Reebok 2009 Annual Report Download - page 63

GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT – OUR GROUP Global Brands Strategy 59
Activation and validation via a relevant
set of promotion partnerships
The utilisation of promotion partners
such as federations, teams, leagues,
events and individuals is an important
part of endorsing brand positioning, and
an area to which the Group dedicates
significant resources each year. This not
only serves as a vehicle to showcase the
credentials of adidas and Reebok prod-
ucts in the performance arena, but also
to facilitate the extension of the adidas
and Reebok brands in the sports-inspired
lifestyle market. Both adidas and Reebok
follow a partnership strategy geared to
best reflect their respective positioning in
the market.
One of the guiding principles of
adidas is to equip all athletes to achieve
their “impossible”. As such, adidas brings
its passion for great products to the big-
gest stages in the world with sponsor-
ship agreements for the FIFA World
Cup™, the NBA, the European Rugby
Cup and the upcoming London 2012
Olympic Games. In addition, adidas has
an extensive roster of high-profile sports
teams such as AC Milan, Liverpool FC,
FC Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in
football, the New Zealand All Blacks in
rugby, American universities like UCLA
and Notre Dame, as well as high-profile
individuals such as FIFA World Player
of the Year Lionel Messi, football icon
David Beckham, basketball stars Dwight
Howard, Derrick Rose and Kevin Garnett,
marathon legend Haile Gebrselassie,
athletic stars Tyson Gay and Allyson
Felix and tennis stars Justine Henin,
Ana Ivanovic and Andy Murray.
To activate and validate its key concepts
of ReeTone, ReeGym and ReeZig, Reebok
is partnering with top women’s and men’s
sport athletes. In Women’s, Reebok is
partnering with some of the world’s top
women’s fitness instructors renowned for
their inspirational approach to fitness. In
Men’s Sport, some of the world’s most
recognisable athletes support Reebok,
including Peyton Manning, Thierry Henry
as well as Lewis Hamilton. In addition,
the brand holds exclusive, long-term
licensing agreements with the National
Football League and National Lacrosse
League in North America, giving Reebok
the exclusive rights to manufacture and
market both authentic and replica uni-
form jerseys and sideline apparel.
Extending brand reach and appeal
through strategic partnerships
As the boundary between the sporting
goods industry and the world of lifestyle
and fashion continues to blur, adidas and
Reebok have both successfully pursued
design and co-branding strategies with
complementary partners. For example,
adidas has partnered with Stella
McCartney and Porsche Design Sport,
both designing high-end functional per-
formance ranges. adidas Originals con-
tinues to engage in unique collaborations
with well-known brands such as Diesel,
Vespa and STAR WARS™, that ensure
adidas is kept relevant to the style-
conscious streetwear consumer.
In Women’s Fitness, Reebok and Cirque
du Soleil entered into a strategic partner-
ship, which has given rise to inspiring
new workout experiences and product
collections. In addition, as part of its
Affili’Art collections, Reebok partners
with artists to re-interpret the brand’s
most iconic footwear models. Examples
include collections inspired by the work
of artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rolland
Berry and John Maeda, as well as famous
make-up artist Feride Uslu. Taking this
a step further, in January 2010, Reebok
announced a global alliance with Giorgio
Armani S.p.A. to create a special collec-
tion of footwear and apparel combining
active style with sport and technology.
The global style credentials of the EA7
and Emporio Armani labels combined
with Reebok’s fitness and training
heritage and technologies fit together to
provide a new perspective and concept in
the global sports style marketplace.
Marketing and communication
leadership
To be competitive in the sporting goods
industry, brands must have a clear profile
towards their target consumer. To achieve
this, adidas and Reebok are focused on
creating inspirational and innovative
brand marketing campaigns and com-
munication techniques to build brand
equity and support the achievement of
the Group’s commercial goals.
A key tenet of our marketing and com-
munication strategy is to harness the
emotion of sport and the benefits of
a sporting lifestyle across all communi-
cation channels. Both adidas and Reebok
regularly bring new global marketing
concepts to life, which can be easily
leveraged to create simple and powerful
brand messages and support an array of
product offerings. For example, adidas
will use the “EVERY TEAM NEEDS …”
platform to transcend its entire football
offering ahead of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup™. Reebok will launch its new global
campaign which will use the motto
“Ree” as a guiding theme for the brand’s
communication with consumers. The
key message of the campaign is simple.
Reebok wants to “ReeDefine” sport and
style, bringing fun and joy back into con-
sumers’ lives.
In addition, Global Brands also
endeavours to ensure all of its brands are
at the forefront of new communication
techniques, particularly as information
flow becomes faster and faster. Through
investment in digital marketing and
technologies, both adidas and Reebok are
empowering and encouraging consumers
to interact in personal dialogues with
the brands. Whether through in-store or
online customisation platforms, digital
social networks or digital broadcast
mediums, these methods are providing a
new scope of consumer experiences in a
real-time and cost-effective way.