Comprehensive Strategic Marketing Plan for Adidas Analysis

This report provides a strategic marketing plan analysis for Adidas, a multinational corporation specializing in athletic apparel and footwear. It includes a situational analysis, examining market trends and competitor analysis. The report uses PESTLE and SWOT analyses to evaluate external and internal factors affecting Adidas. The marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) is discussed, along with strategic decisions and SMART objectives for the company. Furthermore, the 5S’s objectives of digital marketing are explored, and Ansoff's growth matrix is applied to Adidas to analyze growth strategies. Desklib provides this document and many more resources to aid students in their studies.

Strategic marketing
plan

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Strategic marketing plan is related to the creation of effective marketing objectives which
the organisation required to achieve in the market by their efforts. In the present scenario, there is
a cut throat competition in the market and many companies are operate in same industry which
creates price war in the market and ultimately minimise the profit margins of the company.
Effective marketing is the only solution under which the company can increase the demand of
their products and services and achieve competitive advantage from the industry. This report is
bases on the organisation Adidas (Nagra, 2017). This report provides brief discussion related to
the external and internal factor affecting the organisation under which the SWOT and PESTLE
analyses are conducted. It included the marketing mix of organisation and also a development of
SMART objectives for the company.
About the company
Adidas is a German multinational organisation which deals in a business of
manufacturing clothes, footwear and accessories. All the strategies and policies related to the
business of the organisation are taken from their headquarter which is located in
Herzogenaurach. Adidas is the largest footwear manufacturer of the Europe and second largest
in the world after Nike.
TASK
Situational analysis (Where are we now?/Marketing audit)
Nature of the market :- In the present scenario, the nature of the market are not favourable for
many organisation because of many threats creates in the market due to some natural disasters.
It is not rights say that all the companies are facing these threats because many shopping
companies had benefits from this situation but the market for Adidas are not favourable. All the
sports activities are restricted by the government which negatively impact the business of
Adidas.
Market trends:- The development of new and advances technology had impact the market trends
for many companies. These technology provides different types of opportunity in relation to the
digital marketing, online shopping and many more (Van Kilsdonk, 2018). The increasing use of
mobile and technology helps the Adidas to grow their business makes their marketing campaign
effective.

Competitor analysis:- The threat of competitors is one of the most dangerous and common threat
which every organisation of the market. There are many organisation which operates their
business in same industry which become negative for the particular organisation because it
negatively impacts the profit margins of the organisation (Hansen, 2017). There are many
competitors of the Adidas are present in the market such as Nike, Puma, Under Armour and
many more. These companies provides extensive competition to Adidas with their effective
marketing.
PESTLE analyses of Adidas
Pestle analyses is one of the most used and important analyses which many organisation
are used to analyse the impact of external factors on the business of the organisation. It is
important for the management organisation that it has knowledge of the external environment so
that it can minimise the loss facing by the organisation in any contingency. Adidas is one of the
biggest organisation of the world which perform their business in many countries of the world so
it is essential for the management to monitors various external factors affecting the organisation
regularly. The brief discussion related to the impact of different factors of PESTLE analyses in
relation to Adidas are given below:
Political :- This factor of pestle analyses are related to the impact of rules, regulations and
policies of the government on the business. The main business of Adidas is the manufacturing of
footwear, clothes and supply them to all over the world with help of different ways such as water
ways, airways and roadways. It is required for the company to take the permission from the
different countries where the goods are supplied. There are many taxation rules are present
which the company has to follow in their business.
Economical:- This section is related to effect of different economical issues on the business
operations of the company. The global economy are suffers from from the great recession due to
Covid pandemic and many other natural disasters. This recession of the global economy
negatively impacts the business of Adidas because all the sports activities are restricted by the
government at the time of pandemic (Assenova, 2018). It is economical for Adidas that they
manufacture their products in China because of low wage rate in the country. It helps the
company to develop the product at low cost and become cost leader of the market.
Social:- The management of Adidas develops products for different types of customers in
relation to size, class, gender and life style. The main focus of the company are based on the

those buyers which are more conscious towards the health in their sporting activities. Adidas
supports many volunteer programmes and Olympic as social cause.
Technological :- One of the most important reason for the quality and accuracy of Adidas sports
equipments is the use of modern and advanced technology in their quality check department. The
management of Adidas make huge investment to acquire these technologies(Hansen and Juslin,
2018). The technology used in the organisation not only pimplier the work but also attract the
customers towards the organisation.
Legal :- This system is related to the positive use of patent and copyrights which are present with
the management of organisation. The management of Adidas follow various rules provided by
the government in relation to the copyright and patent such as they does not copy the product or
technology of other organisations.
Environmental :- It is related to follow those practises in business processes which does not harm
the natural environment of the company. The management of Adidas has reduce those substance
in the production of sports equipments which are hazardous for environment.
SWOT analyses of Adidas
SWOT analyses is related to those strategic planning tool or technique which can be used by the
person or organisation to analyse four factors such as strength, weakness, opportunity, and
threats. It is important for the organisation use their strength to minimise their weakness and
different threats in the environment and grab the opportunities. The SWOT analyse helps the
management of Adidas to analyse these factors and become success in their marketing plan. The
brief discussion related to the same are given below:
Strength
 Legacy and heritage is one of the most important strength of the company which theyb
develop by the efforts and handwork of long time.
 Another one is their diversified product range such as Adidas has premium product range
under Adidas and mid range product under Reebok.
 The financial position of the company is very strong as the organisation operates more
than 2000 stores in all over the world and the online sale of their products are also good
revenue generators.
Weakness

 The management of Adidas has used advanced technology for the innovative and quality
product which makes the product of company a premium segment product (Elsharkasi,
2021). This product range are only limited to some buyers who can afford this.
 Almost 90% of the manufacturing of Adidas product are outsourced for the purpose of
cost ministration. This increases the dependency of company on other organisation.
 The company has only two brands such as Adidas and Reebok which limits the company
in short product line.
Opportunity
 The taste and preference of the buyers are shifted towards health conscious due to some
natural disasters hit the world, so it's an opportunity for the organisation for their
premium section products.
 It's an opportunity for the management of Adidas that they expand their business in new
markets of different countries because all the countries opens their economy for business
to deal with economic recession.
Threats
 One of the most common threat which company faces in market is competition. Despite
the biggest competitor Nike, Adidas also face extensive competition from the local
companies.
 As more than 90% of the manufacturing are outsourced by the company so the bargaining
power of the suppliers are more than the company.
Marketing mix of Adidas
Product :- Currently the Adidas has three subsidiary which provides different range of product.
The first one is Adidas which provided premium clothes and footwear, second one is Reebok
which provides the mid range product of the company and the third one is Rock pot which has
outdoor product in their range and the fourth is Taylor made which is specialised for gold clothes
and equipments (Chernev, 2020).
Price :- Generally the management of Adidas has used two different strategies for the pricing of
their product such as competitive price and skimming pricing policy. For the running and
existing product of the company, Adidas used competitive price to achieve advantage over their
competitors such as Nike and many more. For the newly and innovated product it uses skimming
pricing policy.

Place :- Most of the product of Adidas are sold through their retail outlets. There are more than
2000 stores which the company operates in all over the world (TROIANI and TORTORA,
2019). On the other hand company has different showrooms which is used to display the product
and the last mode is online selling of the products with the helps of shopping websites.
Promotion :- Most of the marking of Adidas product are based on the television and product
placement. There are many attractive and effective ad are developed by their teams and
broadcast on the television which provided them huge customer base to the company.
Where do we want to go? (Objectives)
Strategic decisions
It is related to those decisions which is taken by the organisation while focusing on the
various external factor present in the environment. One of the most important reason for the
success of Adidas in market is their strategic decision. It is the duty of the managers of the
organisation to analysed the factors which impact the business and makes effective decisions for
the future trends. It is important for the management to analyse various opportunities from the
market and use them to minimise the competition in the market.
SMART objectives of the company
In this scenario, where the market has extensive competition only the simple objectives
are not sufficient to deal with this competition. It is essential for the management of Adidas to
develop Smart objectives for the organisation and the brief discussion related to the same are
given below:
 To develop effective digital marketing platform in the organisation which requires to the
presence of modern technology and motivates employees in the organisation.
 To increase the sale of Premium product range by targeting the rich customers from the
online market.
 To overcome Nike and become the biggest footwear brand of the world.
5S’s objectives
The 5'S of digital marketing are related to those framework which is used by the
organization to develop and review the top level goals of the organisation (THIS, 2020). The
brief discussion related to these objectives of Adidas are given below.
Sell :- It included the online sale of the product of Adidas under which the company wants to
increase the sale by collaborating with different online shopping companies.

Serve:- Under this section, the management of the organisation provided extra benefits to their
online customers so that many buyers can attract towards the organisation.
Sizzle:- Under this section company is required to extend new proposition so that the brand can
be more recognised.
Speak:- Under this section, the manage get closer to their customer with the help of online
seminars, forums and live chats.
Save:- It is required for the organisation to use those methods of marketing which helps the
company to reduce the cost of business.
How are we going to get there? (Strategy)
Ansoff's or growth matrix in context of Adidas
The Ansoffs matrix, is also called product/market expansion grid. This matrix is used by the
company as a tool to analyse and plans the strategies of growth. Under this matrix, company
analyse the strategies of growth. In this matrix, company analyses and plan the growth strategy
by a way of market penetration, product development, market development and diversification.
Market penetration
This strategy is related to the entry of company try increase the sale of existing product in
the existing market. This strategy enables the organisation to develop effective marketing
framework in the organisation so that they target more and more customers and ultimately
increase the sale of product and service (Larkin, 2020). The management of Adidas operates
their business in most of the nations such as India China, Brazil, America and many more with
their different product range. It's an opportunity for the company to improve their marketing
channels and increases their sale.
Market development
Under this section of growth the organisation ensures the growth of business by entering
into a new market with their existing product. To make this strategy successful, the management
of organisation conduct research of different markets and analyse the needs and preference of the
customers towards their product. In case of Adidas company is operating their business in
almost every part but if the management of the organisation ensures the growth by developing
new market, its an opportunity to focus on African markets.
Product development

This factor of growth matrix is related to the introduction of new product in the existing
market. It is one of the most attractive and successful strategy which many organisation used in
their business. It is required to have effective research and development department in the
organisation and also the use of modern and new technology so that new and innovative product
are develop regularly. It is recommended to the management of Adidas to invest considerable
funds in their research and development department so that they develop new and innovative
product which the organisation use to achieve the growth in existing market.
Diversification
Under this strategy the organisation enters in the new market with their new and
innovative product and services. The management of Unilever need to make innovation in their
product and analyse new market to target these product.
Segmentation, targeting and positioning of Adidas
It is a strategic marketing model which is used by the organisation in to segment the particular
market and target the customers with their effective positioning. The brief discussion related to
this concept in relation to Adidas are given below:
Segmentation
This factor is related to the division of whole market into small segment on the basis of size,
class and many other criteria which the management believe to be favourable. The management
of Adidas conduct the segmentation of market on the basis of demographic, psycho graphic and
behavioural factors
Targeting
Under this factor the management of organisation chooses the most favourable segments from
the existing segmented groups (Srinivasa and Lohith, 2017). The management of Adidas use
differentiation targeting strategy to target the young adults as well as those children which are
having interest in sports.
Positioning
Under this section, the management of Adidas use different and attractive marketing techniques
which helps the company to positioned their product on the minds of their customers. The
marketing campaign of the company focus to positioned the product on the basis of high quality.
Strategic model used by the management of Adidas

The most important model which should be applied by the management of Adidas in their
business is the use of Product development strategy to ensure the growth in the market. This
strategy are also important for the company to over come their biggest competitor Nike because
this strategy enables the organisation to achieve growth in market.
Getting there (Tactics)
Extended marketing mix on Adidas
As the environment of the business change, it is analysed that the concept of marketing mix
should be extended and three more p's of marketing mix are developed which are defined below
in context of Adidas
People :- It is related to customers as well as the employees of the organisation, there are huge
number of customers base maintained by Adidas which provides them huge revenue.
Process :- It is related to the process used by the Adidas in their production. The process used by
the company should be in such as manner which provided higher returns.
Physical evidence :- It is related to those action plans and tactics of the organisation to which
reminds the customers about the product of the company after some time. It included key chains
and hand bags of the company having symbol of the organisation
Marketing communication mix
There are different tools of communication are present in the organisation which is used
by the management of Adidas to aware the customers about the merits of the product to their
customers. The brief discussion related to these tools in relation to Adidas are given below:
 Advertisement :- It is one of the commonly used method by the management of Adidas
under which they used television for the advertisement of their product.
 Personal selling :- Under this concept, the employees of the organisation advertise their
product at their doorstep.
 Personal relation :- Under this method the management of organisation develop healthy
relations with their customers with an aim to increase the sale
Evaluation & Control
key performance indicators of Adidas
There are different indicators present in the organisation which enables the organisation to
evaluate their performance (Lamb and Crompton, 2017). The brief discussion related to
indicators of Adidas are given below:

Financial statements :- One of the most important indicators which enables the organisation to
evaluate their growth is their financial statement. The management of Adidas has analyse their
their financial statement to forecast the future growth.
Annual reports :- The management of the organisation has put out the annual report every year
which reflects the policies and strategies which the company use for better performance.
CONCLUSION
This report concludes brief discussion related to the external and internal factor affecting the
organisation under which the SWOT and PESTLE analyses are concluded. It included the
marketing mix of organisation and also a development of SMART objectives for the company.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Inc (Doctoral dissertation, The College of St. Scholastica).
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Fewer, M.E., 2020. Strategic Plan Presentation: Boeing.