The Adidas Social Media Team Mapped Out The Entire World Cup 6 Months In Advance

Spontaneity is one of the central features of social media, but many of the most successful brands on Twitter begin planning their posts months in advance.

Oreo began planning its famed 2013 Super Bowl tweet 18 months beforehand, and it's not uncommon for social media agencies to plot a month's worth of tweets before the month begins.

Even with those details in mind, Adidas' planning for this year's World Cup is something to behold. A feature story published this morning by Ad Age's Julie Ruvolo revealed the sportswear brand had the entire tournament mapped out by December.

According to Ruvolo, Adidas created an hour-by-hour calendar of what might happen during the 32-day tournament. Meanwhile, Adidas' social media agency, We Are Social, spent a year gathering 1,000 images and 160 videos that Adidas could post as reactions to what it thought might happen during the games.

That's how the brand was able to post this image of Germany's Mats Hummels within a minute of his decisive goal in Friday's quarterfinal match against France.

A force that can't be stopped. @matshummels #allin or nothing. #worldcup pic.twitter.com/d1VROcpYhy

- adidasfootball (@adidasfootball) July 4, 2014

Ad Age reports that Adidas has been the most talked-about brand on Twitter this World Cup, generating 1.6 million tweets, retweets, and replies thus far.

Read Ruvolo's full report of the day she spent with the more than 40 people stationed at Adidas' social media warroom in Brazil >>