The Adidas group have a mission to make their brand the global leader in the sporting goods industry. They want to create as much value for their stakeholders as possible (Adidas-group.com, 2014).
Adidas focus on three channels- Wholesale, Retail and E-commerce. In terms of e-commerce specific to this analysis, Adidas say, one of their strategic priorities is to ‘Create one consumer destination by integrating brand, shop and customisation sites enabling improved user experiences’ (Adidas-group.com, 2014). Evidently, integration and innovation is focal for this compelling brand whilst staying a step ahead in terms of competition.
‘The target consumers range from sports participants at the highest level to those inspired by sport or who simply love sport. While adidas has a pivotal strength with the 20- to 29-year-olds, a clear focus is on strengthening its resonance with next-generation athletes, the 14- to 19-year-olds, in particular the high school athlete’ (Adidas-group.com, 2014). The website currently features three prominent sporting figures Ana Ivanovic, Marcelo and Messi, all aged twenty-seven falling perfectly under their target age group. Athletics seem to be the most signifying focus with the opening caption saying ‘any sport, anytime, anywhere’ highlighting their global position as an international brand. When scrolling further down the website, celebrity collaborations and products are introduced; the most recent project features a collection with the international musician Pharell Williams. Two main target markets are clearly defined here: Those who want high quality and advanced fitness products to satisfy their sporty lifestyle, and those who are style-conscious. In accordance with table one, sourced by Alexa.com, more males visit the UK site which may suggest that there is a larger amount of male athletes within the country, or taking into account a simpler perspective, the male may just be the more dominant gender when purchasing sportswear. This statistic is interesting, as the USA site portrays the opposite with females using the website more as displayed in table two.
In comparison, the brands Instagram page, unlike the Adidas website, is its own company, owned by Facebook so there is more of a distinct and limited demographic. ‘Over 90% of the 150 million people on Instagram are under the age of 35’ (Smith, 2014), perfect for Adidas’ chosen target market, as the brands age range falls under this bracket. Table three shows that the general Instagram audience browse whilst at school, also satisfying their second motive to reach to those between 14-19 year olds.
Table one
Table two
