Adidas' Lives Forever

This is a part of Symbio's Cannes Lions 2026 wrap-up. Next in the series, and the biggest partnership win of the festival.

TL;DR for strategists

• Adidas and Oasis won the Double Grand Prix in Entertainment and Music for Original Forever, a music video marking the band's reunion after sixteen years.
• There was no partnership announcement. Adidas simply released the video, with an original track, and let the audience find it.
• Cannes 2026 rewarded the brand that made a fan gain something, not the brand that announced a deal.
• The transferable question for any brand: does your audience walk away richer, or did they just watch you tell them something happened?

Sixteen years, one track, no press release

When Oasis reunited, Adidas didn't put out a statement. They made a music video. Liam and Noel together for the first time in sixteen years, under the three stripes, with a new, original track rather than a re-release of something the audience already owned.

The song opened all forty-one tour dates. Merch sold at one item per second at peak; UK stock gone entirely. It was the first double Grand Prix of the festival, Entertainment and Entertainment for Music, awarded the same day.

The wrong question versus the right question

Most brand partnerships start from the wrong question. What can we announce, and how do we make sure everyone knows we're behind it? That's sponsorship dressed as culture, and audiences can smell the difference between a brand attaching itself to a moment and a brand creating one.

Adidas asked what the audience would actually get to keep. Not a logo next to a headline, an original song that didn't exist before this partnership did. The reunion would have happened without Adidas. The video wouldn't have.

The difference between sponsorship and collaboration is what the audience keeps

The jury's test was simple. Did the audience gain something, not just the brand or the artist? If the audience walks away richer, it's collaboration. If they walk away only knowing a deal happened, it's sponsorship, however big the names attached to it.

The Intelligence

Most brands save their name for the end, tell the story, then stamp a logo on it. Adidas skipped that step entirely. The three stripes are there from the first frame, not revealed as a twist, so nobody watches wondering whose idea this was. That's the difference between a brand attached to a story and a brand that is the story.

What's your Live Forever Brand?

The difference between sponsorship and collaboration is what the audience keeps.

The jury's test was simple. Did the audience gain something, not just the brand or the artist? If the audience walks away richer, it's collaboration. If they walk away only knowing a deal happened, it's sponsorship, however big the names attached to it.