Today adidas announced the launch of their official Tumblr football profile which will see the world’s leading football brand use Tumblr’ sponsorship packages to showcase unique content from the world of football, on and off the pitch.

The new Tumblr profile will offer visitors an inspirational and unique look inside the world of adidas and its involvement in football. To mark the beginning of an exciting new football offering, adidas has teamed up with motion graphics editor Thiago Maia to create a launch video that gives viewers an early insight into what to expect from the site. The film features leading footballers from the past and the present, including Leo Messi, Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas, Franz Beckenbauer, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham.

The launch coincides with UEFA Euro 2012, where adidas will be working with a variety of talented content producers to create cutting edge visual content that showcases the real culture of football and adidas’s love of the game.

EURO 2012 is the immediate focus for the page, and adidas has sent out respected football blogger Laurence McKenna from EPL Talk to cover the tournament for and produce daily podcasts live from Krakow in Poland.  But they have also sent across highly regarded Hypebeast Photographer Ravi Sidhu who will capture lifestyle focused photography – focusing on telling the story of the tournament through the eyes of the fans.

adidas are also part of a pilot project in conjunction with tumblr where they are trialing their latest advertising model, and are the very first brand to do so.  The profile will be promoted through Tumblr’s new sponsorship opportunities, which allow brands to feature their posts in the Tumblr dashboard’s ‘Radar’ section, and take advantage of premium space in the Tumblr ‘Spotlight.’ adidas football’s Tumblr will be featured under the Sports ‘Spotlight’, and multiple posts will be highlighted in the ‘Radar’ during UEFA Euro 2012.

The tournament will also be presented through the latest visual techniques, creating high quality content that will be exclusive to the adidas Football Tumblr page. adidas has partnered with an up-and-coming film crew, The OMC, to capture the emotion and passion of the fan parks using innovative and under-used cameras to bring UEFA Euro2012 to life in a new way.

Alongside this new content, the adidas Football Tumblr page will celebrate the brand’s heritage in football. It will showcase the successes enjoyed by various adidas teams and players over the years, including defending champions Spain as they head into UEFA EURO 2012 to defend the title they won in 2008. The new Tumblr page will also be home to a striking range of photography of adidas products and specially commissioned artwork that demonstrates the products and the technology behind them in a new light.

Tom Ramsden, adidas Global Brand Marketing Director Football comments on the significance of the new partnership: “The partnership with Tumblr around UEFA Euro 2012 represents an exciting move for adidas Football as we start to communicate with fans in a new way, beyond typical football communications channels. We will use Tumblr to share unique content with fans; combining material from our vast footballing archive with fresh, new content produced in real time by a lineup of exciting, up and coming producers.”

Tumblr VP of Product Derek Gottfrid comments: “We’re absolutely thrilled that adidas is doing such world-class creative storytelling on tumblr. adidas is building a rich and engaging site with spectacular visuals to express their truly deep passion for football. The live event coverage they have planned for UEFA Euro 2012 will be totally captivating to the international community of football fans. When a brand shares great creative content on Tumblr, our community is happy to follow along and amplify the messaging via reblog. This is the type of innovative marketing effort that we’re proud to be at the heart of, and we can’t wait to show it off in the Tumblr Radar and the Tumblr Spotlight.”

The adidas Football Tumblr page will continue to bring fans closer to the brand and the players they love beyond UEFA Euro 2012, beginning with the new European domestic season.

To view the new adidas Football Tumblr page visit adidasfootball.tumblr.com

(disclosure: adidas are a client)

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