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By Jessica Goodfellow, Media Reporter

October 17, 2016 | 3 min read

Adidas believes Paul Pogba is a “true creator” on the pitch and off, and as such has launched a campaign highlighting how footballers are becoming content creators in their own rights, spotlighting their desires to have more athletes building out their owned media channels.

The campaign, titled 'Football Needs Creators', follows Pogba’s journey from childhood in Roissey-en-Brie to his explosive return to Old Trafford. The idea of the campaign, by showing Pogba’s creative journey, is to serve as a call to players around the world to harness their own creativity to think, act and perform in new and unique ways.

The spot goes live today (17 October), ahead of the on-air debut during The Red Devils’ match versus Liverpool tonight.

“Creativity has always been the difference maker for Paul Pogba in all facets of his life, on and off the pitch,” said Ryan Morlan, Adidas' VP of brand communications. “Since childhood, his imagination has been the catalyst to defying the norm in the world of football. Pogba’s story mirrors our belief that creativity will take you further than your mind or body alone. There is only one Pogba, but all athletes can look to him for inspiration to use one’s own creativity to make new rules in their sport.”

Florian Alt, senior director of global brand communications at Adidas, told The Drum earlier this month that he believes Pogba is the “perfect representation of what we consider at Adidas as a creator”.

“He is a true creator on the pitch when he plays football but also off the pitch. By definition of what the brand Adidas says, what our target consumers are, he is the perfect incarnation of that”, he added.

Alt expressed a desire for athletes to build their own channels, both to remain authentic, and as a platform to push messages for sponsors and brands that they are associated with.

“For them it would be a failure if they don’t have social media comms these days,” he said.

Football Needs Creators is the latest chapter of the Adidas Sport 16 campaign, building upon its position that its athletes are #HereToCreate. The new spot follows the recent launch of Sport Needs Creators featuring Pogba and a raft of basketball and American football players.

Creative Paul Pogba Adidas

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