SportsMarketing
Adidas has said it is prioritising digital-only marketing
campaigns, with the brand confident its new three-pillar strategy can help it
win back lost ground in North America.
Adidas can “absolutely” win back dominance in North America –
where it is now behind both Nike and newer entrant Under Armour – according to
its global head of digital ecosystem design David Greenfield. And he said
prioritising digital is a key focus.
He explained: “Yes, we absolutely can win back dominance from
Under Armour in the US but digital will play a big role in us achieving that.
“If we look at our recent marketing activity for the NMD brand it
was 100% on social. It wasn’t a 30-second TV spot or some slogan but a
digital-only strategy that made us sell out of those shoes in a matter of
hours,” he said.
“Of course TV still has a place but the fax machine still has a
place too and I’m not about to create a fax machine marketing strategy. Digital
is the most relevant channel for our audience.”
In July, the German sports giant announced a ‘revolutionary’
three-pillar strategy as part of its turnaround plans. It pledged to investors
that 50% of its sales will be through speed-enabled products by 2020. Adidas
defines speed-enabled as a complete “reshaping” of its entire business model,
from range planning to product creation, sourcing, supply chain, go-to-market
and sales, as it looks to “significantly improve its speed-to-market.”
It also announced it would be collaborating more closely with
celebrities, following the PR success of its Kanye West partnership, and will
pump the majority of its marketing spend into six cities: New York, Shanghai,
Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles and London.
And Greenfield said this strategy will allow Adidas to create more
of a value exchange with its customers.
“We want to apply a value exchange model. If you get coffee or
your hair cut, you are willing to pay extra for a good service or somewhere you
trust, right? That’s because of the experience that’s built around those
products.
“That is what Adidas is aiming to do from both its products and
digital presence,” he told Marketing Week last week at the Dots 2016 event in
Brighton organised by agency Brilliant Noise.
Today (20 September), UK retailers such as John Lewis have begun
stocking Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headsets in the UK. Meanwhile, formats
such as 360 video and augmented reality (AR) are becoming more and more popular
with marketers.
Greenfield, however, admits Adidas is not yet convinced about
their efficacy as marketing channels.
He concluded: “Yes [360 video, AR and VR] are absolutely
legitimate channels but the challenge is how to pull off good story telling and
move them beyond just visuals.
“We talk to all the tech big players and they tell us they are
struggling when it comes to making the storytelling work. The fear is brands
will dilute their messaging and be seen as too vanilla if they just rush onto
VR.”
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