Event Organiser: Iris Worldwide
Client: Adidas
Location: Marseille, France
Location Brief: European city docks with a raw, urban industrial feel

Scouting Marseille for the Adidas #BeTheDifference World Final

I worked with Iris Worldwide on the location scouting for Adidas Football’s #BeTheDifference World Final, staged in Marseille, France, in September 2015.

The brief was to find a European city docks location with the scale, character and industrial backdrop required to create a completely bespoke football arena.

I carried out extensive location research across European dock cities before Marseille was selected for the final event. The raw dockside setting provided the perfect backdrop for Adidas’s global football campaign and gave the event a distinctive street-football feel.

Transforming Marseille’s Docks into a Football Arena

The Marseille docks were transformed using shipping containers, custom-built mini football pitches and a huge 30ft reactive LED scoreboard, flown into position by crane.

The #BeTheDifference World Final marked the culmination of a global football tournament spanning more than 30 cities around the world. Amateur players travelled to Marseille to compete, while professional footballers from leading European clubs arrived to judge the tournament and take part in exhibition matches.

From a locations perspective, it was exactly the kind of project I enjoy — finding a large-scale urban environment and helping a creative team see how it could be completely transformed for an international live event.

Final Thoughts

Scouting the Adidas #BeTheDifference Marseille event location was a brilliant opportunity to combine international location scouting with the practical demands of a major live event.

Working with Iris Worldwide and Adidas, the Marseille docks became a unique football arena and the backdrop to the final stage of a truly global campaign.

Here are some of my original location scout photos from Marseille for the event: