Adidas’ Digital Marketing Activities and Opportunities

This report analyzes Adidas’ digital marketing activities and opportunities through social media marketing, content marketing, and email marketing. It also discusses the marketing activities of competitor institutions and proposes an omni-channel digital marketing campaign.

Running Head: DIGITAL MARKETING
Digital Marketing
Analysis of Adidas’ digital marketing activities and opportunities
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
This business report highlights the digital marketing activities of Adidas. It is found that the
company focus on the RACE model, where the reach their users mainly through social media
marketing- Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube channel. Through content marketing, Adidas
always intends to represent their culture and content for advertising their brands and this is their
Act aspect. Adidas implement convert aspect through sending e-mails or formulated posts that
are attractive and contain images and sent to all the users so that they can get ware of the recent
offers and discounts currently going in their company. They also engage the users through
promotional events that help people to remember their activities and also allow them to build a
strong relationship with the users. The activities involved in redeveloping new mobile
application are found to be the identification of the existing problem, identify the portability of
the application, removing the non-core feature, consulting with an application developer and
integrate analytics along with designing of the application and take feedback. The key factors of
online customer acquisition strategies are accessing new customers through e-mails; update the
content in all the digital platform and aligning search intent to content upgrades. On the other
hand, the customer retention strategies identified in the report are products innovation, offering
them gift coupons and discount and effective communications calendar. The techniques to
determine visitors’ requirements are an option for giving feedback, options for sharing public
posts to the digital channel, utilizing the analytic tool. Integrating different forms of online
presence can be obtained through promoting the offline event online and providing offline sale
online. Lastly, the ethical permutations to the proposed digital marketing plan are detailed
knowledge of the audience, avoidance of biasness, avoiding comprising on piracy issues,
maintaining user privacy and maintaining transparency.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Current digital marketing activities.................................................................................................3
1.1 RACE model................................................................................................................................3
1.1.1 Reach....................................................................................................................................3
1.1.2 Act.........................................................................................................................................5
1.1.3 Convert.................................................................................................................................6
1.1.4 Engage..................................................................................................................................8
2.0 Marketing activities of competitor institutions................................................................................8
3.0 Omni-channel digital marketing campaign proposal.....................................................................14
3.1 Business S.M.A.R.T. goals........................................................................................................14
3.2 Activities involved in redeveloping the new mobile application..............................................15
3.2.1 Identification of the existing problem.................................................................................15
3.2.2 Identify the portability of the application...........................................................................15
3.2.3 Removing the non-core feature..........................................................................................16
3.2.4 Consulting with an application developer..........................................................................16
3.2.5 Integrate analytics...............................................................................................................16
3.2.6 Designing of the application and take feedback.................................................................16
3.3 Key factors of online service quality for customer acquisition and retention...........................17
3.3.1 Customer acquisition strategies..........................................................................................17
3.3.2 Customer retention strategies.............................................................................................17

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3.4 Techniques to determine visitors’ requirements........................................................................18
3.5 Integrating different forms of online presence..........................................................................18
4.0 Factor in ethical permutations to the proposed digital marketing plan.........................................19
5.0 Reference List and Bibliography...................................................................................................21

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1.0 Current digital marketing activities
Adidas is sports apparel and accessories headquartered in Germany. Adidas is Europe's
largest sportswear manufacturer and ranks second after Nike. Adidas holdings comprised of
many groups- Reebok sportswear company, Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company,
TaylorMade golf company and Bayern Munich, the football club (Adidas 2018). Ryan (2016)
stated that digital marketing refers to the term of selling and marketing of products through a
digital platform. Moreover, digital marketing activities illustrate the action of making promotion
and selling of products through search engines, websites, social media, mobile application and e-
mails (Adidas 2018). Digital marketing can be social media marketing, content marketing,
Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), e-mail marketing,
radio marketing and Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) (Adidas 2018). Adidas utilizes the
approaches for social media marketing, content marketing and email marketing.
1.1 RACE model
1.1.1 Reach
Adidas implements reach their users mainly through social media marketing. The social
media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube channel that is utilized by Adidas.
The organization broadcasted their recent activities in terms of videos and pictures through
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The twitter page of the Adidas contains the re-tweets of other
Adidas brand accounts which allows all other Adidas companies to form altogether (Adidas
2018). Their twitter marketing and trending hashtags allow different athletes to come tether and
share their stories with each other, which furthermore resulted in a strong customer base for the
company.

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Image 1: Twitter page of Adidas
(Source: Twitter.com 2018)
In terms of their Facebook page, Adidas have a lot of brand channels each for their different
sectors for their company that are- Adidas Originals, Adidas Football, Adidas Rugby, Adidas
NEO Label, Adidas Basketball and Adidas Football US (Facebook 2018).

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Image 2: Adidas facebook page
(Source: Facebook 2018)
1.1.2 Act
Through content marketing, Adidas always intends to represent their culture and content
for advertising their brands. Adidas focuses on the how the athletic wear their company’s
products define their culture in front of their potential audience (Facebook 2018). Digital media
is volatile and thus in order to make the message of the company more convincible, company
add values, ideas, convictions and behaviours for developing the most effective content. Adidas
align internal and external messaging, utilizing the user's most preferable perception for choosing
words for the content of their advertising. Moreover, the online marketing department of the

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company focuses on the visual to share the accurate outcome from the companies to the users.
Videos, blogs, and social media posts are highly utilized by Adidas so that more people get
aware of their brands. Moreover, Adidas opted for the concept of story-asking rather than story
telling and invite audiences to contribute the story of their experience that can provide relevance
and authenticity to the stories that their advertisement has broadcasted till now.
1.1.3 Convert
Adidas sent e-mails or formulated posts that are attractive that are easy to understand.
The e-mail contained images and sent to all the users so that they can get ware of the recent
offers and discounts currently going in their company. Addidas also provide multiple signup
options like ‘newsletter signup’ and ‘email-only’. The signup also offers 15% off coupon and
newsfeed of the exclusive promotions (Chaffey and Smith 2013). Once signed up, an automated
welcome email is generated says “The Journey Starts Here” that triggers the sense of
commitment of the brand with the user. There is a barcode or the subscribers that can be utilized
by the users when they purchase from nay Adidas physical store. The prime benefits that the
organization get from this approach is to identify all of their consumer’s shopping habits.

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Image 3: E-mail content of the Adidas advertisement
(Source: Nielsen Sports 2018)

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1.1.4 Engage
Adidas engage their audience through promotional events that help people to remember
their activities and also allow them to build a strong relationship with the users. In the year 2017,
Adidas invests financial resources to promote their brands by celebrity endorsements. Rising Star
Josh Prenot, who is latest leading swimmer wear the adizero XVI, which is the fastest swimsuit
ever (adidas NEWS STREAM 2018). Racing car driver, Carmen Jorda become the face to
motivate women to push boundaries and seek out new challenges (adidas NEWS STREAM
2018). Adidas also collaborates with Amazon in order to reach people from all over the world.
This will help people to remain engage with Adidas.
2.0 Marketing activities of competitor institutions
As mentioned earlier, Nike is the leading sports shoe manufacturer which is followed by
Nike. This can be witnessed through the respective annual revenue for both of the organization
and it shows that for the year 2016, Nike gained $19.87 U.S. million; while, Adidas incurred
$10.68 U.S. million (Statista 2018). Moreover, for the year 2017, Nike and Adidas incurred
$21.08 U.S. million and $10.36 U.S. million respectively (Statista 2018).

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Image 4: 2010- 2017 Revenue from footwear segment of Nike, Adidas and Puma
(Source: Statista 2018)
Furthermore, Adidas is preferred by 9 of the 24 teams, which make the count of 37% and
they use their manufactured products (Nielsen Sports 2018). 25% of the team preferred Nike,
21% for Puma and 17% for other sports shoe manufacturer (Nielsen Sports 2018). Both of the
brands catalogued superstars for endorsing their brand’s products (Nielsen Sports 2018).

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Image 5: Nike’s and Adidas’ top player endorsements
(Source: Nielsen Sports 2018)
One of the reasons for the high sale of the Nike shows than the Adidas is their great
marketing contents, digital marketing of the sports shoes and updates alternatives for targeting
the users through a digital platform (Nielsen Sports 2018).
Nike utilizes the mobile marketing concepts and displays customised message for the
people in order to attract them more. In this advertisement campaign, Nike showed their
advertisement on the digital billboards that contain a number, which on dialled by the users, they
get the opportunity to phone’s keypad to customize the on-screen shoe (Nielsen Sports 2018).
Users can also get the opportunity to purchase the shoes that are designed by them.
Nike also utilizes the concept of the merging real-world sports performance with the
social marketing and digital marketing (Nielsen Sports 2018). This can be witnessed through
their approach of giving runners the challenge to reach different checkpoints in the citywide to
claim virtual badges for their stamina, endurance and speed.
Moreover, compared to Adidas, Nike wasn’t an official sponsor for the Olympics 2012
yet bought up hundreds of billboards and tube featuring for celebrating everyday athletes;
however, Adidas spent tens of millions pounds for getting the official sponsorship of the
Olympics 2012 (Nielsen Sports 2018). As a result, they got more noticeable during the time in
Twitter. The tweets in the Twitter were 16,000 which is greater than the tweets received for
Adidas that is only 9,295 (Nielsen Sports 2018).

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Image 6: Twitter post for sponsored and non-sponsored tweets during Olympics 2012
(Source: Nielsen Sports 2018)
Furthermore, Nike leads the organization Adidas in the social media marketing activities and
this can be witnessed through their Facebook analytics that represents that Nike has 42.2 million
followers in Facebook while Adidas only has 21.8 million followers (Nielsen Sports 2018). The
number of posts made by these two organization is similar that shows that Nike broadcasts 3
public posts per week which are 4 in case of Adidas (Nielsen Sports 2018). Adidas focuses both
on the still photographs and videos that show their recent activities and represents that the
company is associated 67% in posting videos and remaining 33% are videos (Nielsen Sports
2018). On the other hand Nike, focuses more on less time-consuming media which is the
photograph and their post has 93% of photos and remaining 7% are the videos (Nielsen Sports
2018).

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Image 7: Facebook followers of Nike Vs Adidas
(Source: Nielsen Sports 2018)
The user engagement per week for the Adidas post is 11,800; while it is 2,900 of the
company Nike (Nielsen Sports 2018). The average engagement rate per Facebook post for Nike

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is 1,000; whereas, the number illustrates 2,900 in case of Adidas' public Facebook posts (Nielsen
Sports 2018). On the other hand, the twitter engagement also shows that Nike has more followers
that are 4.6 million than Adidas which is 2.9 million (Nielsen Sports 2018). The changes in the
followers are also greater in Nike compared to the Adidas which is 14,300 and 6,600 for the
former and later respectively (Nielsen Sports 2018).
Digital marketing activities also comprised of content marketing which refers to the fact
how interesting and close to the user’s perception the post posted by the company (Holliman and
Rowley 2014). Nike has greater followers as they continuously make aware of their recent
activities and initiatives regarding their new launching, social activities and advertisements. Nike
makes 28 tweets per week; while Adidas make 18 posts per week (Nielsen Sports 2018). The
average engagement per tweet is 1700 which is greater than the count of 635 which is the
average engagement per tweet (Nielsen Sports 2018).

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Image 8: Twitter followers Nike Vs Adidas
(Source: Nielsen Sports 2018)
3.0 Omni-channel digital marketing campaign proposal
Hansen and Sia (2015) stated that if an organization needs to become more successful
they have to consider all the ways through which their customers are connected to them. Taken
for instance, customers can connect with the organization through physical stores, online
websites, mobile application, virtual catalogues and social media. Thus, marketing products
through all the media through which the company can set connection with their users are known
as Omni-channel marketing. Moreover, the Omni channel campaign refers to the case, when
consumers can engage with the company and get seamless experience through different modes
(Verhoef, Kannan and Inman 2015).
3.1 Business S.M.A.R.T. goals
S.M.A.R.T. Goal aspects Description of the goals
Specific  To attract 23% more customers in 1 years through the social
media platform
 To boost the Adidas sale by 17% through online shopping
 To utilize search engine optimization and Google analytics to
identify the recent trends of the market and drive the production
team to formulate 100,000 such products.
Measurable  The progress of the total number of subscribers in Facebook
increased by 9% in the first three months
 The progress of the total number of subscribers in YouTube
increased by 5% in the first three months
Attainable  Posting 5 posts per week on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and
Twitter
 Share 5- 8 videos related to the user’s reaction and experience on
the social media
 Share coupons and promotional codes through user’s mobile
number and e-mail IDs twice a month
Relevant  The higher number of subscribers allow the company to grab

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more knowledge regarding the products and newly introduced
trends
 The likes obtained in the posts help the company to identify the
user’s perception
Time  The sale is estimated to be doubled by the end of the 1 year
 The number of subscribers in all the social media platform desire
to be 3 times more by the end of the 1 year
3.2 Activities involved in redeveloping the new mobile application
The concerned organization should develop a mobile application through which users can
filter their choice and make a purchase for their desired items.
3.2.1 Identification of the existing problem
Adidas does not have any individual mobile application that allows their user to search
for Adidas products easily. However, Adidas products are available in other application like
“Top Sportswear Shopping” application present in Google Play Store. Thus, the organization
needs to identify the products that are always high in demands from users. The options for
filtering the choices, like gender, color, materials of the shoes and features should also be
incorporated.
3.2.2 Identify the portability of the application
The target user of this application is the athletes and especially the younger generation
people, who focus more on brands and style. The age group apart from the athletes in this case
will be 16 years to 45-year group. This will help Adidas to work on the background color of the
application and developing categorized page view. Adidas need to look for coverage, device
support, hardware performance, space required to store in the mobile phones, battery life and
ruggedness.

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3.2.3 Removing the non-core feature
Adidas should emphasize on keeping the initial costs of development down. This can be
obtained by removing all the add-on features like the 360º view, 3D view and animation of the
texts related to the promotions for the brands. This can be added later as an update to the
application developed by the team. Initially, the filtering feature and information about the
availability of the products should be present.
3.2.4 Consulting with an application developer
Taking consultancy from a company that has great design talent is beneficial for Adidas
as it allows them to identify the recent trends that customers like in a mobile application.
Moreover, initially, the project for developing the application can be given to a third party
provider as they can utilize their best knowledge base to develop an application.
3.2.5 Integrate analytics
Analytics helps an organization to identify the ongoing demands and search options that
users often search. Adidas can also formulate a team that can prepare the report from Google
Analytics results. This will help the developers to identify crucial aspects that need to be
included in the mobile application.
3.2.6 Designing of the application and take feedback
Adidas should focus on UI design, multi-touch gestures and platform design standards
while developing a mobile application. The application contains automated update options and
pop-up recent and on-going offers and discounts on the notification tab of the users, who
download the mobile application. Once the mobile application gets launched, ask for feedback

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for making improvements in the developed application and then include them as later update for
the application.
3.3 Key factors of online service quality for customer acquisition and retention
3.3.1 Customer acquisition strategies
Access new customers through e-mails- Some people do not open e-mails that are related to
market promotion or purchasing a product. Thus, Adidas can target those, who failed to open the
e-mail and sent them to email with completely new email subject to identify in which mail
content they respond.
Update the content in all the digital platform- Users always rely on the new recent news as it
gives then the assurance that the organizations are also concerned about their brand presence and
validity of the data they published. Updation of the information when searched by users, they
give more time to read the ongoing process and offers. Thus, Adidas can broadcast Facebook and
Twitter posts regularly, write blog feed pages like 300 blogs per month so that the company
details can remain on the first page of the Google search.
Aligning search intent to content upgrades- Adidas can list down those pages where the user
traffic is more. This allows the organization to identify the things that people prefer more and
like more so that the company can develop more content related to those products.
3.3.2 Customer retention strategies
Products innovation- Adidas can innovate new products like smart shoes for the athletes that
can count the steps of the person and count the calories burnt. These innovations help the users to
remain associated with the organization.

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Offer them gift coupons and discount- People like offers and discount to purchase from the
shops and they will also promote the brand through word of mouth if they find authenticity in the
offers. Thus, happy customers promote the brand effectively.
Effective communications calendar- Adidas can send “thank you’s”, cards or notes with a
personal message on it so that people can sense being valued by the company which will help the
company to retain their users.
3.4 Techniques to determine visitors’ requirements
Option for giving feedback- Adidas should incorporate feedback section to all the digital
platforms that are utilized by the company. Even the mobile applications should also have an
option to report the problem to the customer care support team. This will help the organization to
identify the exact concern regarding the products and services.
Options for sharing public posts to the digital channel- Users should also allow uploading
videos and images as in recent times; people focus more on visuals. The other people also get the
ideas regarding the products from the experienced users. Adidas on the other hand can develop a
chat support system where one user can chat with other users and ask about the products details
and quality in details.
Utilize analytic tool- Google Analytics can be utilized by Adidas so that more accurate details
about the user’s requirement can be obtained. A separate team can be formulated for highlighting
the mostly searched item of the company and features available in the products.
3.5 Integrating different forms of online presence
Promoting the offline event online- Events like sports events, charity events and press
conferences cannot be occurred through online media. Thus, the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and YouTube can be used as a medium through which the videos and images of the events and

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posters can be shared. In this way, people will know what are the upcoming activities that the
organization is planning to conduct.
Provide offline sale online- Apart from promoting the activities through online media, offer
exact or more sales and discount online will allow Adidas to engage more people and users.
Adidas can also create events like share pictures and feedback regarding the new purchase they
have bought so that the user can get personalized treatment from the company.
4.0 Factor in ethical permutations to the proposed digital marketing plan
Detailed knowledge of the Audience- In some case, marketers develop products that they feel to
be included in the new production unit (Kaufman and Horton 2014). Thus the ethics of knowing
audiences preferences, interests and choices by having complete psychographic and demographic
perspective is required by the concerned organization.
Avoidance of biasness- Adidas need to focus on the aspects that are related to politics, sensitive
community issues and highlight disability of people as they are associated with sports. Thus, the
concerned organization need to avoid these aspects otherwise the company have to face issues
regarding brand reputations.
Avoiding comprising on piracy issues- Adidas need to formulate each content of their campaign
from new and can also hire team to write content so that piracy can be avoided related to the
content.
Maintaining user privacy- People buy products through online and also make payments through
online sites. In some cases, they also sign in to their social media through their website. Thus,
maintaining the database of the users is crucial.

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Maintaining Transparency- Adidas need to speak the truth related to their annual revenue,
endorsement of the product, number of new users and the positive and negative response related
to the business operations.

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5.0 Reference List and Bibliography
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https://news.adidas.com/us/Athletes-And-Ambassadors/ALL/carmen-jorda-unveiled-as-latest-
face-of-adidas-by-stella-mccartney/s/5ef37e2b-4dc8-4ecb-a72a-828a3b7bc205 [Accessed 15
May 2018].
Adidas NEWS STREAM., 2018. Rising Star Josh Prenot joins Team adidas. [online] Available
at: https://news.adidas.com/us/Athletes-And-Ambassadors/ALL/rising-star-josh-prenot-joins-
team-adidas/s/2992602b-ac90-4333-8645-63e2539ed44a [Accessed 15 May 2018].
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