Adidas eyes Brazil 2014 as next social media battleground with Nike
Adidas is to challenge Nike’s dominance of Brazil ahead of next year’s World Cup with a barrage of social media activity.
The sportswear maker is developing activities and programs for its social newsroom teams that it says will make it “ever-present” around fans’ conversations in the build-up to and during the tournament. It has been producing Vine clips, tactical tweets and Facebook posts in response to key moments during football games over the last four months and will scale-up the approach next summer.
The move aims to give the brand more cultural relevance beyond Europe, particularly in Brazil where its tie-up with FIFA will clash with Nike’s commercial links to the national team and strong presence at club level. Additionally, the social media drive aims to help protect the brand from any ambush stunts from Nike around the World Cup.
Tom Ramsden, global brand marketing director for Adidas Football told Marketing Week the business is building on the learnings from its real-time marketing activity around last season’s Champions League to help it “achieve the great experiences of Adidas, on a huge scale”.
“The tactics around the UEFA Champions League final showcased our investment in timely and relevant content, we see this as a must for all major sporting occasions.”
It is the latest development in Adidas’ “Moments of Celebration and Acknowledgement” strategy to have social teams in place to react within minutes of key sporting events.
Wider sponsorship activity will look to build on the brand’s current strategy of pushing the technological innovations behind its products.