Ch.7 Business Marketing

Do not confuse business marketing with simple advertising. Business marketing strategies should affect every aspect of how you run your business. It is the heart and soul of a successful business. When we think of Adidas, we initially think of a brand  that solely generates its revenue in the consumer market. Realistically business to business commerce (B2B commerce) plays a major role in generating Adidas's overall profit.

Forming partnerships or alliances with retailer such as FootLocker increases the brand's awareness and of course its reputation which in turn allows for exposure to new and potential customers. Merchandising deals with retail giants such as footlocker are just a mere fraction of Adidas's business marketing scheme. Landing an 11 year contract with the NBA is indeed the the ultimate accomplishment. The deal, which sources peg at a total value in excess of $400 million, replaces the 10-year contract Reebok negotiated with the league in 2001. 

With team-branded shoes that will be released on a global basis Adidas will use its popular Superstar line and try to take advantage of the NBA's extensive and colorful history by releasing lifestyle shoes featuring the league's retro logos and colors. As a part of the deal, Adidas will also have its logos on WNBA, NBDL and replica jerseys. NBA warm-ups and practice gear will add the familiar Adidas stripes. However, the Adidas logo will not appear on the outside of any official jerseys.

Ch. 8 Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Standing as one of the most versatile companies in the world Adidas is not subjected to limited markets of any kind. Big enough to have a web of readily available products eagerly anticipating the attack of our marketing mix. Adidas has its hand on almost every person on the planet as far as potential consumers; producing products that fit almost every demographic possible. Adidas takes a very cerebral approach to who their target market is and how it is marketed to them.

Adidas uses common strategies for segmenting various markets. From a geographical standpoint Adidas uses a tactic referred to as geographic marketing. Geographic marketing allows Adidas to market specific products to certain places throughout the world. For example Adidas soccer cleat commercials and ads are seen more in europe as opposed to america because soccer isn't as popular or as publicized in The United States as european and other external countries.

The most successful and most applied segmentation strategy used has been psychographic segmentation, which appeals to our personalities, attitudes, motives, and even our lifestyles. For Adidas to aim is to not only appeal to the younger generation but even to baby boomers as well. With the use of demographic variables such as age and loaction Adidas is able to segment their approach to different target markets with ease. Age segmentation is crucially important as it allows Adidas to market products to people of the right age group. Like most active and performance gear brands emphasis is mainly placed on marketing to the younger generation as individuals who are younger tend to be more increasingly active then people of older age. Adidas seems to have gender somewhat evenly marketed, the only thing that may tip the scale is that adidas' mainstream sporting products are made and marketed for a male dominated crowd, I wonder what made them believe that women dont like football,baseball and basketball too.

Ch. 11 Developing and Managing Products

What are you looking for? Im pretty sure we have it. Premium streetwear created with a playful design and devotion to tailoring are just some highlights that our brand and product culture have to offer.
We offer a wide variety of products comparable to just a few, a range so wide that it cover all the major sports, listing everything from Basketball to Golf. One of our focuses here at Adidas is to strive in dominating the entire sports culture and make our brand the staple for all sport apparel and accessories. Thus, making us the go to shop for all your sporting needs.

Train raw! Barefoot training is in, well not really. Taking our slice in the five-toed shoe pie we've introduced our new shoe called the "adipure trainer". Attempting to capture the toe-shoe craze we introduce our newest minimalist shoe, the adidas Adipure Trainer. The shoe basically emulates the human foot with flexible soles that are contoured to the shape of the foot, including visible individual sections for the toes. Basically A padded replica of a human barefoot that allows for the natural bio-mechanics of the foot to work. Click here to watch how our new shoe works:  www.shopadidas.com/adipure-trainer

We've been in the game since the 1940s and ever since then our product innovation  and new product inventions have always topped our list. Come visit us in store or online at www.adidas.com and take a tour of what we have to offer.

Happy Holiday Shopping!

Ch.16 Integrated Marketing Communications

No were not scared of conversation, especially not in these integrated times. Our main focus is to get the spot light and we've been able to do it without being so direct and without the need of a massive sale. 

(Big Sean)

There's one in every crowd, yet no two are the same. They're authentic, one of a kind ranging in all shapes and sizes, all unique. They're the ones that stand out, They're the ones that flow freely and they're all united in Originality.

Adidas' current promotional strategy involves commercials that include today's newest artist, socialites and even legendary icons that all seem to display a recognizable amount of individuality. These new artist in particular for instance Big Sean and his bizarre urban yet classic look is giving Adidas alot of exposure. Whats more integrated than promoting a new artist and still promote a brand like Adidas?. The geniuses behind this campaign devised a plan featuring a stream of commercial explaining each new artist's individuality  and still managed to have a subtle yet recognizable presence in the background.  

Win tickets to see Big Sean. Look at the Ad for the concert tickets. it has Adidas written all over it. The black at white stripes a signature trait of Adidas was the first thing that caught my Attention. As i payed closer attention i was able to point out the f logo  for facebook and even an iphone case with the artist name written all over it.  This sparked my Interest even more and i came to the conclusion that this event must be something large if corporations like facebook wanted in on this advertisement. With integrated commercial like this the main objective is to basically to gain our Desire.

(elements of Big Sean's wardrobe)

Ch.10 Product Concept

United we stand divided we fall, a simply way to explain Adidas' rise in the industry. With a vision that sprouted from their mothers kitchen the Dasser brothers founded a small shoe company that later lead to the creation of the Adidas company. Their humble story gives a perfect example of how far a little determination and perseverance can go.

The shoe that started it all

In 1936 they journeyed to the summer Olympics with a trunk full of running spikes where they persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use them. This resulted in being the first sponsorship for an African American athlete. Following Owens's assault of four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world's most famous sportsmen. Business boomed and the Dassler brothers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II. 
At this point in the companies career their only product was considered a consumer product for it sought to satisfy individuals wants and needs in the area of track and field.


Due to irreconcilable differences the pair spilt and younger brother Adolf "Adi" Dassle founded Adidas in 1948. With an entirely new attitude and perpective of things Adolf launched his company and later implemented a new product mix introducing an apparel line dedicated to different sporting activities and even a line for urban wear.

In today's world Adidas is internationally known and offers a wide range of products that fall in the categories of consumer, convenience, shopping and even specialty products. The vast amount of products along their product mix helped Adidas to create create remarkable product lines.

Ch.18 Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

(Ad for LivingInSingaporeToday.com advertising Adidas product sale)

Sales promotions are offend used to create an interest or employ the consumers demand for a product. For Adidas this sales tactic is somewhat irrelevant and gets little to no play in the game until year end or the end of a products cycle. Adidas product do go on sale on a regular basis but this initiative is usually employed by external retailers like food locker, Champs and even Foot Action whom are all authorized distributors of Adidas products.

Non paid advertisements is an area where Adidas has shown great interest in. Yes, even well established and multi-million dollar corporation like adidas
are interested in freebies every now and then. Free advertisements allow for us at Adidas to increase revenue and up our earning potential. Adidas is now the NBA's official merchandiser which automatically translates as free advertisements as Adidas is now responsible to make all official uniforms. Having all 30 teams and every player wear uniforms and warm up wear with Adidas' logo in plain sight clearly suggests promotion and endorsing at its best if you ask me.

Selling for us at Adidas involves personal contact which is why employees are constantly urged to approach customers and initiate conversations with them. This technique is referred to as personal selling and has shown to be very beneficial  when obtaining sales. The main focus for our in store associates is to educate and demonstrate in a consultative manor about the products available.