Five Minutes With.. is a monthly quick sit-down with leading marketers on their brand, the trends they’re tracking, and a peek at the personality behind the title.
In 2024, Adidas Sambas appeared on everyone from Bella Hadid to Dakota Johnson, sparking a revival of the slim silhouettes. And 2025 saw a Britpop renaissance, driven by tracksuit tops and soccer jerseys.
Both trends were ignited by Adidas Originals, the German sportswear giant’s lifestyle label, which just unveiled a major new chapter with its “Superstar” ad campaign, featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Missy Elliott, NBA superstar James Harden, and more.
“In the past, Originals has been just fashion, and we’ve really shifted the last few years to celebrate the crossover of sport, lifestyle, fashion, music, and art,” Annie Barret, Originals’ VP of marketing, told ADWEEK.
But sport, she added, remains Originals’ foundation.
Despite her lead position at one of Adidas’ most important lines, Barrett’s career started inauspiciously 15 years ago as a customer service rep.
This interview has been edited and condensed for conciseness and flow.
ADWEEK: How do you go from customer service rep to VP of marketing in 15 years?
ANNIE BARRET: I saw what the marketers were doing, so I went up to HR and said, ‘I want to do that,’ and the immediate feedback to me was, ‘Show us you’re the best customer service person possible, then let’s chat.’
I just thought, ‘Let’s go.’ It spurred me to work hard, be passionate, and go back and prove their point.
You’ve got a huge responsibility coming up, because Adidas is one of the FIFA World Cup’s longest-running sponsors. What does Originals have in store?
We are the original football brand, and the culture born from it. That’s our mantra. Without saying too much, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes.
We’re literally cross-collaborating with the Adidas football team right now.
So whether someone is a die-hard fan, or they enjoy it from the periphery, or they just enjoy the styling codes it evokes, we’ll tap into that.
How about LA28? Adidas has already released a retro sneaker to mark the Games, even though it’s two years away. It feels like the runway for major global events is getting longer.
We’ve been talking about LA28 internally for quite a while already, and our seasonal thinking is getting further ahead, but we also want to stay nimble too.
