Case Study: Adidas ACE – Rebel Proving Ground ft. Juan Mata
Turning boots into futuristic weaponry and Rebel into a stage.
Turning boots into futuristic weaponry and Rebel into a stage.
How do you ignite football season in a country where the sport fights for airtime? You drop a global star into a dystopian proving ground, lace him in next-gen boots, and push him to the limit.
As part of rebel’s high-impact Proving Ground series, we partnered with Adidas to launch the new ACE boot with global football icon Juan Mata. The concept: a brutalist sci-fi testing facility where elite athletes are put through their paces in a series of cinematic trials. Think military-grade motion capture meets Formula 1 R&D meets graphic novel dystopia. Highly stylised. Visceral. Pure brand theatre.
Each instalment in the series was designed as a standalone short film, with Mata cast as the lead in this chapter. His footwork became data. His performance became spectacle. Every camera angle, lighting cue, and set piece reinforced the product's innovation narrative: control, precision, dominance. The ACE boot wasn’t just worn - it was weaponised.
To bring it to life, I secured unprecedented buy-in from global brands - including Adidas, Nike, and Puma - convincing them to supply top-tier international athletes for a regional campaign. That meant flying to Manchester to direct and produce on-location with Mata, aligning global brand teams, and threading the needle between international creative approvals and local market ambition. No easy feat - but the result was a campaign that landed like a blockbuster.
Visually, Proving Ground blurred the lines between commercial, content, and entertainment. In-store, online, and on-screen, it gave rebel a proprietary, ownable asset that elevated the entire category. We weren’t just selling boots - we were building a world.
Results:
41% increase in football category sales YoY during campaign period
4.8M video views in first 10 days across YouTube and social channels
3x uplift in boot trial bookings via Rebel stores nationwide
29% increase in Adidas brand preference among Rebel football consumers
Lauded by Adidas global as one of the most impactful regional launches to date
Why it worked:
In a crowded retail landscape, Proving Ground broke convention. It treated athletes like action heroes, boots like tech, and consumers like fans. The ambition paid off - turning a routine product launch into a cultural moment for football in Australia.