April has seen the launch of the latest Adidas campaign to tie in with the countdown to London 2012. The campaign, which has the tagline "Take the stage", is one of the most unique for a sports brand in that it is pursuing the idea of User Generated Content (UGC) as a key element of the campaign. Take the stage is using major stars from the sports and entertainment fields to encourage Adidas followers to embrace the brand.Featuring Team GB athletes Victoria Pendleton, Louis Smith and Tom Daley alongside entertainment stars such Wretch 32, Bashy, Example and comedian Keith Lemon, the narrative of the adverts tells the story of how you can go from the top deck of the bus to the top of the charts overnight.The brand is targeting user interaction across the brands diversified areas of Sport, Street and Style. Each one of brands distinct elements is represented by different sporting stars such as David Beckham and Derrick Rose while the UK music scene is represented by Wretch 32.
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| Keith Lemon and Victoria Pendleton |
In 2011 the brand launched an initiative called Adistars which was designed to encourage sports participation and reward 13-19 year olds who get involved with a myriad of prizes such as personalised messages from adidas ambassadors and opportunities to attend sporting events and meet with the likes of David Beckham. The rewards were based on the completion or mastering of specific tasks around the area of fitness such as speed, skill, stamina, strength and suppleness. Those taking part had access to the Adistar website which had video editing tools where participants could create films of their challenges to share with friends on the website as well as to their wider community on Facebook.
Adistars was an early version of the brands attempts at UGC which they are continuing with their "Take the stage" promotion. UGC is one of the key evolution's associated with the rise of the internet and social media. The advent of user-generated content marked a shift among media organizations from creating online content to providing facilities for amateurs to publish their own content. User generated content is a two-way process in contrast to the one-way which existed prior to the growth of the internet with an ever-growing number of participatory users are taking advantage of the interactive opportunities, especially on the Internet to create independent content. UGC has enabled the growth of Facebook,Twitter and Youtube with various brands using these emerging marketing tools to gain a foothold with their fan base.
Adidas is one of the most successful brands using social media at present. On Facebook it presently holds the number one sports brand with facebook.com/adidasoriginals currently having just under 14 million fans and over 200,000 people talking about the brand on a regular basis. It has a 0.1% daily fan growth compared to the average fan growth of 0.08%. The monthly average fan growth is just below average at 2.45% compared to most brands average growth of 2.5% growth. The most recent peaks in fans talking about the brand occurred in conjunction with the launch of the "Take the stage" advertising campaign. Their official Twitter page, @adidasoriginal, has been active for over 3 years and has just over 200,000 followers which is slightly behind the other leading sports brand on this social channel. On a daily basis it gains nearly twice as many followers, 0.24%, than the average brand, 0.14%, with its monthly growth, 9.87%, well ahead of the monthly average, 4.2%, for other brands on Twitter. The brand's Youtube channel is slightly behind the averages in certain areas in comparison to other brands. Its weekly viewership growth, 1.67%, is below the average, 2.23%, for other brands while its monthly viewing average, 1.67%, is also behind the monthly average, 2.27%, for brands. One area where it does out perform ahead of others is in the number of views of uploaded videos at just over 12.6 million views of videos on their channels.
Their most recent campaign, "Take the stage", is encouraging fans to upload content onto its main webpage with a view to winning the chance to meet sports stars such as Derrick Rose and David Beckham. Collaborations with sports figures have long been a method of effectively influencing audiences on what’s cool and what’s not. Sports collaborations between an athlete or a sports team with a brand or company, like other channels, have adapted and incorporated the digital aspects of the ever changing marketing landscape to remain effective.
To win a chance to meet MVP and star of the Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, and play ball with him in Chicago fans.
David Beckham is giving competitors the chance to come on a photo shoot with him where they will meet David and have the chance to photograph him and work with him in the studio.
Wretch 32 is giving competitors a chance to open for him on Tour later this year.
The winner of the competition will get a chance to open for him at one of his gigs and also meet the man himself. To enter any of the competitions competitors need to upload a video or photograph to the Adidas main site and ensure that their video is in the top 10 most liked at the end of the competition. From there, Adidas, Beckham, Rose and Wretch 32 choose the competition winner. The benefit of having a cross platform competition like this ensures that the brand is not isolating itself from any particular fan base and it also showcases the brands many uses.
The potential of social media and sports brands is still being exploited. "Take the stage" is one of many user generated competitions that different brands have chosen to pursue in recent years. UGC competitions enabled brands to produce content that will appeals to both users and potential users of their products or services. The tie in potential that London 2012 offers sports brands such as Adidas and Nike is very unique in that the event is being sold on the idea of creating a legacy that will exist for decades to come. As "take the stage" implies this event is offering people and brands the opportunity to leave their mark on the public's consciousness in the lead up to the biggest sporting event of 2012.
Their most recent campaign, "Take the stage", is encouraging fans to upload content onto its main webpage with a view to winning the chance to meet sports stars such as Derrick Rose and David Beckham. Collaborations with sports figures have long been a method of effectively influencing audiences on what’s cool and what’s not. Sports collaborations between an athlete or a sports team with a brand or company, like other channels, have adapted and incorporated the digital aspects of the ever changing marketing landscape to remain effective.
To win a chance to meet MVP and star of the Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, and play ball with him in Chicago fans.
David Beckham is giving competitors the chance to come on a photo shoot with him where they will meet David and have the chance to photograph him and work with him in the studio.
Wretch 32 is giving competitors a chance to open for him on Tour later this year.
The winner of the competition will get a chance to open for him at one of his gigs and also meet the man himself. To enter any of the competitions competitors need to upload a video or photograph to the Adidas main site and ensure that their video is in the top 10 most liked at the end of the competition. From there, Adidas, Beckham, Rose and Wretch 32 choose the competition winner. The benefit of having a cross platform competition like this ensures that the brand is not isolating itself from any particular fan base and it also showcases the brands many uses.
The potential of social media and sports brands is still being exploited. "Take the stage" is one of many user generated competitions that different brands have chosen to pursue in recent years. UGC competitions enabled brands to produce content that will appeals to both users and potential users of their products or services. The tie in potential that London 2012 offers sports brands such as Adidas and Nike is very unique in that the event is being sold on the idea of creating a legacy that will exist for decades to come. As "take the stage" implies this event is offering people and brands the opportunity to leave their mark on the public's consciousness in the lead up to the biggest sporting event of 2012.
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