The way we communicate and engage with our consumers has also changed over the years. The consumer journey is seamlessly connected and based on the following strategic brand communication investment principles which have been applied consistently.
Shift away from analog/classical media channels to investing predominantly in digital, social, experiential & influencer marketing as well as retail & trade marketing.
Building, cultivating and activating a strong portfolio of brand ambassadors and influencers to help the brands connect to consumers through digital, social media and PR.
Be Global and Act Local – It’s very important but not sufficient enough to reflect a strong global brand image. To be successful brands need to be relevant and connect to consumers in the local market place – localizing content, engaging target consumers through experiantial marketing, engaging locally relevant opinion leaders, bloggers and trend setters who resonate with and have a strong followership of target consumers.
Building strong brand content on our .com/eCOM – the objective has been to extend our eSHOP into a powerful brand communication platform – being rich in content and channeling traffic back from digital / social media campaigns to drive on-line sales. Examples are:
– Exclusive content by influencers / blogger and exclusive launches – e.g. limited Sneakers (Yeezy)
– Consumer activations and competitions
Launching campaigns with excellence at retail – extending the consumer journey and product excitement into the retail environment, creating strong story telling as well as state-of-the-art visual merchandising.
Extending the brand experience into the store – ensuring that target consumers enjoy services beyond the product:
– Product experience / testing
– Value added such as jersey customization
– Technical consulting / coaching
On the following pages you will find examples of campaigns across the three most important adidas categories. The common thread is the commitment to the “be global and act local principle”. All campaigns ensure consistency with the strategy and how the brands are presented globally. However, adoptation and localization ensures that the campaigns and product launches go much deeper – engaging with consumers in multiple touch-points through tailored content and endorsement of brand ambassadors who set trends and are highly influential in the market place. I have chosen different examples from the Turkish market.
“Football Campaign Examples” illustrate how endorsements (international and Turkish individual players / clubs) and have been utilized to build strong localized brand / video content within the global brand framework in order to connect to the target consumers and fan base in Turkey.
“The Originals Campaign Examples” explain the strategic direction taken to invigorate and evolve the positioning of the adidas Originals brand in Turkey: Future House reintroduces the Originals brand to the core consumer, bloggers and the lifestyle and fashion oriented media, influencers and celebrities with localized content embedded within the global brand framework. Opening of stand alone adidas Originals stores with the flagship opening in Nisantasi/Teşvikiye have been instrumental for the success. So has been establishing separate seasonal product launch events to successfully introduce Originals to the fashion world in Turkey.
“Running Campaign Examples” showcase how the consumer journey is connected between the different consumer touchpoints – events, the adidas running community (adidas Runners), retail / adidas running inspired stores and digital / social media.