What Strategic Adjustment Will Adidas Make After Signing NBA Rookie?

With the launch of the new NBA season,

The basketball department is also exploring the latest design and new spokesmen.

Come up.

Although it still occupies more than 90% of basketball business, Adidas is also pursuing pformation strategy, hoping to get more achievements in the field of occupation, which is ultimately reflected in the sales promotion in the retail sector.

Responsible for Adidas athletes cooperation business is basketball sports marketing director Michael Ledinig (Michael Ladinig).

According to the latest spirit of Adidas, he helped the brand to discover and sign the NBA spokesperson, and formulated a cooperation strategy with the high school and National University Sports Association (NCAA).

Adidas is undergoing major reform in the field of basketball, football and baseball.

It began to shift its attention from the role of the official sponsor and clothing supplier of the league, focusing on signing more players as brand spokesmen.

A series of actions from ADI this summer can be seen.

Adidas signed 6 of the 10 NBA draft stars at the first time, and for the first time, they paid a lot of money on the rookie players.

Although no Ben Simmons and Buddy Hield were signed, ADI snatched several of the most promising new stars, including Kris Dunn, Brandon Ingram and Jaylen Brown.

"My goal is to play basketball consumers," Laidi Nigel said. "For a long time, we have been talking with basketball fans.

We do not sell shirts to fans who do not play basketball.

Laidi Nigel worked as a marketing executive in red bull for a long time and joined Adidas in early 2016.

He is striving to expand Adidas's achievements in NBA spokesmen.

Recently, Nick Debora Nick DePaula, a famous sneaker website, interviewed Laidi Nigel on the issue. The specific content is as follows (with deletion): Nice: Kicks:

Deborah: Adidas has signed 12 NBA rookies, of which 6 come from the top 10.

This time, the number of rookies is more than that of the past. Is it because the draft is stronger, or is it because of the strategic adjustment of the company?

Laidi Nigel: I think half the reasons.

In the draft, a couple of new people will become tomorrow's stars.

I know that the strength of the rookie is a key factor.

Of course, many people will focus on the top players.

However, I think that is also short-sighted.

We will look at the problem in a comprehensive way. Most of the rookie will win the game and have a very direct impact on the team.

Obviously, after Brandon Ingram enters the Lakers, it will take a while for them to grow up.

This season, the Lakers can not succeed at once, but need a process of development.

Kris Dunn is probably able to play and produce a direct effect.

The same is true of Jaylen Brown.

What we choose reflects diversity.

I think, with Adidas basketball entering a new stage, our advantage will be more obvious.

Our current focus shifted from fans equipment and licensed merchandise to dialogue with players.

Deborah: what are the qualities that match the Adidas brand?

Laidi Nigel: the people we choose are very keen to control the ball.

They are not just for shooting, but also hope to create opportunities for their teammates by passing the ball.

The trait we most like is the desire of the players to win.

Deborah: from the stadium to the players, what kind of information does Adidas convey to attract the attention of consumers?

Laidi Nigel: for us, it mainly depends on their reaction to the product.

If they have no sense of products, they can not be linked.

If they are not sure which shoe they like, they don't know which shoes they like best, they never think of themselves wearing shoes. That's the wrong signal.

To tell the truth, we can't see that either.

The product team will put some good products together.

We will also provide the opportunity to take the lead, such as harden signature shoes and signature shoes such as Dame Lillard, Derrick Rose and so on.

They like to see products very much before they can see Crazy Light and Crazy Explosive series.

This is a verification process.

Last spring, before the end of the season, I was privileged to show the Explosive of the development stage to several old customers.

When we took out Crazy Explosive from the bag, the reaction was very intense.

People will stop talking and say, "yes, that's it! These shoes are too hot. I want to wear them."

This really validates the work results of the product staff, many of which are also from the rookie series.

In fact, some people do not like our products, which is not our key customers.

Debora: as far as I know, many players like the new product line very much and focus on the direction of product development.

In addition, the strengthening of the original series and off court sponsorship are another factor that resonates with the players.

How much can the player's lifestyle affect?

Laidi Nigel: I want to mention the time when the harden clothing line was just launched.

People see that this shoe is endorsing for them.

They regard it as their future on the court and the pition clothing outside the stadium.

They regard it as a complete series, not just shoes, but also a series of basketball shorts, T-shirts and warm-up suits.

Let consumers see the entire production line, reproduce its progress and advance thinking.

Deborah: sometimes, it's still more challenging to sign lots of endorsers and get satisfactory results.

At the same time, you need to activate so many players. Do you have any plans? Do you want them to participate in an activity at the same time, or do you need to launch specific programs for everyone?

Laidi Nigel: every one of them will get special support.

Before they are made into national stars or even international stars, they are first recognized by local fans.

This is very important for brands like Adidas or for any other brand.

These steps can not be crossed.

Therefore, what we need to do first is to enable them to be recognized by local fans through activating activities.

We have established cooperation with every NBA team to help us train spokesmen together.

This is not only about progress on the pitch, but also on the development of marketing and community relations.

They will do promotional activities in their respective markets.

For the shoes they like to wear, we will also launch an overall marketing campaign.

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Deborah: in the past ten years, we have waited patiently for players to sign their shoes on the market.

Obviously, there are Derrick and Dame Series in the market, and James series will soon be available.

So, what obstacles do NBA players need to overcome when they want to launch their own signature shoes?

Laidi Nigel: good question! I think today, every player has to go through the same process of signing his sneakers.

This is a question that needs to be fully controlled.

Obviously, the usual track performance, rookie challenge performance, whether they can become the best rookie of the year, whether they can participate in the all star game, and whether they can get enough votes is a career path that can not be crossed.

In addition, there are intangible assets that I would like to see through assessment, such as the level of engagement of players, whether he would like to spend extra time on training and community, etc.

You know, as a brand, Adidas is concerned more than just a product line.

If players can do all of this, their chances of signing products will be greatly improved.

Deborah: very good. It makes sense.

From now on, players who sign the sneakers show that they have all these qualities.

Laidi Nigel: after that, I am very clear about myself.

It can be said that there are always a pair of signature shoes waiting to be launched.

Deborah: from a brand perspective, in 2006, Adidas signed a 11 year agreement worth $400 million with NBA.

After the end of next season, Adidas will no longer be the official sponsor of NBA.

I made a rough calculation of the investment in that agreement, and you pay about 34 million dollars a year.

Do you plan to invest in basketball again? If so, what are your plans for the allocation of NBA assets and grassroots basketball?

Laidi Nigel: there are two aspects.

From a business perspective, investment depends on direct return.

Obviously, sales and profits of licensed products guarantee investment.

We will not restructure all resources, but there will be some reasonable fine-tuning.