Adidas: German Sportswear Company Coursework

Short history of the company

German sportswear company Adidas has seen both ups and downs in its fortunes. Having by 1990 built a solid reputation for good quality sports footwear the company suddenly found itself posting losses early in the ’90s. Following a dramatic turnaround based on large (quintuple) increases in marketing and promotional spending and a strategy which focused more tightly on specific target markets, (Lindstrom, 2003), by 2002 the company had risen to 68th. place in the global rankings of brand value, (compared with arch-rival Nike’s 35th place), (BusinessWeek, 2002). In 2005 Adidas acquired US sportswear maker Reebok, but saw its share price slump the following year, due in part to concerns about fit between the two companies, as well as a downturn in Reebok’s sales, (Wasserman, 2006).

The case

Just before the summer Olympics last year, the German based company Adidas engaged in a large scale promotion campaign of its products. It was one of the largest campaigns of sport related goods of the last decade. From an academic point of view, a promotion is “a form of corporate communication that uses various methods to reach a targeted audience with a certain message in order to achieve specific organizational objectives” (Paul, 3). Companies use promotions in order to “inform” and present to the general audience, the consuming public, the products they offer. Promotional campaigns are designed also to attract consumer attention to products they did not concern themselves before (Paul 6). In a certain way, promotional campaigns are used to inform the interested ones and to “create” some interest toward the product for uninterested ones. Uninterested until the moment the campaign kicks off. The campaign we are speaking started at the beginning of March 2008. It was labeled the “Originals” campaign. It comprised a new set of online, print and TV related campaign elements for the 2008 collection of “ORIGINALS” clothing. The whole thing kicked off with a fully “animated” ad, designed by “180 Amsterdam” graphic studio. The campaign rallies round a series of web videos of people from art, music and athletics (“New originals Campaign”, 1). The way of conducting this campaign is a sort of historical one. It begins with the origins of creation of the company by its founder, Adi Dassler, and continues with the evolvement of the products category through the years and decades. All of this is in function of showing that Adidas does not offer only certain sportive goods and products but it is a way of conducting everyday life. One of the scopes of the promotional campaigns is to communicate kernel messages to the general audience (Paul 13). In this case the message would be that Adidas is not just a sporting goods company, it is a lifestyle company. It is a way of conducting your own life.

The scope of this type of communication is to influence consumer behavior. As explained in task two, this is what brand companies do. In fact, consumer behavior (otherwise known as consumer buying behavior) is one of the key issues in marketing science (Paul 16). But how is Adidas appealing to consumers through this campaign? The first video trial mentioned above was the first of many. It was launched to show the audience that this particular company is a well established company, with steady roots and a rich history behind. The second message, from the same video advertisement, is to show the public that the founder of the company, created it starting from the same concerns of everyday life that most of us have. I do think that this first video transmitted was to open the way to more specific ones. And in fact, after came video advertisements addressed to particular sectors of the public.

In them, famous public sport figures were used as models. But the messages were slightly different for different sectors of the public. To the youth, adolescents, young sport athletes and figures were presented and products with vivid colors and fashionable, young-style, design were introduced.

For more adults, there were different styles and colors used for the products presented. Even the products themselves were slightly different. For example, the running shoes for adults that work on office all day were different from those of young adolescents. The colors were more conservative-type for the officials because they would use this type of shoes only for running and jogging after they finish work. Instead the youth have more possibilities of using these kinds of shoes. The colors were more vivid and the design of the shoes more stylish. Even during the advertising video it was shown that these shows can be used not only for jogging by the youth but even for going out with friends. The same was true for the advertisement of the first mentioned category: the adult office working men and women. The shoes were advertised only for running and jogging.

Another factor to be mentioned here is the time when Adidas started this campaign. It was just before the summer Olympics. This was not a coincidence. The Olympics is an activity that, per se, promotes sport-related lifestyle. And in fact, Adidas is promoting a type of lifestyle. It is using the general worldwide moment in his favor. During the summer Olympics the attention of the world is attracted more to sport issues due to the involvement of virtually all of the nations of the globe in it. In this case, the Olympics campaign is used as an advantage by Adidas. If the Olympic Games want to promote a sportive lifestyle, Adidas is practically offering one.

Will it work?

Well, here we come to the most difficult question of marketing. Will promotional campaigns work? There are many scholars who disagree on this issue (Paul 18). But I will advance the argument made by that part that is convinced that it works. This is because the human mind is made up of different structures of schemes. These schemes are made up of symbols with which the mind forms relations (Paul 22). In our case, the symbolism of the Olympic Games is used by Adidas to promote its own symbols. The products that the company offers are not just “some goods” that offer you a service. They are a way of life. They bear a symbolism in them.

This is why it will attract consumer’s attention. If it is true that the human mind, especially the unconscious part of it, is attracted by symbolism, then the revenues of the company will rise. And this is the ultimate goal of every business: to increase its revenue and, by doing so, its profits.

References

1. Adidas Group. “At a glance” the story of adidas group. 2008.
2. Richardson, B. Analysis: Adidas bid raises image concerns. 2005.
3. Kiley, D. Reebok and Adidas: A good fit. Viewed at BusinessWeek.com, 2004.
4. Wasserman, A. Reebok sales slump hurts Adidas, New plan to be announced. 2006.
5. BusinessWeek. 2002 global brands scoreboard. 2002.
6. Christ, Paul. Principles of Marketing. www.KnowThis.com article. 2008.
7. New Originals Campaign. Anonymous article from www.oceanofknowledge.com. 2008.