Having suffered several setbacks in efforts to bring a comeback to the old days of glory of the years prior to 2002 when Adidas was at the zenith in terms of its fortunes and solid reputation, a strong ray of hope was seen with the launching of its China campaign for it to recoup its lost revenues and brand acceptability among the Chinese masses. Having been endowed with becoming the official sponsor for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Adidas saw immense potential in tapping this market to regain lost territories. The Beijing campaign was introduced by Adidas in early 2006 when it brought the US basketball star Tracy Mc Grady to China for a well publicized tour of the country and surprisingly all 800 pairs of the special edition shoes introduced at the time sold out within a single day at all stores. Adidas was very optimistic that this spirit of the Chinese as shown by the sale of those shoes would certainly have its positive effect over to the 2008 Olympics at Beijing. The company decided to inscribe the Adidas name and logo on the clothing of the athletes and on souvenir sweaters for the 2008 Olympics. It also decided to clothe the several thousand officials and volunteers during the event. Hence the Olympics and China are major factors in the strategies to revitalize Adidas that was once the pioneer of the sports industry and then became fameless.
It is understood that Adidas paid a whopping $80 million to get awarded with the sponsorship for the Beijing Olympics and that the actual figures are still said to be a mystery in view of unwillingness of Adidas to divulge the correct amount. However it is estimated that whatever the price tag, the allure of the Chinese growing market is indeed a big attraction and opportunity to make the best of the market since the sponsorship gives Adidas the right to use the Olympics logo on its products and in its advertising. This has enabled Adidas to project huge profits in the coming times. In view of rival company activities that envisage for example, Nike opening 10 stores every week, and the sponsoring of local sports celebrities to act as brand ambassadors, Adidas too has roped in Olympic gold medallist Liu Xiang to canvass on its behalf. There are several finance competitions in the offing to hook teenagers on sports related activities. Surprisingly premium sportswear sales have crossed the $300 million mark for Adidas in the current year as estimated by Rhoads who has further predicted the market for such to be valued at $3 billion and is expected to grow at 20 percent per year in China.
A noteworthy action taken by Adidas in regard to its China strategy is the appointment of Erica Kerner as Director of its Beijing Olympics Program whereby she will be responsible for marketing, business development, sponsorship and licensing activities. She will work directly with Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with the responsibility to make the 2008 games a grand success for China and Adidas. Erica has had vast experience in the region in building the Adidas brand that led her to be recognized as “ Woman to Watch” in 2006 and in having her Adidas efforts to be awarded with the “Best Campaign to Launch the Olympic Partnership.” Adidas is present in about 300 Chinese cities and plans to cover all of its 660 cities in the near future. There are 3000 Adidas retail stores in the country and the target is to have 4000 stores by the time the Olympics opens. With the coming of Erica Kerner in the picture, three objectives have been outlined for the Chinese strategy. First is to have a viable financial target that is to be achieved, second is to increase the brand popularity from the consumer point of view and the third is to take care of Adidas stake holders by taking adequate care of its retailers, business partners, sports federations and government officials. The fact that this is going to be the largest and the biggest commercial games ever held in the world, the Olympics is going to be advertised everywhere including countdown clocks to the Olympics that have started to appear everywhere in all big cities. Adidas being a sports company would have been marketing aggressively even if it was not awarded the official sponsorship, so now there is a bigger reason for the company to prove its mettle to the Chinese market in regard to its brand capabilities. A fantastic advertisement campaign is on the anvil that will be ground breaking and award winning. The company has plans to work with athletes and all media options will be utilized in keeping with the Chinese adaptability to new medias such as mobile technologies, mobile phones, digital television, internet and push technologies.
Adidas sees itself as the Olympics brand since it has been involved with Olympics ever since its founder Adi Dassler developed the first spikes used by athletes. So the company can bank upon its pride in this regard in making the Chinese consumer to realize that its competitors do not have the historical expertise and heritage in the same way. Notably China is a fierce market in the sense that there are several competitors vying for the immense potential in view of the sporting event, and Adidas is banking upon its brand image as being the most inspirational and innovative brand in the Olympic games. In keeping with the proactive strategies as adopted by Adidas there is every likelihood for the company to stage a strong comeback to its previous days of accounting for a large share of the sports goods industry.
References
Adidas and the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Web.
Adidas bets on Beijing Olympics, International Herald Tribune, 2006.
Ben Richardson, Adidas Bid raises image Concerns, 2008. Web.
David Kiley, Reebok and Adidas: A Good Fit, 2005, Businessweek.
Elizabeth S. Moore, Children and the Changing world of Advertising, Journal of Business Ethics.