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Running Head: ADIDAS MARKETING 1

Adidas Marketing

Darlene Pritchett

South University

Comment [NI1]: Missing information on cover page. Review sample copy for cover page information.

Comment [NI2]: Submitted Jul 17, 2018, 13 days late after initial grade of 0%.

ADIDAS MARKETING 2

Adidas Marketing

Consumer Market

Adidas is a sportswear brand that originates from Germany. Due to its roots, it has come

up well positioned for the European market where it has continually done well; achieving

recognition as one of the biggest brands in Europe and the world. This is how. Adidas has

continually integrated a strategy to infuse themselves into the North American market and also

has focused targeting to women and women sportswear due to a recognition of the over fifty-one

per cent that this gender occupies in the sportswear market. The brand has witnessed over thirty

per cent surges in sales in North America due to their consistent emphasis on investment and

expansion in the US. This has been coupled with marketing that is targeted to women

(Ranchhod, 2007).

Reebok, a brand under the ownership of Adidas, saw sales rises of over twenty per cent in

the same period. The company’s sales have doubled in the United States' footwear market. It has

been complementary that the brand associates with successful athletes and incorporate style into

its products. The targeting and emphasis on the North American market have been encouraged

by the recognition that this part of the world takes up forty percent of the global sportswear

market. The company had first struggled to penetrate the market with a market share of about

five percent. Today, through continuous investment, heavy marketing and the incorporation of

better innovation, the company held a ten percent market share in the US (Jeannet, 2004).

The company is under stiff competition from brands like Nike who are the major market

shareholders not only in America but in the whole of North America. The company made annual

sales of about $1.3 billion while Nike made three times the figure. Adidas has seen solid growth

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and has managed to beat most of its competitors. The company has signed major successful

athletes like Von Miller and celebrities like Kanye West. The company has also entered multiple

partnerships with sports organizations such as the NHL and Major League Soccer. Adidas has

also been very popular on social media as it continues expansion in the United States. It has been

opening new factories in the country and even launched a speed factory to enable it to meet

demands during peak seasons. The company has opened offices in cities like Los Angeles as part

of its new strategies to engage in these cities where trends, sports and fashion has a huge

influence on consumer behaviour across the world (Pride, 2006).

Marketing strategy

Positioning, Targeting and Segmentation

The company has undertaken segmentation on the basis of behavioural, psychographic

and demographic factors. The company is segmented into four brands: Taylor, Rockport, Adidas

and Reebok. The company employs distinguished targeting strategy to reach children, adults and

young adults who share a passion for sports and fitness. Even as it targets consumers ages

thirteen to forty, its major customers are aged between fifteen and thirty and are part of the

luxury class or the upper middle class (Seil, 2010). Positioning is done through a benefit and user

strategy. It emphasizes the value of products of high quality from a brand that is trusted. The

company has been remarkable in the way it maintains its brand essence. This strategy is divided

as follows. In sports fashion, Rockport, Adidas Fun and Adidas Original products. In casual and

active sports, Reebok Classics and Reebok products. I competitive sports, Adidas Performance

products (Doyle, 2013).

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The Mission of the Strategy

The company strives to be the global leader in the industry of sporting goods with its

brands built on a passion for a sporting lifestyle and sports. The company is committed to the

continual brand and product strengthening for competitive positioning. The mission also employs

a tagline ‘Impossible is Nothing' which has grown very popular with its encouragement of hard

work and strife for the realization of one's desire. The tagline has been a major asset for Adidas

and has propelled it to its global status (Pride, 2006).

Competitive Advantage

Adidas has realized a competitive advantage in brand equity, product quality and its

distribution network. The company has over two thousand stores worldwide raking in more than

four billion US dollars in annual sales. For association with the community, the company has

sponsored major world events such as NBA and FIFA. The company has built a reputation for

itself as being the best through the long lasting and comfortability essence of its products. For

sustainable business, the company has entered relationships with major sports and labour

organizations such as ILO which has ensured the company competitive advantage over its

competitors (Ranchhod, 2007).

BCG Matrix

This matrix assists in the identification of a company' strategic position and the relevant

future course of action to be taken by the strategic business unit. Of the four brands under

Adidas; Reebok and Adidas have done so well and boasts of a strong market share even as there

is steep competition in fitness and sports market segments. Brands such as Nike and Puma are

also in the race for the largest market share. Rockport and Taylor have not done so well and this

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is attributed to their low market share. They have huge potential and need to be worked on and

propped to the success that their counterpart brands are experiencing (Jeannet, 2004).

Distribution Strategy

The consumer environment is growing more dynamic with shifting trends. As such, the

company has focused on anticipating such shifts and ensuring a speedy response. To allow for

and propel an Omni-channel-set that is consumer-centric, the company has aligned their

distribution strategy with sales. On consumer analysis, the company found out that for a

successful distribution strategy it must consider the following. The size of the product offerings

i.e. the price. Convenience and the availability of their products. Interactive experience through

aligning products with what the consumers want. For distribution expansion, Adidas boosted

their products’ availability through co-branded stores and a franchise model that employed

exclusive stores in the country (Seil, 2010).

Brand Equity

Adidas has gained and facilitated enormous brand equity through undertaking activities

that are sport-centric. These activities employ community connect programs and social media as

a way to propel the company to market dominance. Each brand and sub-brand is held responsible

for availing its positioning and distinct identity as well as frameworks. These are aimed at

coming up with experiences, services and products that avail frameworks and platforms that aid

in improvements in profitability and increased market share in the long run. Brands such as

Reebok and Adidas share strategic methods and principles for boosting profitability and growth

improvements. This is regardless of the two brands each having their own distinct reputations,

designs, technologies, heritages and identities (Doyle, 2013).

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Justification and Analysis

Competitiveness

The company’s multi-brand strategy enables immense competitive advantage. Through

this brand portfolio, the company effortlessly covers the consumer and sports segments that they

have defined as strategically crucial to their mission; to engage and inspire consumers on

harnessing the power of fitness and sports in their livelihoods. Adidas brand as of differentiated

positioning has been doing well. Reebok on the other hand has been undergoing some problems

in the short run. Adidas brand and a competitor such as Nike have been growing tremendously

with a global reach that has expanded to all parts of the world. This is attributed to the

emergence of e-commerce and internet firms and the changing lifestyles in developing countries

(Jeannet, 2004).

Market Analysis

Sustenance has become a major hurdle for the company. This is due to the increasingly

high bargaining power of customers and the presence of counterfeit products in the market.

Although the company targets consumers in fitness and sports, many of its customers are

ordinary people and children who could easily shift to other brands as the industry players shift

their market positioning. As the sportswear industry grows due to rural-urban migration,

economies of scale and sports lifestyle; industry players’ margins are on the drop due to idle

inventory and a mismatch in demand and supply (Pride, 2006).

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Consumer Analysis

The company’s consumers belong to the upper and upper middle social classes. Adidas

realized that employing mass marketing and production was no longer effective and efficient to

ensure success in market segments. As such, to be effective and efficient in its marketing

strategy, the company identified and analyzed the motivations of their consumers. These include

goals and motivations that consumers have on their level of fitness, lifestyle, sports and their

purchasing behaviour. These have helped the company create meaningful experiences, services

and products that go a long way in solidifying brand loyalty and a lasting impression of quality

and reliability (Ranchhod, 2007).

Comment [NI3]: Your submission does not meet the requirements of the assignment. Here is the assignment instructions: Complete the following tasks:

Summarize key details about your organization. What does it do? Who are its customers, clients,

prospects, or constituents? For convenience in this class, we will call them customers.

Perform a SWOTT analysis, placing particular

emphasis on long-term trends affecting your organization and what your competitors are doing.

Analyze the organization’s mission statement. Does it address the following core components?

oCustomers—who do we serve?

oProduct/service—what do we provide? oMarket—who/where are our customers?

oCore competencies—how do we provide or

deliver our product/service? What gives us a competitive advantage?

oMeasurability—how do we know when we

are successful?

Defend a new/revised mission statement. It

should be a succinct statement of what the organization is, what it does, and who its

customers are. Be sure to support why your

revisions are an improvement to the current mission statement.

Submission Details:

Submit your plan in a 3- to 4-page Microsoft Word document, using APA style

Also, a sample copy was posted as guide.

ADIDAS MARKETING 8

References

Doyle, P. (2013). Value-based marketing. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

Jeannet, J., & Hennessey, H. (2004). Global marketing strategies. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin.

Pride, W., & Ferrell, O. (2006). Marketing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Ranchhod, A., & Gurău, C. (2007). Marketing strategies. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice

Hall.

Seil, L. (2010). Brand Extension. How Sub-Branding can be used to stretch a Brand

effectively.

sport-centric

W1P Grading Criteria Maximum

Points

Performed a SWOTT analysis, placing particular emphasis on long-term trends affecting the company chosen by you.

0/20

Created a (new) mission statement for the chosen company. 0/10

Included the given elements in your statement. 0/10

Used correct spelling, grammar, and professional vocabulary. Formatted the paper and cited all sources using APA format.

10/10

Total: 10/50