Case Snippet:
Identify and evaluate the strong and weak features of a website as marketing tool of a given company
Identify and describe the targeted customers group/s of a given company
Examine branding strategies of a given company (Adidas)
Explain the brand image, brand identity and brand relationship of a given company (Adidas)
Case Questions:
Part A:
1. Identify and evaluate the strong and weak features of a website as marketing tool of a Adidas company.
2. Identify the customers being targeted by the website of Adidas by explaining with suitable evidence and examples. Describe one of the groups being targeted.
Part B
1. Identify how Adidas brand is currently expressed in the company website of Adidas you have chosen. Evaluate elements used to assemble the brand.
2. Explain the brand image of the company (Adidas) you have considered. Is there a gap between your brand image and the brand identity which is portrayed on the website? Explain your reasons.
Marketing Mix of Adidas Website
SMART Analysis for setting objectives of website of Adidas
SWOT Analysis of website of Adidas Adidas
Digital Marketing Communication
The three Adidas Collaborations
Evaluation of Brand elements on Adidas website
Brand positioning of Adidas on website
Nike versus Adidas Brand comparative analysis
1. Identify and evaluate the strong and weak
features of a website as marketing tool of a Adidas company.
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·
Founded in
1949, Adidas AG is the largest sportswear company in Europe and second
largest in world. ·
Revenue € 23.6
Billion and net profit € 1.9 Billion (2019). |
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To
become best sports brand through design, build up and sale of best sports
products with best service and experience to its customers. |
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Athletic
shoes, apparel and sporting goods and accessories. |
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Website |
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Reasons for selecting Adidas |
Adidas is a multinational company
engaged not only in offline sales but also through its website. Analysis will
be more goal oriented and specific for this assignment. |
Marketing Mix of Adidas Website
Online
Product
Products are categorised on the basis of
men, women, kids and sports shoes, clothing and accessories. Customisation of products
is also offered by the website. Products have also been displayed brand wise.
Features, description and all other necessary information on products along
with product images have been exhibited to keep customers informed to meet
their expectations. Mega offers and discounts are being displayed on first page
of website.
Price of all products is mentioned along with products.Customers can navigate through website and search products of their choice, add products to cart, order online and also cancel the order anytime before product is dispatched directly using the website.
Discounts and offers are being displayed along with product display. Method of payments offered on website is through pay on delivery, credit & debit card, net banking and other UPI apps. Option of payment in instalments is also offered to customers through EMI.
Products are being shipped to all parts of
the country including remote areas. Website has also option to order online and
pick products from stores for its customers. Billing address and shipping
address can be same or different as per the choice of the customers. Products
are generally shipped and delivered within 3 to 15 days of time. In case of
customised products delivery time ranges between 1 month to 3 months. Website also offers fast / emergency delivery
system but charges extra for the same on request of the customer. Products are
being shipped through courier partners of Adidas.
Adidas has dedicated team of SEO, SMO and
web developers and designers to manage its website. It uses Google analytics
tools and other web tools to keep an eye on traffics, returned customers,
customers who have added products in cart but not purchased. It regularly
conducts online survey to enhance customer experience on its website. It makes
use of Google paid services and Facebook paid services to promote its products
online. Company performs press release on regular basis and also offers
feedback and product review option to customers to improve customer
interactivity and experience on website.
Target
Customers & Intended positioning
It
targets young adults, adults as well as children
who have passion for fitness & sports in the age group of 13-40 years but
majority of its customers are of 15-30 years of age who hail
from upper middle class or the luxury class of customers
SMART Analysis for
setting objectives of website of Adidas
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·
E commerce sales to rise by 35 %
in 2020 with revenue target of 4 Billion Pound. ·
Reduce delivery time by 2 days
for normal orders and 7 days for remote areas within 6 months. ·
Shorten period of customised
products delivery by one fourth time than current time period within one
year. |
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·
Adidas maintains customer
relationship management software to track record of sales, tracks new entrants
on website initiating purchase, tracks shipping and delivery time period and
has vendor management system to track record of manufacturing and delivering
customised products and other products. |
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·
It has speed factories which can
help to reduce manufacturing time of customised products. ·
Efficient courier delivery
management system and inventory management can help to reduce shipping period
in remote areas and normal orders. ·
In 2019, E Commerce revenue sales
were up by 34 %. |
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·
Reducing shipping time will help
Adidas to beat its competitor Nike. ·
Increase in E Commerce sales will
help Adidas to achieve its overall sales growth of 8 % in 2020. ·
Reduction in time of delivery of
Customised products will help it to become global leader in the sporting
goods industry which is ultimate mission of Adidas. |
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Increase
in sales revenue is targeted to be achieved within one year, shipping period
for normal and remote areas to be 6 months and decrease in delivery time of
customised products to be achieved in one year time frame. |
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SWOT Analysis of website of Adidas
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Dedicated
team to manage the operations of website to enhance customer experience. Order
online and collect from store. Easy
Cancellation of order and refund of money even after shipment. Return
of product within 30 days. App
to support browsing and conduct purchase through smart phones. Prompt
Online customer support to help on queries of customers. Content
updates on regular basis. Detailed
information of products. |
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Longer
delivery time in remote areas. Long
waiting time for customised orders. Delay
in delivery of products. |
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Tapping
of new markets and customers in areas where Adidas is not physically present. Design
and development of innovative products to attract more and more customers. |
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Competitors
like Nike have also entered into E Commerce and offering customisation. Local
laws such as varying tax policies prevailing in other countries with regards
to E Commerce. Customers’
can’t review products on thee website. |
Website
contains adequate information on products being displayed and are regularly
updated to enhance customer experience.
Navigation
on website is very easy from point of searching a product to check out. Process
has been kept very simple to avoid confusions and anxiety while navigating from
one product search to another.
Information
on website is apt to its users as it shares minute details regarding
manufacturing material to its delivery to the customers.
Website
offers easy to process order, make payment either online or pay on cash,
delivery tracking mechanism and easy to cancel order, get refund and return
policy of 30 days.
Price
inclusive of taxes is being displayed on website. Packaging and shipping are
free of cost.
China
US trade war and US imposition on tariffs can have negative impact on sales.
Web
Based Commercial Communication
Online
chat support to offer two way communications through website.
Creators
club membership program to strengthen relationship with customers.
Cancellation
of order anytime, change of shipping address, replacement of products, and
return within 30 days of purchase is some of the features to promote
flexibility.
One
to one support to its customers through online support, emailing to update on
new products and offers, customisation of products to offer personalisation to
its customers.
Website
remains operational 24x7. Online Chat support is available during office hours.
Orders can be placed anytime.
2. Identify the
customers being targeted by the website of Adidas by explaining with suitable
evidence and examples. Describe one of the groups being targeted.
Adidas through its website uses
demographic and psychographic market segmentation to target customers of its
products. Being a sports products company, it targets male and female customers
of age between 14 to 40 who are athletes and fitness freak. The company is
focused on targeting and strengthening its brand with the next generation of
athletes of age of 14 to 19 years. However, Adidas is also popular among people
of age between 40 to 65.
It offers different sub brands to target different
customer segments like Adidas
Originals, Adidas Neo, Porsche design, Stella McCartney.
Psychographic
segmentation is based on socioeconomic and personality variables of customers
which are done using Niche pricing strategy and superior quality products of
Adidas. Thus it targets upper middle class consumers to affluent consumers by premium
positioning of its products among consumers.
To
target its customers it has defined a segmentation grid which comprises of
comprises six key quadrants Male Athlete, Female Athlete, Young Creator, Street
wear Hound, Amplifier, and Value Consumer. Within this grid, it is key to win
the most influential consumers, defined as the creator archetype. Major
categorization of products have been done on the basis of male, female, kids
and A separate sports category with on the website directly targets athlete
customers to navigate products in that section. Navigation on the basis of
male, female and kids category is meant to segment customers in small group on
the basis of gender and age to target customers who are into sports or fitness
lover.
Exploiting
opportunity of changing social
proposition of and growing culture of remaining fit and healthy, Adidas website
is targeting customers of all age groups by displaying products under Male,
female and kids category. Product display on the basis of brand categorization
is done to easily locate the product and prompt buying decisions. Brand such as
Adidas NEO is meant for kids products which are price competitive in market.
Customisation of products offer competitive advantage as well as company’s
thrust to remain innovative and create best and new as per the requirement of
the customers to remain customer obsessive and offer great experience to them.
Potential Barriers Adidas Company is facing in implementing its idea:
·
Pricing issue-
Products of Adidas are expensive.
·
Stiff
competition from its rivals such as Nike, Armour, Puma.
·
Availability
of Fake and duplicate Adidas products in market.
·
Delay in
delivery due to shortage of inventory
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Part B
1. Identify how Adidas
brand is currently expressed in the company website you have chosen. Evaluate
elements used to assemble the brand.
Expression of
brand on company website:
To be best in
world in sports brand through design, build up and sale of best products and services
empowered with advance technology and innovation to share best consumer
experience.
Adidas Sport Performance
Focus: Products
with advance technology and innovation
Group targeted: athletes
and sports persons with a desire to remain strong smart, cool and excellent in
their performance. It also targets customers who are inspired by fitness and
sports.
Focus: Products
that set trends including life style products.
Group targeted:
consumers willing to express their individuality.
Focus of Adidas
NEO: Stylish, fresh and young Products
related to sports, Fashion and Lifestyle
Group targeted:
Teenage consumers between 14 to 19 years.
The three Adidas Collaborations
Y-3, Porsche
Design, and Stella McCartney focus on extraordinary products aligned with most
updated technologies and top fashion designers.
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Criterion |
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Easy
and simple to memorise and recall. |
Three
stripes logo with Adidas tag is appealing helpful in easily recalling
products of Adidas. |
Useful
in recalling brand name and its products. |
Helpful
in recognising brand |
Makes
easy to recognise products of Adidas. |
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Strong,
positive and high quality |
Represents
sports challenges athletes face. |
Performance
based products as tools to face challenges |
Convey
mission of Adidas to become best sports brand in the world. |
Convey
association of brand with its customers. |
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Offer
verbal imagery and mission of brand. |
Three
stripes using black and white colour depicts simplicity and likability. |
Depicts
boldness and strength. |
‘Impossible
is nothing’ enhances motivation of customers specifically sportsperson. |
Energises
customers through its visual and verbal appeal. |
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Easily
transferable through sub brands inclusion. |
Smart
and excellent. |
Unlimited
additions in product ranges. |
Promotes
innovation and implementation of technology to adapt changes |
Very
good. |
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Difficult
Near to impossible. |
Modified
multiple times in the past to adapt changes. |
Responsive
brand in redefining itself. |
Modified
to meet new requirements. |
Redesigned
multiple times in past. |
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Fully
protected through acquisition of domain name |
Fully
protected through trademarks and copyright registration. |
Strong,
excellent and comprehensive. |
Protected
through copyrights. |
Can
be copied. |
|
Evaluation of Brand elements on Adidas website
Since
name Adidas has been derived from its founder, Adi Dassler a strong, versatile,
enthusiastic and top quality shoe maker, the brand also depicts these three
features accompanied with innovation and technology. The three striped with
black and white logo along with its website name is not only easy to remember
but also simple and catchy.
Brand
logo signifies challenges and products displayed on website are considered as
tools to overcome those challenges by athletes and fitness lovers.
Brand
likability through website is visible through increase in its E commerce sales
by 34 % in 2018. Also Logo of brand characterises boldness and strength to the
consumers’ thus increasing likability.
Website
can easily incorporate sub brands and new products as per the design and
resemblance of features into it, thus reflecting easy transferability through
technology and innovative products.
Website
URL may not be modified, however website is adaptable to changes to
environment. Adidas logo went through multiple modifications since its
inception and its mission supports adaptability.
Adidas
has copyrights and trademark rights for its URL, Logo and slogans & patent
rights for design of products and products. Hence company has protected its
brand elements in all respects.
4.
Explain the brand image of the company you have considered. Is there a gap
between your brand image and the brand identity which is portrayed on the
website? Explain your reasons.
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1.
As a product |
Product
Scope- to cater needs of athletes, sports persons and health & fitness
freak at competitive price. Product
attributes- innovative design to match customer expectation, long lasting,
customised, size fit for all, eco friendly raw material used, Quality-
Unmatched quality embedded with innovation and advance technology sports
products much ahead than its competitors. Users-
athletes, fitness and health conscious people of age group between 14 to 65. Uses-
fitness and sports apparels shoes and accessories to deliver high performance
in sports. Country
of origin and year of establishment- Herzogenaurach,
Germany, 1924. |
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Organisation
attributes- To deliver most innovative and best technology sports products to
offer best consumer experience with a motive to become best sports brand in
the world. Local
versus global- Multinational brand with presence in more than 160 countries
worldwide physically and all around the globe through its Ecommerce website
and distribution network. |
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Personality- 1.
Sincerity- Real, original, honest, genuine 2.
Excitement- Daring, trending, imaginative, independent, unique, adventurous 3.
Competence- Reliable, successful, technical, confident, and efficient 4.
Sophistication- Upper Class, smooth 5.
Ruggedness – tough, strong. Brand
Customer relationship - committed
to providing premium retail experiences to consumers with executions that connect,
engage and inspire them. Brand strives to build a strong image, trust and loyalty with
consumers through its brand strategy of ‘creating the new’. |
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Visual
imagery & metaphors – Providing strength to accept challenges and
overcome it. Brand
heritage – Long lasting heritage with high brand value in market. Brand is 95
years old. |
Brand positioning of Adidas on website:
Messages
transmitted:
Product-
Most innovative and best technology based sports shoes, apparels and
accessories to offer best consumer experience.
Price-
Competitive pricing for normal product launches and skimming pricing for unique
and technologically advanced product launches.
Place
– Shipment and delivery of products in all parts of the world including remote
areas to create trust and loyalty among customers.
Promotion/
Communication- Slogan of Adidas ‘Nothing is impossible’ rejoice consumers’
strength and empower them to overcome challenges and encourages them to become
effortless in what they do. It portrays itself as a creators’ sports brand
through its website Regular discounts and offers are made to customers on the
website to increase sales and web traffic.
Nike versus Adidas Brand comparative analysis
The
major competitor of Nike on E Commerce Platform is Nike. Both more or less
follow similar branding strategy to lure customers but Adidas has leveraged the
Internet and E Commerce marketing and sale more aggressively than Nike. Nike’s
Ecommerce strategy created a strong brand position of its products and leader
in this market contributing to its success in this market. However, Adidas has
revamped its branding strategy from being a minor insignificant player during
1998 to reach to second position in the industry. Thus, it can be said that
Adidas has really worked hard in strengthening its brand position in market
through its continuous effort of designing and developing innovative and highly
advanced products for its consumers to win their heart and maintain long
lasting relationship through enhancing customer experiences.
Brand image of Adidas as perceived by consumers
Adidas
through its website and E Commerce business has been successful in
understanding the customer’s needs and design and development of innovative and
technological products that suits their requirements. Adidas has been
continuously accelerating on graph of having strong brand equity among
customers in terms of an innovative, reliable, brave, tough, independent,
daring trending and unique brand delivering promising and long lasting sports
products to customers.
Gap between Brand image and brand identity:
Adidas
fails in portraying itself as a company whose pricing is competitive among
rivals. Local competitors can exert tough competition when it comes to target
customers who seek low pricing with similar features. It will become difficult
to target those customers who decide their buying decisions on the basis of
pricing of products. Hence company should also focus on manufacturing products
to cater needs of such customers in order to remain competitive in market.
Reference
Adidas
Group. (2019). Adidas Annual Report
2019. Retrieved from https://report.adidas-group.com/2019/en/group-management-report-our-company/corporate-strategy/sales-and-distribution-strategy.html
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Khan. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.academia.eduv /19958453/Brand_
elements_ of_Adidas_and_Nike
Adidas
Group (2019). Adidas Brand Strategy. Retrieved from https://report.adidas-group.com/2019/en/group-management-report-our-company/corporate-strategy/adidas-brand-strategy.html
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Wildfeuer (2018). Branding and
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