2012 Year In Review - adidas
2012 really has been something else. Sport has never witnessed a more exciting and ground-breaking year for new products and technology. The world's leading sports companies have been locked in a fierce battle for supremacy on and off the field. Who's landed the biggest punches? That's for you to decide!
For adidas, 2012 has been largley shaped by the success of one player and one team. Leo Messi and Spain have re-written the history books this year with record-breaking success. Elsewhere, the adidas Predator and new adizero boots have been adidas' headline product pieces. Take a look at what adidas brought us in 2012.
When your lead player wins the Ballon d'Or three years in a row, you want as many people to know as possible! To help celebrate Messi's hat-trick of Ballon d'Or titles, they commissioned their f50 superstar with a pair of gold adizero boots personalised with each year he has won the award. The boots weren't made available to the public and were worn by the Barca superstar for just one game.
To mark the beginning of the 2011/12 Champions League knock-out fixtures, adidas unveiled the match-ball design that would be waiting for the two teams to make it to Munich. They gave us our first look at the ball on the Allianz Arena surface. It was a big year for adidas footballs - a year that gave us the adidas Tango 12 and Albert match-balls for the European Championships and Olympic Games.
In a unique pre-launch campaign, adidas unveiled each of the Predator LZ's five lethal zones in singular fashion. A selection of Predator professionals including Xavi, Angel di Maria and Samir Nasri were given different variations of the boot to wear in competitive matches to help highlight certain features across the boot. The campaign lasted two weeks before the official launch of the adidas Predator LZ.
Adidas' biggest moment of 2012. The launch of the revamped Predator LZ was one of the year's hottest talking points. The Predator had undergone a serious make-over to deliver one of its most revolutionary incarnations to date, now featuring Lethal Zones. Added to this, there was no black/white/red design in sight. Adidas didn't hesitate in launching the Predator LZ in the infamous blue/white/infrared colourway.
Coupled with every major boot release is the launch event - the brands opportunity to put their new product in the media spotlight. For the Predator LZ, adidas called upon the services of Manchester United duo Tom Cleverley and Nani as well as Manchester City striker Eden Dzeko. The three players went up against each other in a series of unique challenges designed to test each of the boots Lethal Zones.
The story behind the Predator LZ was a fascinating one. For this reason, adidas put together a short video giving us insight into the concept of Lethal Zones. The video took us inside the adidas research lab in Herzogenaurach Germany to learn every detail behind the development of the Predator LZ. More than any other boot that came before, the Predator LZ had a huge levels of input from professional and amateur players.
With the launch of the Predator LZ and two colour updates for the f50 adizero and adiPure 11Pro, adidas were ready for their attack on the 2012 European Championships. The adidas Euro pack was united with a common colour theme across each silo and made quite an impression at the tournament, with adidas duo David Silva and Jordi Alba both getting on the score-sheet in the final for Spain.
October marked the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the States, and to do their part for the cause, adidas and a number of MLS players joined forces to create an exclusive line of pink-accented miadidas boots that were worn by several MLS professionals including Darlington Nagbe, Fredy Montero, Teal Bunbury, Chris Pontius and Kenny Cooper throughout October.
Keeping miadidas in the spotlight, adidas called upon a number of their leading European players to create their own custom design for a one-off weekend of miadidas football boots. Seven players across Europe were involved in designing their own footwear including Fernando Llorente, Karim Benzema, Oscar, Ashley Young, Thomas Muller, Lukas Podolski and Ricardo Montolivo.
England captain Steven Gerrard marked his 100th international cap wearing a commemorative pair of adidas Predator LZ football boots. Ahead of the official release of the black/red/white Predator LZ colourway, adidas celebrated one of their most iconic Predator wearers with a special pair to celebrate his landmark achievement. Gerrard wore the boots on his 100th international appearance for England as they took on Sweden. The boots attracted a lot of attention as England and adidas lauded one of its finest players.
After another summer of success for Spain and adidas, the World and European champions were given an updated look for the 2013 Confederations Cup. The reworked design maintained many of the key elements of Spain's Euro jersey, but brought with it a striking new chevron neckline. Spain will wear the kit for their remaining 2014 World Cup qualifying matches and throughout the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil.
November brought us the much anticipated release of the fourth-generation f50 adizero. The new adizero arrived with lead player Leo Messi firing on all cylinders. The boots were given their official on-pitch debut when Barcelona travelled to Celtic in the Champions League. The updated design featured a new textured and synthetic SPRINTSKIN upper designed to elevate performance in all weather conditions.
It wasn't long before adidas hooked Messi up with his own miadidas colourway, custom designed by a fan. The result of a unique competition to design the footwear for the world's greatest player, Leo Messi sat down and sifted through a selection of colour designs before choosing which boots he would take to the field wearing against Atletico Madrid. Messi's chosen f50 design comprised of a running white upper, with black outsole / sprintframe laces and vivid red heel, tongue and iconic adidas three-stripe.
In a year like no other, Leo Messi surpassed Gerd Muller's 1972 record of 85 goals in a calendar year, signing off from 2012 with a remarkable 91 goals. Messi finished 2012 with 79 goals for Barcelona, 59 in the Spanish league, 13 in the Champions League, five in the Copa del Rey and two in the Spanish Super Cup. He also scored 12 for Argentina, of course all wearing the three stripes on his feet. If this doesn't cry out for a special limited edition boot, we don't know what does!
