CASE 111 / adidas / 2021
Liquid Billboard
A swimmable advertising structure let participating women become visible representatives of the collection.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook; published by SNS Media Tech. No named human reviewer is claimed.
Sources reviewed 2026-11-05
Campaign credits belong to the original creators. They did not write or endorse this analysis.
Credits: Havas Middle East / Havas Creative Dubai for adidas; HAVAS Red’s case study identifies Red Havas Middle East as the communications partner.
Recognition: 2022 Caples Awards Bronze, PR, verified in the awards’ category results.
Launch / edition: 2021. Award years: 2022.
The problem. The idea. The experience.
adidas was introducing full-cover swimwear and wanted more women to feel able to participate in swimming. The agency’s research framing described discomfort around public swimming, but the public case pages do not provide enough survey detail to generalize every percentage they report.
How the idea came to life
The Caples entry dates Liquid Billboard to 24 June 2021. A transparent, swimmable structure in Dubai became an advertising installation. Underwater cameras recorded participating swimmers, turning selected moments into personalized adidas imagery.
How it reached people
Footage was shown on a large digital display at Dubai Mall, extending the beach activation into a retail context. Havas describes communications across local and international media, making the participants’ experience the basis of the publicity rather than relying only on a conventional fashion shoot.
Supporting sources: Primary award archive with entrant narrative → Primary agency case study →
Read the data in context.
The numbers below describe different kinds of outcomes. Their date, scope and reporting source are part of the result.
- Reporting period
- Less than four weeks; exact start/end dates not supplied
- Scope
- Share of referenced stock sold; initial units, geography, replenishment and attribution not disclosed
- Evidence
- HAVAS Red case study; not independently audited or causal
The 2022 Caples results verify a Bronze in PR. Havas also reports that 70% of modest-swimwear stock sold in under four weeks, but does not disclose initial units, geographic scope or a counterfactual; that claim cannot establish sales caused by the billboard.
The creative mechanism.
A public demonstration turns consenting participants into the campaign’s imagery
Let the product address the stated barrier
Representation works better when a real product option expands choice. Before promoting inclusion, examine fit, availability, pricing and practical access with intended users. A small swimwear business may need a better size range or private fitting session first. Public visibility should follow useful provision, not substitute for it.
Separate participation from publicity consent
Someone may want to try a product without becoming an advertisement. Obtain distinct, informed permission for recording, public display and later reuse, and provide an equally good camera-free option. Explain where images will appear before participation. This is especially important when the campaign is addressing discomfort about being seen in public.
Connect the experience to a relevant place
Moving footage from a beach experience into a shopping environment can connect awareness with product discovery. For an adaptation, use a place where interested viewers can ask practical questions or try the offer. Avoid treating a large screen as inherently valuable; the audience’s ability to act matters more than display dimensions.
Choose a scale that preserves care
A large pool installation needs specialist engineering, water safety, staffing and accessible entry. The smaller transferable idea is a supported trial in which people choose how they are represented. A supervised session at an existing qualified venue can test that proposition without the risks and cost of building a publicity structure from scratch.
The intended behavior loop
- 01Learn about a more inclusive product option
- 02Choose whether to participate in a supported swim
- 03Opt into sharing personal imagery
- 04Explore the collection or a future session
Growth job: Introduce inclusive swimwear → invite participation → connect product availability with representation. This is an interpretation of the mechanism, not an audited attribution model.
A direction to take into the room.
Original editorial interpretation and proposed adaptation. This is a proposed adaptation, not historical campaign execution or a forecast.
The transferable principle
Make a useful product trial and optional self-representation part of the same supported experience.
Keep these boundaries
Do not pressure participants into publicity, equate visibility with universal confidence or copy a water installation without professional safety infrastructure.
Turn the lesson into a test.
Illustrative adaptation, not a historical campaign fact
A small-team experiment
A local swimwear retailer partners with a qualified pool for a small, adult-only fitting and supervised swim session with optional portraits.
Build the test
- Provide size and coverage choices, private changing arrangements and clear accessibility information.
- Use qualified aquatic staff and separate participation consent from image-use permission.
- Offer participants approved copies of their photographs and a camera-free experience of equal value.
Measure the right thing
Track attendance, comfortable completion, fit feedback and voluntary purchases; report image opt-ins separately and define the inventory denominator for any sell-through measure.
Know when to stop
Stop if privacy cannot be protected, safe supervision is unavailable or a participant feels coerced to be photographed.
How this reading fits your brief
Start with the useful part.
Best for: Introduce inclusive swimwear → invite participation → connect product availability with representation
What to adapt: Make a useful product trial and optional self-representation part of the same supported experience.
Prerequisites: Appropriate product assortment; Qualified aquatic venue and staff; Privacy and separate media consent; Accessible changing and entry.
Smaller-team route: A small retailer should use an existing professionally managed pool and optional photography. The original transparent structure is a specialist production, not a practical small-team build.
Budget: Not established in the reviewed public sources; adaptation requirements are not historical campaign cost estimates. No cost-fit claim is made.
Trade-offs and evidence: Read the limits below before choosing a test. There is no guaranteed reach, sales lift or ROAS.
Questions for your next brief
- What practical barrier must the product and setting remove first?
- Can someone receive the full experience without becoming content?
Sources & further reading.
Brand and award-entry results are attributed claims, not independent causal audits. Source links open the original third-party pages.
- Caples Awards: Liquid Billboard, adidas, PR results →Primary award archive with entrant narrative · Supports: 24 June 2021 campaign date, Havas Creative Dubai credit, execution, Dubai Mall distribution and exact Bronze PR recognition.
- HAVAS Red: Adidas: Diving into Body Positivity with a Liquid Billboard →Primary agency case study · Supports: Full-cover collection context, participants’ imagery, communications partner and qualified stock sell-through claim.
Independent educational analysis of external campaigns. These are not SNS client projects, endorsements or claims of involvement. Campaign facts and reported outcomes are attributed to their sources. Explanations, adaptations and test plans are original analysis and hypotheses, not proven causal findings.