adidas is giving tween girls a new gamified way to interact with its brand.
It partnered with Toca Boca on a global in-app experience, bringing adidas Originals styles and a dedicated outdoor location into the digital world.
Players can dress characters in digital versions of the Firebird, Superstar, and Adicolor collections.
They can customize outfits with the Three Stripes, and create sport-focused stories around basketball, football, volleyball, and skating.
The collaboration also includes limited-edition gifts, such as adidas period-proof sportswear, a yoga mat, and a sports bag.
The experience launches worldwide on August 21.
Research from the Women's Sports Foundation shows girls start dropping out of sports faster than boys by age 14.
Puberty often affects their belief in themselves when in athletic spaces, which is the gap that adidas is aiming at.
"Alongside adidas, we're extending that into sport, supporting self-expression and confidence,"
"[S]o girls feel empowered to keep playing on their own terms," Mathilda Engman, Co-GM at Toca Boca, said in a press release.
Almost 60 million kids are playing Toca Boca games monthly.
And the collab gives adidas access to a large tween audience, where its products become part of what they create, wear, and play with.
Tweens Mix the Three Stripes Into Their Own Looks
The collaboration takes familiar adidas products and gives them a role inside Toca Boca World.
Premium Style Packs feature digital versions of the Firebird, Superstar, and Adicolor collections.
The Three Stripes can be mixed and matched across different outfits.
This versatile setup lets tweens experiment with identity and personal style inside the game.
The interactive campaign also adds a free outdoor Home Designer location where players can create sports-inspired stories.
The space includes skating, basketball, football, and volleyball areas, mirroring the kind of active, social play that already pulls in tween girls.
"Toca Boca World is a space where kids can explore identity without rules or expectations," Engman said.
Limited-edition gifts add another layer to the experience by translating real-world needs and routines into gameplay.
The digital sportswear includes period-proof pieces intended to support comfort and confidence during sport.
The design speaks directly to what tween girls deal with as they hit puberty and try to stay active.
The approach hands adidas a working role inside a platform where players already build their own stories.
Brand strategy aimed at younger audiences gets further when the product itself becomes something they pick up and use.
A Billion Downloads Attract Bigger Partners
Toca Boca shares that close to 60 million kids play its games every month.
Its games have also passed 1 billion downloads worldwide, which accounts for why Toca Boca has been widening its partnership model all year.
In May, it brought music from Olivia Rodrigo, SIENNA SPIRO, and TWICE into its gaming world, where each artist got four songs in the app for a month.
Daily use is the asset here, and it is why brand partnerships like this latest adidas one keep migrating toward gaming platforms.
The collab points to an opportunity for brands looking to reach younger audiences through interactive media.
- Audience access matters. Brands should partner with platforms that already have repeat engagement to reach younger consumers.
- Customization gives brand assets more functions. Marketers should let users personalize recognizable products to encourage interaction.
- Partnerships work across layers. Teams should connect products, spaces, and activities so each one supports the others.
Value is strongest when the brand remains recognizable while giving players enough freedom to make the experience their own.
Our Take: Does Period-Proof Gear Belong in a Kids' Game?
adidas put a menstrual product into a children's game as an item you unlock and dress a character in.
We think that this is the sharpest and most original thing in the deal, and the part that most brands would have killed in the approval process.
The gear appears in the same menu as the Firebird tracksuit, which strips the topic of any clinical framing.
The tension sits in the pricing, since the sports location is free and the Originals styles are paid.
adidas gave away the part about movement and charged for the part about logos.
We'd watch whether the period-proof kit stays free, because it will say more about the strategy than the launch does.
adidas isn't new to gaming partnerships. Its Brawl Stars collab combines in-game skins with junior apparel, footwear, and a physical fan experience.
Looking to develop interactive campaigns for younger audiences?
Explore these top experiential marketing agencies with experience across gaming, branded content and digital experiences.
