This document presents the advertisement campaigns of Reebok and Adidas. Perhaps the most important reason for choosing these brands is that both companies target the same segment of the sportswear market; they aim to sell their products to young, urban and modern followers of fashion and not necessarily avid sportspeople, although Adidas is far more sports-oriented than Reebok. Another reason for my choice is that both campaigns are the biggest campaigns launched by the groups in the last decade. I found both advertisements to be particularly inspiring and persuasive in their own ways. The recent acquisition of Reebok by Adidas irrelevant to this study as the companies is kept separate and continues to pursue entirely different marketing strategies. I would like to introduce the two advertisements that I have chosen. The first is the "Impossible is Nothing" advertising campaign by Adidas and the second is that of Reebok, the "I am what I am" campaign. I would like to point out that, despite the fact that the Reebok advertisement was extracted from a magazine for men and features only male athletes, both campaigns have their respective male and female sections and neither attempts to target males or females in particular; they are indiscriminate of sex as they simply seek to portray the brand image in a new, proud and aggressive light. Along with Nike and Puma, Adidas and Reebok form the Big 4 of urban sports and street wear.
[...] Adidas claims that a benefit of the brand's products is that they help the consumer compete more effectively; they almost serve to make him a better sportsman, whereas Reebok claims that a product benefit is individuality. Both companies use an Umbrella Positioning strategy[15] to create an overall brand image around which various products are featured separately as they both have such varied product lines. Similarly, with such huge amounts invested into their campaigns by both companies, both Adidas and Reebok hope to a certain extend that their consumers will perceive the quality of the brand based upon the extrinsic cue[16] of advertising. [...]
[...] Reebok products promote individuality and authenticity and the company has a much less aggressive image than that of it competition. I believe the am what I campaign to be representative of this brand image. The campaign projects different images than that of Adidas whilst being just as inspirational. am what I also features legendary figures, but unlike Adidas the stars are not unique to the sports industry. In the campaign, rapper 50 cent depicts himself as the ‘good guy'. Nelly, another hip-hop artist, calls himself determined, aggressive and grounded, whilst Miri Ben Ari, the “hip-hop violinist” says she is disciplined. [...]
[...] Adidas also benefits from the group's Retail Store Image[17] in a way in which Reebok cannot compete.[18] Adidas' stores maximise the perceived quality of the brand in that their design is minimalistically hi-tech and that we note an abundance of personnel. Adidas stores reinforce the image of the brand as the haute couture of sportswear. Learning Both advertising agencies appear to be interested in how their consumers learn about the products and their attributes as they incorporated learning into their marketing strategies. [...]
[...] Analyse and assess the positioning strategy of both brands with reference to segmentation and the assumed target market Both Adidas and Reebok recognize the need to segment the market in order to best respond to the needs of certain groups. They understand that targeting certain groups will serve to maximise their profit as the marketplace is so diverse that neither could successfully satisfy the consumer society as a whole. Both corporations, therefore, have segmented the market into smaller groups of customers with similar needs and desires and have developed different products aimed at different segments. [...]
[...] So it can be said that both Adidas and Reebok offer their segmented markets the combined benefits of functional sportswear and fashionability, but with different areas of emphasis. Segmentation research is also useful to identify the most appropriate media form in which to advertise[29]. Reebok's campaign can be found in magazines such as FHM, GQ and Cosmopolitan; all have a young to mid-aged reader base. The readers are interested in fashion and technology. Adidas, on the other hand, advertised in more sports-oriented magazines such as ESPN, SportsFan and Tennis Match (as well as the GQ-like magazine) to target the sportsperson in particular. [...]
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