Jackson Yi scores a hit with Adidas neo campaign

Chinese singer Jackson Yi's first interactive marketing campaign for sportswear range Adidas neo is a hit.

The boyband star, who is a member of TFBoys, was unveiled as the brand's first-ever International Youth Creative Ambassador last month, and he has wasted no time sinking his teeth into the new role.

Yi has been busy starring in three different online and offline interactive marketing activities for the brand, gifting special ‘Jackson Yi Gift Boxes' to 1,128 prize draw winners (the number 1,128 being a reference to Yi's birth date of November 28). Adidas neo also unleashed a new topic on the Chinese social media site Weibo, titled ‘#1 of 1128 Jackson Yi Gift Boxes#', which saw the 1,128 gift box recipients post photos with their winnings, with the images later collated into a one-of-a-kind poster. The poster was then released online, as well as printed and offered as a surprise prize to in-store shoppers.

"As a popular idol, Jackson Yi is the perfect candidate to promote the adidas neo brand message of Living Restless," Adidas neo said in a statement. And it looks like the recruitment was a successful one -- as well as making use of the fan economy to bring Yi into closer contact with his idols, the ‘#1 of 1128 Jackson Yi Gift Boxes#' topic ranked at number three of the hottest Weibo topics.

Yi is the latest of several music stars to be given a sportswear campaign -- 2017 has seen popstar Selena Gomez signed up as the face of athletic brand Puma. Rapper The Weeknd also collaborated with the brand on a clothing collection, while Ariana Grande became the face of Reebok, and funk rock band N.E.R.D. teamed up with Adidas Originals on a capsule fashion collection.