A comprehensive analysis of the successful marketing strategies of Adidas and how Adidas used its marketing mix to rise above the competition.
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Introduction
Adidas is one of the most recognizable global brands in the industry of sports footwear and apparel today. It is also one of the oldest brands of sports shoes, having been established way back in 1936. For decades, Adidas has been the indisputable frontrunner in the industry until Nike dislodged them from the throne in the early 1980s. This was a major setback for Adidas. With some innovative but carefully implemented marketing strategies, Adidas eventually got away from Nike's shadow and regained a firm hold of the market it had lost.
In this article, we will discuss the Adidas marketing mix, which incorporates the 4Ps – product, pricing, place, and promotions. There are countless types of marketing strategies that can be used to promote and develop a brand, but the ones that are being implemented by Adidas have proven to be very successful. These strategies have been instrumental in bringing the company from its humble beginnings to being included in the Most Valuable Companies list of Forbes for 2020.
Adidas Marketing Mix (4Ps) Analysis Mind Map
In order to have a better understanding of the four elements in the Adidas marketing mix and how you can incorporate such strategies into your own business, you can plot them into a diagram that is easier to analyze. Take a look at this example.
Product
- Adidas Superstar
- Adidas Stan Smith
- Adidas Samba
- Adidas Ultra Boost
Price
- Competitive pricing strategy
- Skimming pricing strategy
Place
- Online stores
- Offline stores
Promotion
- Billboards
- TV commercials
- Magazine ads
- Social media ads
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Product Strategy of Adidas
Although Adidas manufacturers a wide range of sportswear and equipment, it's best known for its athletic footwear. Adidas is currently the second biggest sports shoe brand in the world. As of the latest 2021 data, the brand is valued at US$14.3 billion. The company's sales in 2021 surpassed US$11.6 billion, and a large portion of this revenue came from shoes. Following are some of the most iconic Adidas shoes of all time:
Adidas Superstar – These took the basketball industry by storm in 1969. From traction to impact protection and durability, these shoes had everything a player needed to play their best game. They also work great as a casual sneaker for both men and women.
Adidas Stan Smith – For many tennis players around the world, this is a must-have pair of shoes. It features a minimalist design that is extremely appealing and does not distract from the game. It is also superbly functional and very comfortable to wear.
Adidas Samba – Originally designed for soccer players, the Samba got the attention of a type of soccer fans and, for some reason, took to wearing these affluent-looking shoes to games. Its unique look with the black leather and gum outsole added a lot to its appeal and has since become one of the most popular Adidas shoes of all time.
Adidas Ultra Boost – Considered by many to be the ideal running shoe, the Ultra Boost series provides unparalleled comfort while running even the toughest terrains. The innovative cushioning does boost your energy and keeps you going with your workout far longer than you think you can.
All in all, the product lineup of Adidas is quite well-rounded, with superior choices in all the different categories. In clothing, Adidas offers sweatshirts, shorts, tracksuits, jackets, swimwear, sports bras, hoodies, and so on. Adidas also has sports accessories like bags, sunglasses, goggles, and even watches. Adidas has even ventured into perfumes and lotions, as well as sports equipment like balls.
The main concentration of Adidas is to provide top-quality sporting goods to athletes and young people. The company has a multitude of offerings for just about any sport you can think of – basketball, running, gymnastics, swimming, baseball, skateboarding, and so on. In all of these sports and categories, Adidas products stand out not only because of their immensely cool designs but also because of the innovative features that address the needs of the customers.
Price Strategy of Adidas
Adidas has always utilized either of two strategies when it comes to pricing – the competitive pricing strategy and the skimming pricing strategy. The competitive pricing comes into play with its regular products, taking into account the prices of rival companies like Nike and Puma. The skimming pricing strategy is used whenever Adidas launches a cutting-edge product that is more advanced than what competitors offer.
Adidas generally targets high-end customers who are more than willing to pay for quality; hence, the premium prices are typical of Adidas products. With their superior quality, the products do deserve an expensive price tag. But these high prices also inadvertently serve another purpose, which is to give upper-class customers the reassurance that they are indeed purchasing a product of quality.
The problem with costly price tags is that the products are not accessible to the general public, especially in developing countries. Because they couldn't afford the real thing, many ordinary people settle for buying cheap imitations that bear the Adidas logo. This does not necessarily take away from the company's sales because the target clients have no problem paying the higher prices, but it does make Adidas a rather elitist brand. For a lot of people, owning an Adidas item does not simply show a preference for quality but is actually used as a status symbol.
Place Strategy of Adidas
The place strategy is an integral part of the Adidas marketing mix. The sportswear company utilizes both online and offline venues to market and sell its merchandise.
As of the last count, Adidas operates 177 stores across all the states in America except for New Mexico. California is the state with the most Adidas outlets at 29. Outside the US, Adidas has more than 1200 concept stores, plus thousands of multi-brand outlets and other sports retail stores that carry its merchandise.
As for online stores, Adidas maintains official merchant accounts at Amazon.com, Flipkart.com, and Myntra.com to give global customers easier access to its products. Of course, Adidas also has an official website where all its products are available for purchase and where customers actually have the option for merchandise personalization, which is perfect for creating your own unique look and for gifting.
Promotion Strategy of Adidas
Adidas is a household name today, but this certainly did not happen overnight. The brand enjoys instant recognition today because it has invested heavily in a lot of effective promotion and marketing strategies in the past.
Adidas spends a lot on traditional promotional campaigns like advertisements for billboards, TV, magazines, and more recently, social media. Adidas has also approached a number of influential celebrities to represent its brand to the target market, like Kanye West, Beyonce, Lionel Messi, and Stella McCartney. These endorsements cost a pretty penny, too, with each contract costing millions of dollars. Also, Adidas has earned quite an impressive reputation for sponsoring football teams of different countries, like Germany, Mexico, Spain, and Argentina.
Key Takeaways
Being the oldest sports footwear brand in the world with more than seven decades in the business gives Adidas a significant advantage over its competitors in the industry. But this company has not thrived on longevity alone. It has also implemented some of the best marketing campaigns in history. Adidas has never stopped innovating to come up with new products that surpass earlier versions in terms of design and functionality.
The Adidas marketing mix has proven to be very effective. You can definitely take some ideas from their strategies, but you also have to seamlessly incorporate these strategies with your own business goals and plans.
To help you build a feasible marketing mix for your own company, you can use the EdrawMind software, which is a mind mapping instrument that can help you lay out your ideas into an organized template. Even better, you can use one of their 4Ps of Marketing templates that are specifically designed for the 4Ps of Marketing. You can create your mind maps from the browser, or you can download the software so that you can work offline.
References
FAQs
How does Adidas use promotional mix? ›
Adidas spends a lot on traditional promotional campaigns like advertisements for billboards, TV, magazines, and more recently, social media. Adidas has also approached a number of influential celebrities to represent its brand to the target market, like Kanye West, Beyonce, Lionel Messi, and Stella McCartney.
What marketing strategies does Adidas use? ›Adidas has worked for more than 70 years to build the brand that it is today. The Adidas strategy for marketing emphasizes quality, innovation, diversification, and heavy-budget advertisements to stay as one of the best brand in a competitive market.
How does Adidas use price skimming? ›Market Skimming: Adidas adopts a market-skimming strategy for some of its new or innovative products. They initially set high prices to target early adopters and customers who value innovation and are willing to pay a premium.
How does Adidas satisfy their customers? ›They strive to connect with customers and create personalized, premium experiences. They create excitement and enthusiasm about sports on a personal level. Adidas ensures that every touchpoint, including mobile, social media, and retail, is used by consumers to offer a consistent experience.
What is the marketing message for Adidas? ›Adidas' Game-Changing Slogan – Impossible is Nothing
This is, no doubt, a very powerful message. The fact that nothing is impossible is perhaps the most motivational message you can give a sportsman.
Marketing/Branding Strategies of Nike and Adidas. Nike has a strong focus on sports and fitness and targets athletes and fitness enthusiasts through its marketing campaigns. Adidas has a similar focus on sports and fitness and targets athletes and fitness enthusiasts.
Does Adidas use value-based pricing? ›A pair of Yeezy's by Adidas cost only $76 to manufacture. However, if you were to buy them, you would have to pay around $350. That's because Adidas uses a value-based pricing strategy.
What is Adidas discount strategy? ›Adidas employs high low pricing strategy. They generally keep prices higher than the competitors but the company uses promotional discounts to offer lower prices and attract consumers.
What is the best example of a skimming pricing strategy? ›Price skimming examples
Electronic products – take the Apple iPhone, for example – often utilize a price skimming strategy during the initial launch period. Then, after competitors launch rival products, i.e., the Samsung Galaxy, the price of the product drops so that the product retains a competitive advantage.
Targeting of Adidas
They are aimed towards athletes or young individuals who enjoy sports between the ages of 20 and 30. Adidas is focusing on 13-18-year-old athletes because they feel they are the future generation of athletes who will develop the brand and are the most important customer segment.
What makes Adidas so successful? ›
The digital marketing strategy and campaigns are behind much of the success of the number one sportswear manufacturer in Europe that it has enjoyed in recent years. Adidas focuses on leveraging the power of digital channels to create engaging and personalized experiences for its customers.
What are Adidas strengths? ›Adidas is a market leader in sportswear, boasting a solid brand identity, cutting-edge products, and a significant global footprint. The business has been operational for over 70 years and has established a strong reputation for performance, quality, and innovation.
How does Adidas build customer relationships? ›Adidas interacts with its customers. This creates a solid connection to keep them coming back for future purchases. The brand works to create excitement and enthusiasm around the world of sports on a personal and relatable level. They use multiple outlets, including social and retail, to converse with their customers.
What is the meaning of 4 Ps? ›The four Ps are a “marketing mix” comprised of four key elements—product, price, place, and promotion—used when marketing a product or service. Typically, businesses consider the four Ps when creating marketing plans and strategies to effectively market to their target audience.
Does Adidas use differentiation strategy? ›Adidas is a company that utilizes a differentiation strategy. They approach this differentiation strategy by providing great customer service and quality items.
What is Adidas hidden message? ›Meaning behind the Adidas logo
The stripes on the trefoil emblem symbolize the company's focus on variety, while the three trefoil leaves stand for three parts of the world (North America, Europe, and Asia) where you can buy its products.
We have a clear mission: To be the best sports brand in the world. Every day, we come to work to create and sell the best sports products in the world, and to offer the best service and consumer experience – and to do it all in a sustainable way.
What is Adidas business objective? ›The Adidas mission statement is "to be the global leader in the sporting goods industry with brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle. We are committed to continuously strengthening our brands and products to improve our competitive position."
What is Adidas brand personality? ›The top 5 positive attributes associated with the adidas brand are iconic, fashionable, chic, authentic and minimalist.
What is Adidas brand positioning? ›Adidas positioning strategy centers around being the best sports apparel, footwear, and accessories brand globally. The marketing mix elements of Product, Place, Price, and Promotion all play a crucial role in ensuring that Adidas positions itself as a leader in the global sportswear and accessories market.
What is Adidas competitive advantage strategy? ›
The brand has built several sources of competitive advantage which include technology, marketing, supply chain as well as product design and quality. Apart from them, it is investing in sustainability and the creation of sustainable products to increase the popularity of its products and brand.
How much of the market does Adidas control? ›Nike dominates the global sneaker market with a 65.9% market share, while Adidas has a 14.7% market share.
What are the core brand values of Adidas? ›Our values of COURAGE, OWNERSHIP, INNOVATION, TEAMPLAY, INTEGRITY and RESPECT are closely tied to our culture and ultimately are the essence of our identity. Our values offer clarity on the essential behaviors and mindsets that we value in our colleagues and represent the attitude we want to see in each other.
How can Adidas increase sales? ›Adidas can boost customer engagement by hosting contests, events, or challenges on their social media platforms that encourage user-generated content to showcase their products in action.
Who is Adidas rival? ›adidas competitors include Callaway Golf, Nike, Eastbay, Under Armour and ASICS America.
What is an example of value-based pricing? ›Value-based pricing is also often used when scarcity is involved. For example, at a concert, bottled water may be on sale for $6. However, you can buy the same bottle from a vending machine outside of the concert area for $1 only.
How does value-based pricing work? ›What Is Value-Based Pricing? Value-based pricing is a strategy of setting prices primarily based on a consumer's perceived value of a product or service. Value-based pricing is customer-focused, meaning companies base their pricing on how much the customer believes a product is worth.
What brands use price skimming? ›What brands use a price skimming strategy? Price skimming is a common strategy among tech giants like Apple, Sony Playstation, Samsung, etc. It is also utilized by apparel brands like Nike, Adidas, and others who want to leverage high consumer demand for new products they release.
What is Adidas current slogan? ›For Erich Stamminger, member of the Executive Board of adidas-Salomon AG responsible for Global Marketing and President of adidas America, "Impossible is nothing" captures in one short phrase the essence of adidas as a brand and the attitude that is known and shared by all athletes around the world, "Impossible is ...
What challenges does Adidas face? ›Adidas' troubles can also be attributed to other factors aside from its stockpile of Yeezys, according to a note by Telsey Advisory Group. High inventory and promotional activity along with slowing sales in China have impacted the company as well as archrival Nike.
What is Adidas most successful campaign? ›
Impossible is Nothing
That is the most powerful and famous campaign made by Adidas ever. However, it was not as successful as Nike's 'Just Do It'.
Outsourced manufacturing: Adidas relies heavily on third-party manufacturers in Asia for its production needs. This reliance on outsourced production can expose the company to risks such as labor disputes, political instability, or supply chain disruptions, potentially impacting product availability and quality.
What are 3 facts about Adidas? ›Adidas products are traditionally marked with a three-stripe trademark, which remains an element in the company's newer “trefoil” and “mountain” logos. Headquarters are in Herzogenaurach, Germany. The name Adidas (written “adidas” by the company) is an abbreviation of the name of founder Adolf (“Adi”) Dassler.
What are Adidas values and culture? ›Together we are a team of rebellious optimists, constantly challenging the status quo. We see possibilities where others only see the impossible. We serve the needs of our consumers, athletes, and communities. We train individually, and as a team, to inspire, innovate and grow.
How is promotional mix used? ›A promotional mix is an amalgamation of marketing techniques to promote a product or service. It is used to reach a wider audience. The aim is to increase brand awareness, regulate product revenue, and meet sales targets. It is an integrated method that uses different tools to grow and achieve marketing targets.
How does the promotional mix work? ›The promotion mix is a combination of promotional tools marketers use to communicate with their target audience. The six key promotional tools used in the communications mix are advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, direct marketing, public relations, and branding.
How does Coca Cola use the promotional mix? ›Promotion Strategy
Coca-Cola is the gold standard in terms of advertising and branding. Coca-Cola's promotion strategy focuses on aggressive marketing through ad campaigns using media channels such as television, online commercials, print media, sponsorships, and so on.
An example of a promotion mix can be depicted in a company providing discounts on its products. Discounts are an example of sales promotion where a company provides a short-term incentive to encourage the increase in demand for commodities among consumers.
What is the conclusion of the promotional mix? ›Conclusion. It may be concluded that advertising, personal selling, and even sales promotion are typically used during the introduction stage. During the second stage, more aggressive advertising and sales promotion strategies are implemented. The third stage involves more aggressive advertising and personal marketing.
What is the role of the promotion mix as the fourth P of promotion? ›Promotion is one of the four primary strategic components of the marketing mix, often called the "4 P's." Essentially, the role of the promotion mix is to create synergy with the other three elements -- product, place and pricing -- such that you optimize your company's customer and profit potential.
What are the 4 Ps of the marketing mix? ›
The four Ps — product, price, place, and promotion — are four key elements of marketing a product or service. These elements are considered part of a “marketing mix,” a combination of factors that a company controls when creating a marketing strategy.
What is the marketing mix 4p? ›The 4Ps of marketing is a model for enhancing the components of your "marketing mix" – the way in which you take a new product or service to market. It helps you to define your marketing options in terms of price, product, promotion, and place so that your offering meets a specific customer need or demand.
What is a good promotional mix? ›The five most sought out promotion mix elements include; Advertising Campaign. Personal Selling. Sales Promotion. Public Relations.
How does Walmart use the promotional mix? ›Promotion (Promotional Mix or Marketing Communications Mix).
The company advertises on newspapers, television, and websites. On the other hand, sales promotions in the form of special deals and discounts are used to attract more consumers to Walmart stores and websites.
KFC's marketing strategy evaluates the brand using the marketing mix concept, which includes the four Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). Product innovation, price strategy, promotion planning, and so on are all examples of marketing tactics. These KFC marketing mix-based business strategies aid the brand's success.
Why is mix promotional strategy important? ›A good promotional mix allows you to seek out leads through the most appropriate channels, enabling interested customers to communicate with your business. The promotional mix is an important tool in nurturing relationships with sales leads and an existing audience base.
How does Adidas use target audience? ›The target market for Adidas is typically sports enthusiasts, amateur athletes and professional athletes, who train or participate in sports on a regular basis. The brand also appeals to those who view sport and fitness as part of their lifestyle and self-image.