The Impact of Social Media on Adidas Sportswear Brand Building

This report investigates the significant impact of social media on the brand building efforts of Adidas sportswear, particularly within the Singapore market. The research employs secondary data analysis, drawing from academic journals, books, and credible websites to assess both the positive and negative effects of social media on brand awareness and identity. The study utilizes a qualitative methodology, presenting its findings through charts, graphs, and figures to offer a detailed analysis of Adidas' digital marketing strategies. The report examines Adidas' use of social media to engage consumers, build brand loyalty, and compete with rivals like Nike. It analyzes the role of influencers, user-generated content, and digital marketing campaigns in shaping brand image and value. The report also discusses the importance of monitoring social media activities and addressing potential negative impacts to maintain a positive brand reputation.

Social Media and Its Impact on Brand Building of Adidas Sportswear
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Executive Summary
The research paper argues with the impact and importance of social media on brand building of
Adidas sportswear which is one of the leading brands of sportswear in Singapore/ push out
/overtake/outperform every other competitor in Singapore. The aim of the research is to find out
the importance of social media in branding. The research has been carried out with the help of
secondary data sources which have been gathered through various academic books, journals and
authentic websites. The information for positive as well as negative impact and importance of
social media in building brand awareness and identity has been gathered from literary sources.
The research details have been collected and analysed with the help of qualitative method. The
analysis has been carried out through various charts, graphs and figures in order to provide a
detailed description.
Thesis : at the moment, this reads like a marketing pitch, not a scholarly thesis.
What is your primary argument? What is the debatable claim?
uote sandwiches…to introduce and explain context of each quote
Remember that the topic and the thesis are two different things. Your topic is the
importance of social media in branding. Your thesis is whatever you see that importance
(or impact) being. You can debate the thesis; you can't debate the topic. For example,
to debate your topic, it'd be something like, "I disagree; you're not researching the
importance o social media in branding." But that's absurd. What I can say is, "No, it's
not such-and-such that is important in social media branding; it's this other thing." That's
debatable.
And also, as you're discerning your thesis, you may find that "importance" or "impact" is
too general. What's the specific effect you want to argue for? What does social media
do for Adidas branding specifically? Why is it that it's important? In what way?
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According to Moro (3341-3351),can we have the quote to support any claim?brand building
deals with generations of awareness, establishment and promotion of a brand with the help of
certain strategies and tactics. It helps to develop the brand equity through advertisements,
campaigns and promotions. Branding is considered to be the visual voice of an organization. As
a result, it is regarded as the most crucial aspect of the organization. The brand in focus in this
research is Adidas sportswear of Singapore. The base of the company is rooted in Germany
however; it is measured as a truly global company. Adidas manufactures approximately 900
million sportswear each year.The brand deals with the manufacture and design of sportswear,
clothes and accessories. It is the largest manufacturer of sports accessories in Singapore and
holds the position of second largest sports brand in the world.
This paper will focus on the importance of social media in brand building of Adidas and its
impact on taking over their competitors in Singapore.The research has been carried out to
analyse the positive as well negative impact of the increasing trends of social media and the way
it affects the branding of Adidas.
It has been reported that Adidas has been facing strict competition from its rivals and there has
been a decrease in the brand value after the entry of potential brands in the market (Godey et al.,
pp. 35). Adidas had never relied on social media for marketing due to which the brand has been
facing issues in promotions. Social media is the go to option for potential brands in promoting its
marketing strategies and building brand value. Digital marketing has been a rage over the past
few years. It not only helps in creating the brand value but will also be beneficial for overcoming
the present marketing issues.
Thesis Statement
The thesis aims to discover the use as well as impact of social media on customer behaviour with
certain focus on their interaction. The thesis statement argues to reflect on the impacts that have
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social media had on the branding of Adidas. There are multiple individuals globally which have
been making use of social sites as a communication tool. However, these tools are used by most
individuals who use it for incorrect purposes. The topic largely reflects on how social media has
been impacting the global branding of Adidas.
Social media has been measured as a natural extension of the broader approach of Adidas to
marketing. It acts as a major role when the importance of creating hype around the high-profile
collaboration of Adidas takes place. The brand has been able to snatch Kanye West from Nike in
the year 2014. Since then it cautiously started crafting a range of product launches thus creating
on the broader fan base of the rapper. The brand has been able to create an enormous excitement
from followers by its continuous tweet as well as post on Instagram.Social media had helped
Adidas in reaching out to the consumers at a global level thus increasing the brand exposure of
the company. Strong and active presence on social media has allowed the brand in developing
business partnerships that provides a clear understanding of the marketing strategies of other
brands (Moon 33-44)Can you get the sandwich quote?.Adidas has placed a large focus on the
individual as well as direct involvement of influencers in the original designing procedure. This
in turn has made sure that the collaboration of the brand feel completely authentic rather than
merely sales-driven. Social media has helped to continuously strengthen the core topic of
originality thus making the brand creative.
The importance of social media comes to picture when the brand needs to sincerely engage with
the consumers and reinforce strong connections. Adidas carries out its marketing strategies on
social media through a two-way correspondence. The social media crusade that has been
followed by Adidas has enabled the customers to feel part of the story. The brand initiated a
campaign named Stan Yourself that persuaded the customers to tweet their individual pictures
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and get a chance to win personalized pair of shoes. Advertising on social media has grown at a
rapid pace since the past decade and is considered to be an ideal route for building the brand
image of Adidas (Hsuand Lawrence 59-77). (Can you find the quote and evidence to back
this up?)The feedback of the consumers, the number of followers and the responses of
consumers on social media posts contribute towards building a brand image and increase the
brand value of Adidas. The emphasis of the customers has always acted as an integral aspect that
brought about the success of the brand. Creation of brand awareness is the top priority of the
management team of Adidas. Whenever a new sportswear collection is launched the brand
announces it on social media which helps in creating awareness about new designs and attracts
consumers.
The major goal of Adidas is to develop a loyal consumer base. The brand engages in digital
marketing to seek attention of potential consumers and influential personalities. The key is to
consistently adopt the appropriate methods and focus on the target audience on various social
media platforms. Social media not only acted as an one-way marketing method for Adidas rather
it allowed the customers and followers to put their appreciation forward. The brand has made use
of user-generated content that is particularly extensive on Instagram. It provides a huge support
for reputed brands like Adidas sportswear for carrying out its marketing as well as business
activities (Richard152-161). Can we get a quote and state how we are engaging it? With
proper utilization, social media proves to be the most powerful tool in enhancing the brand image
and building brand loyalty.
Critical Analysis of impact of social media in brand building of Adidas
According to Seargeant and Tagg (pp. 50),can we have a quote sandwich?social media helps
Adidas in driving its tri-branding efforts. The brand value gets a boost via various social media
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posts and blogs. It creates innumerable opportunities for the brands including promotions and
press releases. Social media is not only a popular platform for carrying out the marketing
activities but also reduces the cost of marketing thereby increasing the sales. Apart from
engaging with the consumers, social media also provides access to the international markets and
gives an opportunity to the brand in expanding its business. As per the opinion ofKerpen (pp.
25)can we get a quote and use it to support claim?social media facilitates networking
opportunities through improvement in interaction with the consumers and other business. Social
media is extensively used by popular brands like Adidas as it allows the brands in focusing on
the desired target market.
According to Weller, social media forms a crucial part of a successful business, however, the
major concern is measuring the return on investment which is a complex process and proves to
be daunting. Another negative aspect of using social media for brand building is that it is
difficult to monitor the social media activities of each and every employee and a single mistake
can ruin the brand's reputation(Ngai, Tao and Moon, pp. 35). Can we have the sandwich
quote?In order to eradicate the negative impact, the company took to social media to put forward
its concern. It apologized to the customers thus stating that public safety has always been their
utmost priority. The company also took feedback from the customers thus aiming to improve
their limited edition launching program. The employees act as the representative of the brand
image. The statement circulates at a rapid pace as soon as it is released and is difficult to rectify.
In context to this Dinnie (pp.36) commented can we have the sandwich quote as support)that,
unclear marketing strategies adversely affects the brand value and reduces the benefits. Active
management of social media activities is extremely crucial. On one hand where social media
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paves way for feedback from consumers, on the other hand it also leads to inappropriate
behaviour such as bullying, harassment, negative feedback and so on. Increased exposure to the
digital space also results in the breach of privacy, leakage of information and hacking(Habibi,
Laroche and Richard, pp. 155) can we have the quote sandwich?. It is believed that social
media is free and reduces marketing costs; however, implementing the strategies on a digital
platform consumes a lot of time, requires constant attention and monitoring and is not always a
suitable option.
Importance of social media in creating brand awareness of Adidas
The role played by social media in creating brand awareness can be best understood with the
help of a comparison between Adidas and its biggest competitor Nike. Both brands manufacture
similar products and are highly active on social media (Saboo, pp. 526). Can we have a quote
here?)The comparison has been provided on the basis of the social media activities of both
brands and its awareness in the digital space.
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Figure 1: Comparison between social media activities of Adidas and Nike
(Source:Nielsen Sports)
The diagram illustrates a comparison between social media activities of both rival brands Adidas
and Nike. In this figure it can seen that Adidas is more active on social media as compared to
Nike. The data collected from two most popular social media platform Facebook as well as
Twitter shows that Adidas normally has approximately 211,000 tweets in a year as well as 21.8
million total followers which are mainly regarding promotional events and product information.
On the other hand, Nike is ahead of Adidas with a total of 42.2 million followers as well as
54,000 tweets. Even though the total contribution of social media in creating brand awareness is
almost equal for both the brands, however, the margin is slightly higher for Adidas which shows
that Adidas enjoys a higher brand value on social media.
Extensively used social media platform
Social media is regarded as the most competent platform that is useful for digital marketers.
This has made it easier for the sports industry to witness multiple ways to initiate an increase in
their brand image. There are a variety of social media platforms in the digital space which gives
the opportunity for potential brands to grow and promote their products. The most popular social
media platform for Adidas has helped the company to reach to approximately 250 teenagers to
create their Tang Squads. These teenagers have been particularly active on the social media thus
receiving exclusive commodities from Adidas. The four social media platforms have been taken
into account in this context.
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Figure 2: Most effective social media platform for Adidas
(Source:Holt 40-50)
Figure 2 illustrates the social media platform which has been extensively used by Adidas
sportswear for its promotional and marketing strategies. Based on the figure, the most widely
used social media platform by Adidas is facebook (Holt 40-50). All promotional activities and
vital information are mainly posted on the facebook page of the brand which helps it in reaching
out to the domestic as well as international consumers and establishes a brand identity.
Social media plays a major role in enhancing the brand value of Adidas sportswear and increase
the sales revenue which in turn increases the income. Both the factors are extremely crucial
while measuring the success of a brand. The two potential factors are illustrated in Figure 3:
Figure 3: Increase in sales revenue and income of Adidas sportswear
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(Source: Tsimonis and Dimitriadis 328-344) Can you verify this source please?
In Figure 3 the sales revenue has been represented by the blue vertical bars and the income has
been represented by the red line. It can be observed that with the implementation of social media
there has been an increase in the sales revenue in the year 2017 compared to 2016. Since the past
decade the sales revenue of Adidas sportswear have experienced a steady growth rate
(TsimonisandDimitriadis 328-344). Can we have a quote ?The increase in sales revenue is also
accompanied by an increase in income. Even though the trend in income has been fluctuating
since the past decade yet there has been a substantial increase in 2017. The income has been
higher than the sales revenue in the previous year.
Marketing strategies of Adidas on social media
Adidas has been known to promote various products on social media which are publicized to
attract the attention of the target market (SchivinskiandDabrowski 189-201). Can we have the
quote please to support the claim?)The marketing strategy that is used by Adidas involves a
combination of innovative marketing techniques that leads to heritage commodities.
Figure 4: Products of Adidas promoted on social media
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(Source:Schivinski and Dabrowski 189-201)Can you verify the source please?
In the above diagram, the most widely promoted products of Adidas sportswear on social media
has been demonstrated. Out of the four products, the most popular product is the shoes. Adidas
specializes in manufacturing of shoes and holds the position of second largest manufacturer of
shoes in the world.What is the sense of this argument in relation to the thesis?
Indicators of brand engagement of Adidas
While promoting the product on social media the brands have to take care of certain indicators
which affect the brand image as well as brand awareness. The indicators are shown in the
following Figure 5.
Figure 5: Important indicators of brand engagement
(Source: Kohli et al. 35-44)can you verify this source please?
Figure 5 illustrates few important indicators of brand engagement such as positive mention on
social media, negative mention on social media, online purchase of products, clicking on an
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online advertisement, likes and shares on social media and so on. (Kohli 35-44) The most
popular indicator of brand engagement of Adidas sportswear in this context is a positive mention
on social media. The positive feedback posted by the consumers who have purchased the
products helps in building a positive image of the brand and increase the brand value. Thus,
social media also contributes towards brand building.
Conclusion
The entire research throws light on the importance of social media in brand building and creating
brand awareness of Adidas sportswear of Singapore. Through the literary sources it can be
inferred that social media plays a major role in developing brand value and engaging with the
consumers as well as other businesses. Overall it can be concluded that with the effective use of
social media, Adidas sportswear have experienced a gradual increase of brand awareness and
greater presence in the minds of the consumers in the past decade.
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