I was asked this morning to comment on adidas, Nike and Puma's World Cup strategies. Here is my (correct/incorrect) interpretation:
I think what we have with these three brands are very interesting and clearly different approached to marketing their brands. In the case of adidas, it has clearly positioned itself in the mainstream in that they bid for the official rights to become an event partner and they deliberately seek to acquire the highest profile, most prestigious properties (such as the German and Spanish national teams). That the company is able to do this reflects their financial power, but is also a reflection of its history and its development as a company/brand in conjunction with football. The consequence of this in terms of marketing is that adidas tends to engage in high value communications campaigns that are globally targetted, although they tend not to be especially innovative. Rather, innovation tends to come in terms of product development and the continued acquisition of properties such as players and teams. Nike in many ways is the complete opposite of adidas; the brand has always had a non-conformist edge to it and so the company has made a deliberate strategic decision not to bid for official event partnerships. Hence, Nike is not an official partner at e.g. the World Cup or the Olympic Games. Instead, the company actively engages in activities that some might label as being deliberate ambush marketing. Alongside this, we have seen Nike increasingly using social media as the basis for engaging in such activities, and also what some might call viral and/or gureilla marketing around its sport sponsorship programmes. Indeed, one is inclined to say that Nike revels in its role as 'the outsider'. Clearly, two decades ago, Nike had no presence in the lucrative world of football and so targetted resources at building up partnerships with some of the higest profile national teams (e.g. Brazil) and players in the world (e.g. Ronaldo). But as I have explained, the company stopped short of bidding for official event partnerships. As for innovation, Nike is not only characterised by its product innovations, but also in the way it markets itself - for instance, the Joga Bonita campaign it used during Germany 2006. Puma is an interesting further case; much stronger as a brand and as a company than it was 10 years ago, but still not in the position to successfully go head-to-head in a battle with Nike and adidas. As a result, the company has adopted an interesting continentally-based strategy, with Africa as its focus. Countries such as Cameroon and Ivory Coast will both be equipped by Puma, and there are numerous other teams across the continent e.g. Senegal, that are equipped by Puma. In one sense, Puma's African strategy is tacit acknowledgement that it can't compete with Nike and adidas. In another sense, it is a very clever and very shrewd move because it provides a very strong CSR backdrop to the brand (in terms of promoting African football), it provides a strong and clear presence in several markets where there is a strong predisposition towards football, and it also raises awareness of the brand in markets where there is clearly some growth potential e.g. Egypt. As regards Italy, my sense is that this simply retains a foothold in the European market for Puma. Nike and adidas are far more powerful, Puma simply can't compete e.g. Puma recently lost the Polish national team contract to Nike. In terms of returns, Puma I think has a great opportunity to enhance its CSR credentials, as well as securing brand awareness and creating affinity in countries across Africa and elsewhere. I think Nike will enhance it's credentials as the brand for non-conformists, while taking marketing through social media to new heights. While adidas will continue to play the role of the 'orthodoxy' i.e. mainstream, mass market. In the case of all three organisations though, given the cost of investing in football rights deals (allied to the additional costs of activiating their deals), the bottom line will be: turning over units i.e. boots, training shoes, shirts, shorts etc...this is a once in four year selling showcase for everything that the three companies do well.
