2017-12-16
281
Promotional activity is very expensive. Organisations want to see a return on investment (ROI) for the money they spend on a promotional campaign. Sponsorship of London 2012 was no exception. Every aspect of its promotional campaign, both online and offline, was continuously monitored and measured. This enabled adidas to demonstrate that becoming the Official Sportswear Partner of the London Games and the exclusive licensee of all branded (adidas + London 2012) and event branded (London 2012 only) apparel was cost effective.
Throughout the campaign adidas monitored all of its media coverage. This data was then used to establish whether the marketing objectives had been achieved. The table below demonstrates the significant return achieved through this campaign and how adidas successfully achieved its marketing objectives.
Table 10.2
Measuring a promotional campaign
| Marketing objective | Measurement |
| Ensure a clear association as Sportswear Partner of London 2012, Team GB and Paralympics GB | • adidas generated the highest number of articles amongst local sponsors (ranked 3rd behind McDonalds & Coca-Cola) • 44% of 16-24 year olds were aware of the sponsorship (adidas’ closest competitor achieved 16%) |
| Engage and excite the 14-19 year old audience in order to drive brand preference in the UK | • YouGov (a measure of public opinion) score increased from 4.2 to 16.5 during the Games • adidas ranked #1 by London 2012 Nielsen audience tracking for categories ‘inspiring’ and ‘empowering’ • adidas’ ‘Don't stop me now’ video was the most viewed video on www.bbc.co.uk during the Games • 8 million views of #takethestage content on YouTube with 2.5 million views from 14-24 year olds |
| Deliver a licensed product ROI (branded and event branded licensee rights) | • 2% market share growth • 100 million total licensed product sales in 2012 • More sales at adidas’ Oxford Street store in London in 1 week than any other adidas store ever |
| Become the most talked about sports brand in 2012 | • Increased Twitter followers by 25% • 32% share of sponsor traffic on Twitter • 128 million Twitter impressions respectively for #takethestage |
Conclusion
|
|
|
An organisation’s marketing mix is its own way to uniquely position the brand and drive sales. For adidas, this includes understanding what its consumers want and producing innovative products that fulfil these needs. Using innovative methods of sports marketing, on a scale never before seen in the industry, enabled adidas to target the youth audience in London whilst also having a global reach through social media and online promotion.
Sponsorship deals such as adidas’ heritage with the Olympic Games are very expensive. However, as this case study shows, through well planned marketing strategies with clearly defined objectives they can offer a way of creating deeper engagement with consumers. Partnering the brand with London 2012, Team GB and Paralympics GB engaged adidas’ target consumers and created huge amounts of support for Team GB before, during and after the Games.
Sources:
www.adidas.co.uk
www.businesscasestudies.co.uk
Discuss the questions:
1. Describe the elements that make up the marketing mix.
2. Explain the term sponsorship. Name a sponsorship deal that you think was effective. Explain your answer.
3. Analyse the importance of using both above-the-line and below-the-line promotion for an effective marketing campaign. Evaluate the effectiveness of adidas’ use of social media in its ‘Take the Stage’ campaign.
