This article explores how an organization can use its history to define and deliver its corporate brand strategy. We specifically look at Adidas, which, having rejected its history at one stage, ...rediscovered and used the philosophy and ideas of its founder to provide direction for the future, legitimate strategic choices, and enrich the corporate brand. Through analysis of material evidence and interviews with senior and long-serving employees, we conceptualize the way Adidas developed a systematic approach to the use of history in its corporate brand strategy by creating the means to uncover, remember, curate, and then embed it. Combining the lessons of the Adidas case with evidence from other cases in which history was used to refocus and revitalize corporate brands, we deliver key recommendations for managers.
Purpose: This research aimed to test the influential factors that lead to the popularity of sportswear brands like Adidas AG in consumers from the perspective of physical education ...students.Methodology: The methodology utilized in this research was descriptive and based on a survey. The data collection tools used for brand popularity took from Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) questionnaires. The statistical population of the study included 457 students of physical education at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. According to the Cochran formula, 210 samples were chosen by a simple random sampling method. The K-S test, T-test, and SEM were used for the confirmatory factor of data analysis.Findings: The results revealed a significant positive correlation of factors affecting brand popularity. The affection to a brand had a significant impact, while the attitude strength component had the most negligible influential effect on the popularity of a brand. Thus, sportswear apparel manufacturers may plan and apply these components to increase the popularity of their brand. The sportswear industry could improve along with brands increasing their market share in competitive markets through the affection of consumers and implementing other components of brand popularity.Originality: For the first time, the popularity of a reputable sports brand in the world has been investigated in Iran.
The term knuckleball in sporting jargon is used to describe a ball that has been launched with minimal spin, resulting in a trajectory that is erratic and unpredictable. This phenomenon was first ...observed in baseball (where the term originated) and has since been observed in other sports. While knuckleball has long fascinated the scientific community, the bulk of research has primarily focused on knuckleball as it occurs in baseball. Following the changes in the design of the soccer ball after the 2006 World Cup, knuckleball and ball aerodynamics were exploited by soccer players. This research examined the properties of a knuckleball in the sport of soccer. We designed and evaluated a system that could reproduce the knuckleball effect on soccer balls based on previous theories and characteristics outlined in our literature review. Our system is comprised of the Adidas miCoach Smart Ball, a companion smart phone app for data collection, a ball-launching machine with programmable functions, and a video-based tracking system and Tracker motion analysis software. The results from the testing showed that our system was successfully able to produce knuckleball behaviour on the football in a highly consistent manner. This verified the dynamic models of knuckleball that we outline. While a small portion of the data showed some lateral deviations (zig-zag trajectory), this erratic and unpredictable trajectory was much smaller in magnitude when compared to examples seen in professional games. The sensor data from the miCoach app and trajectory data from the Tracker motion analysis software, showed that the knuckleballs were consistently reproduced in-line with theoretical dynamics.
The research aimed to analyze how Adidas uses Twitter to convey messages about racism and solidarity in its tweets. Methodologically, the research applied a descriptive qualitative study on the ...representation of racism in Adidas’s tweets involving (1) what are the themes of discourses that represent racism and solidarity in Adidas’s tweets? (2) What is the representation of racism and solidarity in Adidas’s tweets? And (3) What are the meanings of Adidas’s tweets? Twelve tweets from Adidas were collected, coded, analyzed, and described using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It was an effective method for deconstructing the identity of Twitter users to make arguments on the themes exposed during coding. The research findings reveal that the declarative statement and humanitarian as the most themes in Adidas’s tweets are the ones that give straightforward and positive messages to Twitter users and followers. The findings also indicate firm and meaningful tweets for Adidas to speak out against racism and spread solidarity through Twitter. However, those tweets also give the messages about their commitment to always supporting the black community, their black employees, the Asian community, and the Black Lives Matter event to embody valuable and eternal change through solidarity, unity, and commitment against racism.
This study addresses the knowledge and research gaps regarding the “other customer” concept within the consumer–brand identification paradigm, drawing on branding and consumer behavior theories. We ...consider the “other customer” as the other customers of a brand from the perspective of an individual (focal customer) using or simply assessing the brand. We take into account both how the focal customer is influenced by other customers and how the focal customer perceives those other customers. While the concept is traditionally associated with the service industries, we expand its relevance to product brands. We use Social Identity Theory, Social Comparison Theory, and Other Customer Perception to identify how Gen Z focal consumers construct the image of other consumers of international brands at national level. A mixed-method approach was developed, bringing together MMCA (multimodal content analysis), perceptual mapping regarding brand image, and other customer perceived attributes, as well as a survey addressing (a) focal customer–other customer–brand identification perceived similarity and (b) perceived influence of sustainability on purchase behavior. MMCA was performed on a corpus of 236 other customer profiles of Nike and Adidas, consisting of a visual component and a textual description. The profiles were developed by a convenience sample of 147 Romanian Gen Z young adults. The results show that: (a) The national specificity and history of the brand can lead to diverging, local other customer profiles that might be accepted or rejected based on the desirability and similarity perceived by the focal customer; (b) The other customer is used as a form of self-evaluation carried out by the focal customer (Gen Z consistently evaluates downward some of the other customers as a way to curate self-esteem and avoid identification with profiles they consider undesirable or unsuitable for their own self-image); and (3) The connection perceivable at international level between brand sustainability as a purchase pre-condition and Gen Z customers is not universal and should be re-evaluated based on local realities. At theoretical level, this study contributes to the advancement of the “other customer” concept; at a practical level, it advocates for the inclusion of an “other customer communication strategy” into the marketing communication mix.
SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has disrupted university education and turned it into distance learning for at least one semester in many countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). However, there ...was an issue with university students' cognitive load at this critical time, because education totally stopped for about a month and then resumed remotely. This research draws on the cognitive load theory, particularly the extraneous load, to develop an instructional design model called ADIDAS. The model includes six stages, namely: analyse (A), design (D), improve (I), do (D), Assess (A), and Share (S). Thirty-four experts in instructional technology models have reviewed the ADIDAS model in Arab university contexts, producing a consensus about its suitability for use in distance learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the consensus of the experts, the model was applied to a sample of 527 students at King Faisal University, KSA. The results confirmed significant statistical differences with a very large effect size in relation to the attitude towards synchronous digital learning (SDL) and cognitive load pre and post ADIDAS. Students had a positive attitude towards SDL and a low cognitive load during the educational process pre adoption of the ADIDAS model, compared to post ADIDAS. The current research results have numerous implications for post the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in Arab countries and similar contexts.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly hold firms responsible for harm caused in their supply chains. In this paper, we explore how firms and NGOs talk about cosmopolitan claims regarding ...supply chain responsibility (SCR). We investigate the language used by Apple and a group of Chinese NGOs as well as Adidas and the international NGO Greenpeace about the firms' environmental responsibilities in their supply chains. We apply electronic text analytic methods to firm and NGO reports totaling over 155,000 words. We identify different conceptualizations of cosmopolitanism in this discourse: a legalistic approach to cosmopolitanism for Apple and a group of Chinese NGOs and a moralistic approach for Adidas and Greenpeace. We argue that these differences connect to the roles that the firms are expected and perhaps willing to take in SCR: legalistic discourse connects to a governmental function of rule development and enforcement; in contrast, moralistic discourse connects to a citizenship function that focuses on doing good to the global community. We discuss implications for companies' non-market strategies and future research.
https://doi.org/10.33732/ixc/11/01Pesode
La presente investigación pretende dilucidar cuál es el peso que ostentan las grandes marcas de ropa deportiva en cuanto a patrocinios dentro del futbol ...profesional europeo de élite. Se determinará además si Adidas y Nike tienen un protagonismo parejo en cuanto a su capacidad de activación de patrocinios dentro de este sector, clave en su batalla global por ser líderes del mercado en el que compiten. Para obtener información relevante al respecto se pone en marcha una primera etapa destina a construir un marco teórico a través del uso de la revisión bibliográfica y documental. La segunda etapa desarrolla una investigación ‘ad hoc’ que utiliza el análisis de contenido para registrar a los principales agentes del sector del futbol europeo de élite, y cuáles son sus patrocinadores oficiales de ropa deportiva. Los resultados obtenidos indican que Adidas y Nike dominan claramente la activación de este tipo de patrocinios. Nike es la marca hegemónica sobre la activación de patrocinios individuales de futbolistas, mientras que en los patrocinios colectivos de clubes y federaciones destaca discretamente Adidas. Se puede concluir que no existe un peso exactamente equilibrado entre los logros de activación de patrocinios conseguidos por ambas marcas.
This paper examines within the theoretical framework of intertextuality the mobilization of glocalization as an international marketing strategy in Nike’s and Adidas’s 2008 advertising campaigns in ...China. Intertextuality is seen as a form of mediation through which the glocalization strategy conducted within the domain of global marking is taken up in the domain of advertising communication. The paper also assumes the interrelations of intertextual performance to value orientations and group affiliations. By analyzing intertextuality in relation to affinity groups, it aims to resolve to some extent the conundrum of Nike’s more successful than Adidas in the sportswear market of China in a social-semiotic perspective. Two print ads constituting a representative example of the corpus were selected for a qualitative analysis. The comparative analysis of intertextuality reveals the contrasting methods of glocalization applied by Nike and Adidas in their 2008 advertising campaigns, thus offering an explanation for Nike’s triumph in competition with Adidas in China.
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