Adidas making a comeback

A few years ago I would never consider purchasing an Adidas shoe, but my last two athletic shoe purchases were Adidas and I find myself drawn to the new Adidas shoes whenever I go to the store. I remember wearing the Superstar Adidas as a kid in the 90’s, sometimes with my matching Adidas track pants, but over the years I feel like the brand grew stale. Like many others, I became a loyal Nike follower. Adidas began to be a faded memory. The German-based company relied heavily on European style which didn’t translate well in the US market (Green, 2016).

To help with the revival, Adidas partnered with Kanye West and other celebrities to actively engage its target market of 14-24-year-olds (Baker, 2017). Adidas also placed significant effort on social media, knowing that’s where they would find their target audience and also that social media influencers could help elevate the brand. Part of Adidas marketing strategy was to mix the sport and hip-culture (Ricadela, 2016). Celebrities wearing Adidas helped with the “cool factor” and created buzz for the brand. Through social media, Adidas encouraged their target audience to engage wit with the brand through contests asking them to upload pictures of themselves wearing Adidas (Baker, 2017).  Additional Adidas reevaluated their sponsorships by sponsoring individual players who could be influencers and moving away from team sponsorships.  Adidas not only got these kids to start buying their new shoes but they made retro chic cool and the kids are buying shoes their parents used to wear.

With these new marketing efforts and some new designs, Adidas made a comeback and took the #2 spot from Under Armour (Baker, 2017). While Nike is still #1 by a longshot, Nike has lost market share and their stock price fell after they missed forecast expectations.

What are some other examples of brands making a comeback? How about reinventing product lines of a brand? For example, Nike’s new campaign for the Cortez shoe with the tagline, Since day one. Nike embraced the culture of the Cortez while getting the public to see that it adapts to changing styles.  Share an example you’ve seen.

Baker, J. (2017, February 25). Old feels new as Adidas makes American comeback. Retrieved from http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-adidas-20170224-story.html 

Green, D. (2016, October 26). Adidas has just hit a huge milestone in its American comeback. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/adidas-has-just-hit-a-huge-milestone-in-its-american-comeback-2016-10 

Ricadela, A. (2016, September 29). How Adidas got its game back. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-29/how-adidas-got-back-in-the-game