Aldi like to position themselves as the pirates, not the navy. So, if we were going to level the playing field and democratise the sportswear market, we needed a game-changing idea that had a challenger brand spirit. Creating low-cost sportswear with three stripes was only just the beginning, we also had to push the limits of creativity and even the law to advertise it. We ripped off the brand that was ripping off everybody else by getting other people to name our clothing range ‘Aldidas’ for us, which helped us avoid copyright infringement.

Aldi is different from most supermarkets. Mainly because they don’t sell brands. They believe pretty, polished logos shouldn’t make things cost more. Their mission is to help people spend less. And that’s been their ethos since 1913.

They’ve democratised the food people eat, but we thought it was time to try the clothes they wear. Why? Because even though inflation is at an all-time high, and the UK is experiencing a cost of living crisis, big sportswear brands are ripping people off by charging more than ever. So, we decided to do something about it.

The brief was simple: Disrupt the sportswear market by highlighting how expensive and inaccessible it’s become. Oh, and have some fun along the way.

We played the sportswear giants at their own game and got Aldi to launch their own sportswear range which was much more affordable. They’re a German brand, founded by two brothers with a logo that has three stripes. So obviously, we wanted to call it Aldidas. But their lawyers prohibited it. We didn’t want this to turn into a lawsuit, so we turned to Aldi’s social community and asked them to name their sportswear instead.

They dubbed it ‘Aldidas’ for us, and this little loophole meant we wouldn’t violate copyright infringement laws. Once they said it, we could put their ‘Aldidas’ tweets and comments on Aldi’s sportswear ads as branding without worrying about any legal battles. This breakthrough made the campaign famous, and a result, made sportswear more accessible and affordable to all. In a market where logos raise the cost, Aldi used theirs to lower it.

The data was clear. The sportswear market soared during the pandemic as people were working and exercising from home, and the trend long continued in the years after. The demand had increased, and as a result, the prices did too. In the UK alone, sales of women's athleisure bottoms were five times higher than before Covid. So, we had proof that big sportswear brands were ripping people off.

And that’s exactly who our audience was. Young people who couldn’t afford branded sportswear or were tired of paying their outrageous prices. So, where better to reach young people than social media?

Aldi’s approach things as the pirates, not the navy. A challenger brand that makes products fairer and more affordable to all. Well, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s been very successful for groceries, so that should be our strategy for sportswear too.

Our legal loophole started with a simple question. We asked Aldi’s followers across our social accounts what we should call the sportswear range, and hinted it would have three stripes, like a certain big brand. They dubbed it ‘Aldidas’ for us, and then we could legally put their tweets and comments on all Aldi’s sportswear ads.

Now we could rip off the brand that was ripping off everybody else. Starting with their biggest sponsorship deal. They signed Messi for £18,000,000, so we signed Massey, from the Robin Hood pub in Macclesfield for 18 shirts. We also sent PR packages containing our sportswear to some of social’s biggest influencers, which looked like the iconic Adidas blue shoe boxes. They then unboxed it and modelled it in front of their millions of followers.

We officially launched during the World Cup in November 2022, across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok.

We played one of the biggest sportswear brands at their own game, and won. First, Aldi won on social. We generated a total reach of 11m, with 800k impressions. Plus, we increased their followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by over 200,000.

Then Aldi won with PR, by getting media coverage from over 50 news outlets, which added up to £500k worth of earned media.

And finally, Aldi won in business. The sportswear range sold out in just 3 hours. And they generated over £1,000,000 in sales. A record for a supermarket clothing range.

But the biggest winners of all? Their customers. Not only did they access to fashionable sportswear for low prices, they also profited by making copycats of our copycats. They created fake Aldidas merch and charged twice the price.

So really, everybody won. Well, you know, except for Adidas.

When it comes to groceries, Aldi is famous for offering alternatives to the big brands. Their products look the same, taste the same, only thing they don’t do is cost the same. And that was the insight for Aldi’s Like Brands Only Cheaper campaign, which was one of the most famous and successful retail campaigns of all time. The Like Brands campaign made British people fall in love with their lookalike products, and fall in love with Aldi, helping it grow to the 4th biggest supermarket in the UK.

British people talk about Aldi’s lookalike products. Tweet about them. They even make TV documentaries about them. So, we knew we could rely on them to name Aldi’s sportswear for us on social. Because they’re ‘in on the joke’ too.