nike vs adidas

Both Nike and Adidas have very large and well-recognized social media presences. But Nike outperforms slightly because they are better at empathizing with their consumers and communicating their culture. 

To put it simply, Adidas needs to follow suit by being more consumer-oriented in their strategy.

Here is yet another Nike campaign, #riskeverything, which went viral very recently. It has gained over 61 million views in the past 3 weeks. Adidas have since released a video on Youtube promoting their Battle Pack boot, which has gained 716,000 in the past 12 hours.

In line with what we've seen in the past, Nike has put out content that is entertaining, fun and directed at its audience. Whereas, Adidas has chose to promote another product. 

So that was our immediate recommendation.

However, in the long-term, Adidas needs to refocus their social media strategy away from being very materialistic and product focused to being more human. They need a presence where fans can feel invested and personally tied to the brand. And they need campaigns that put the spotlight on the fans. 

If they can do this, Adidas will be able to really enhance their social media presence. 

Sports is emotional. Nike gets that. While Adidas' social media presence is very polished, maybe it's too polished. People want to feel something for the brands they like.

So this brings us to our recommendation. 

First, Adidas should learn from its mistake (note, 2012 Olympics) and really leverage its position as the official sponsor of the FIFA 2014 World Cup.

Nike has already started its #daretobebrasillian campaign. Whereas, Adidas only has campaigns promoting the official match ball, brazuca, and its new boot with #fastorfail.

Adidas must create a new campaign that tries to move its fanbase emotionally, rather than being product focussed. All social media platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter, should be used as a channel for fans to express their personal experiences with the game and brand. Of course, Adidas should also employ all traditional marketing mediums, like tv ads and athlete endorsements, to bring widespread awareness about the campaign.

Our idea is #takeithome. 

Adidas should challenge its audience to respond to the question: How will you take it home?

Nike's mission statement is "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. *If you have a body, you are an athlete."

This was the introductory video to Nike's find your greatness campaign. Although Adidas was the official sponsor of the Olympics (and paid a lot of money for it), with the help of this campaign and #makeitcount, Nike were the overall victors in the social media competition. Nearly one in ten (7.7 per cent) internet conversations about the Olympics were associated with Nike, compared to 0.49 per cent for Adidas, and 37% identified Nike as an Olympic sponsor, compared to 24% for real sponsor Adidas. They also gained more tweets, Facebook likes and YouTube views than their competitor.

We've seen Adidas' campaign for the London 2012 Olympics. Now let's take a look at what Nike did.

#findgreatness Nike launched their 'find your greatness' campaign to coincide with the London Olympics. Their campaign consisted of short, minute long videos which showcased 'everyday athletes' from different London-named locations around the world (e.g. London in Jamaica, Ohio, South Africa etc.). At the core of the campaign, the message is that one does not have to be a professional athlete to achieve greatness. Instead, every single person has the ability to push their limits, realise their goals and achieve greatness in their own personal way.

So did you recognise the video? It is of course football superstar Ronaldinho showing off some seriously impressive skills. His moves in this video may or may not be fake, but either way it is a prime example of Nike's social media prowess and it became one of the first viral videos to hit the internet.

In recent years, Nike’s marketing strategy has seen significant changes, with their spending on TV and print advertising down 40% and $800million dollars being spent on ‘nontraditional’ advertising in 2010. Their Global Digital Brand and Innovation Director Jesse Stollak has said that “Social networks are tools that help build and leverage our relationship with the consumer. These networks serve as a platform to reach our athletes. However, the goal hasn't changed since the beginning of Nike — we want to connect with athletes to inspire and enable them to be better.”

#fastorfail

Adidas' most current campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2014. Once again, Adidas wins by being the official sponsor. But what are they really doing to leverage their advantageous position?

The #fastorfail campaign is centered around a microsite, which hosts a shooter-style game in the perspective of footballer, Lionel Messi. The purpose of the game is to avoid defenders to reach the end. Players who defeat the game can be entered in a contest with the opportunity to win tickets to see a match this summer in Rio. A cool aspect about this game is that it is social media powered. The more hype on the web surrounding #fastorfail, the faster Messi gets in the game.

After playing the game a few times (for several hours), we decided that it is definitely fun and entertaining. However, it seems like Adidas is solely marketing its new football cleat, Adizero F50. 

#thereturn

What: A exclusive 6 part video story documenting Chicago Bull's Derrick Rose's return to the basketball court after a knee injury took him out of the game.

Why: To promote a new basketball shoe, the D Rose 3.

Success? Yes; 200% more brand chatter, 3x a "trending" topic. (more info here)

#takethestage

What: Cross platform social media campaign during the 2012 Olympics.

Why: To promote Adidas' position as the official sponsor of the Games and of Team GB.

Success? Not quite. Nike outscored Adidas with their campaign, in terms of creating social impact. (more info here)

Despite Adidas' seemingly clear advantage as the official sponsor, how did Nike have more influence over its fans? 

This is one of Adidas' most popular video uploads on YouTube. 

It has over 3 million views. That is an enormous amount of views. 

Adidas' social media presence is huge, with over 15 million likes on Facebook and 800k Twitter followers. And between you and me, we know everyone knows this brand. So why is Nike still beating them by that tiny bit?

The next step was to look at the companies individually. We wanted to know their social media strategy, the scale and scope of their presence, their content and their consumer profile.

First up, Adidas. 

Adidas was founded in Germany in 1949. Since then, its iconic three stripes logo has enjoyed wide recognition worldwide. Additionally, Adidas has had the privilege of being the official sponsor to many athletes and major sporting events, including this year's FIFA World Cup.

Their current social media strategy, revamped in 2012, is integrated into their overall marketing strategy and tries to be holistic and community-based. Adidas uses social media to give their fans access to the brand they wouldn't get anywhere else. Their social media campaigns include exclusive first-looks of new products to live chats with partnered athletes.

According to the Head of Digital Strategy, Lia Vakoutis, Adidas has 3 main social media goals:

To focus on quality of followers over quantity.

To be continuously be compelling to their audience with content.

To cater to different target segments through different platforms and specific accounts. 

Our analysis started with a simple side-by-side comparison of both companies' followings on the major online social networks: Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook.

Nike takes the win here, with clear leads in all platforms. 

Hey everyone! 

Karlo and I (Melissa) here!

A couple months ago, for a project for one of our courses at Manchester Business School, we were asked to pit two companies' social media strategy against each other.

We were assigned Nike and Adidas. We couldn't have been more thrilled. These two powerhouse sportswear retailers have an immense presence and following in cyberspace.