

 

But projection mapping was just one aspect of the installation at the Adidas event. Although a lot of facts and figures had to be presented, the organizers wanted to maintain a loose and young atmosphere. Hence, each presentation was accompanied by a show part, such as a dance performance, a fashion show or a sports demonstration. XLAB provided different graphical elements for each bit and controlled the rundown from a master machine in the gallery. 

 

The Adidas Brand Day was a day of insight and fun for the audience as well as the organizers. The production team delivered a stunning show that has strengthened XLAB’s reputation as one of the most professional projection experts in the Czech Republic. “With the help of Ventuz we are also venturing into new markets”, said Jindrich. “We are currently producing the game show Pointless for the network Ceská televise. It is very liberating to have a software tool in use that opens doors for us. Ventuz has been by our side for over ten years, and we will surely keep it around for much longer.”