Reebok 2009 Annual Report Download - page 69

GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT – OUR GROUP adidas Strategy 65
Basketball: increasing global footprint
adidas is committed to strengthening its
position in basketball by expanding its
footprint in the critical North American
market and capitalising on the growing
popularity of the sport in the emerging
markets. To achieve this, adidas strives to
build brand equity by leveraging its status
as the official NBA outfitter, capitalising
on relationships with some of the most
promising future stars of the NBA, as
well as reinforcing its position as a per-
formance brand.
In 2009, adidas Basketball took
further steps in these areas. For
example, the brand strengthened its
highly valued NBA partnership by becom-
ing the official compression brand of the
NBA. This exclusivity will serve to garner
further global exposure for adidas in the
very competitive compression apparel
market. In addition, adidas also expanded
its on-court NBA partnership rights to
new territories that now include Europe,
Africa and the Middle East. With the
league’s increasing visibility and growing
popularity outside of North America, this
is a critical vehicle to drive the adidas
business forward in emerging basketball
markets.
To leverage these partnerships to
their full potential, adidas continues
to refine and expand its brand marketing
initiatives. Celebrating basketball as a
brotherhood remains the key theme in its
communication for the sport.
In addition, Basketball is also exploiting
the latest in digital media technologies,
which is taking product messaging and
consumer experience to new levels.
For example during the adidas Double-
Double Tour to China, a market where
basketball has overtaken football as
the most popular sport, star player
Dwight Howard posted personally shot
videos, delivered SMS text messages and
photos all from his own mobile phone,
and the content was aggregated live at
www.adidas.com/cn and syndicated out
to the most popular social spaces across
China. This allowed his millions of fans
the chance to experience this event at a
level never seen before.
Through expanded global rights
from the brand’s NBA partnership, the
star power of players such as Dwight
Howard and Derrick Rose, adidas is
well positioned to grow its share of the
basketball market worldwide.
Celebrating basketball as a brotherhood has been widely
successful for adidas. adidas Basketball continues on this theme
for the 2009/2010 NBA season. The campaign “It’s On Me For My
Brotherhood” brings together NBA stars such as Kevin Garnett,
Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose. It focuses on the Team
Signature collection and TECHFIT™ compression apparel, which
made its debut this season as the official compression apparel of
the NBA. With a focus on digital media, the campaign is brought to
life by a TV spot, print and retail advertisements.
It’s On Me For My Brotherhood. C
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