Adidas Market Segmentation,

Targeting and Positioning

INTRODUCTION
Adidas is a multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Germany that
designs and manufactures shoes, clothings and accessories (Wikipedia Contributors,
2019). Adidas is well liked by many as they sell a different range of items such as men’s
and women’s clothings, shoes and accessories. The benefits and services of Adidas are
that they are putting in continuous efforts to strengthen the brand to maintain in a
competitive market by improving the quality, looks and designs in order to exceed
customer’s expectations. Adidas is also a global organisation that focuses on being
creative to attract more customers to achieve an outstanding sales target. (“Adidas
Mission Statement | eNotes,” 2014).

The purpose of this report is to educate you about how Adidas segment, target and
position their market and its progressions with their new and improved products with
different targeted consumers.

MARKET SEGMENTATION
Market segmentation divides a market into distinct groups of buyers based on
demographic, geographic, psychographic or behavioural characteristics. Through my
secondary research, I have found out that Adidas segments their market into different
groups due to different customers’ preferences and likings. They might need a separate
product or marketing mix of benefits or value from the products they purchase. In
addition, it also provides a clearer identification of market opportunities and particularly
analysis of gaps in the market.

Adidas have different segment of products of which includes Performance, Originals,

Style and Neo. Adidas Originals provides limited edition type of casual and heritage
fashion clothings and shoes that are usually street-styled with more colours but less of a
sporty look, whereas the typical Adidas appeals more to people to play sports
(HIGHSNOBIETY, 2018) Secondly, Adidas performance was designed to maintain their
loyalty towards athletics. They provide products mainly focusing on football, soccer and
training and had even collaborated with sports groups like Chealsea FC. (HB Team,
2013)

Thirdly, Adidas Style have clothes that are sporty but trendy at the same time. It is
usually popular among the youths.

Adidas Neo is the latest sub brand which is launched to target younger age groups of
customers from 14-19 years of age. (“adidas NEO,” 2019)

Customers with higher social status tend to purchase products from Adidas that are on
the pricer end. Customers with lower social status are able to purchase items that are
preferably more affordable for them. (Psychographic characteristics)

Customers who loves sports will tend to purchase sporty items from Adidas whereas on
the other hand, customers who loves street styled clothings will probably buy the
products they want from Adidas Originals or Style as they have the same preferences.
This happens as they have the same behavioural characteristics which they are able to
relate to one another. (Behavioural characteristics).

Demographic segmentation studies the human populations in terms of size, age,

gender, occupation, and other statistics (“What Is Demographic Segmentation & Why Is
It Necessary? [Examples],” 2019). For example, Adidas have clothes, accessories,
shoes that are suitable for males and females ( adults / kids ) in order to provide a wider
range for different age/ gender groups which would then attract more customers. With
this, Adidas is able to improve ability to closely tailored products or services according
to the individual market segments requirements and improve organization’s ability to
compete effectively and profitably, possibly avoiding strong competitors.

MARKET TARGETING
Adidas targets existing groups of customers who love and have a passion for fitness
and sports as well as people who supports Adidas since the start. They target 20-30
years of age groups who are athletics or young people who loves sports. (“Who Is
Adidas’ Target Market Today?,” 2019) Adidas is starting to focus on age groups of 13-
18 athletics as they have a strong believe that they are the next generation of athletics
that will improve the brand and the most influential consumer group(“Who Is Adidas’
Target Market Today?,” 2019). However, the brand is quite popular among 40-65 years
of age groups as well.

Adidas products are usually higher priced due to the quality and brand equity in the
market. Hence, they target customers of upper middle class/ high end customers. In
recent years, smartphones have brought many new lifestyle products for Adidas
originals target group which benefits the brand as it has a larger customer base.
Alongside with this audience, Adidas targets a smaller group of customers who are not
into sports that purchases shoes/ clothing items as a fashion statement, they are
between 15-25 years of age groups. It is very difficult for Adidas to connect to all
customers in large and diverse market as if they try to target everyone, the message
they are trying to deliver will be unclear and it will not be able to satisfy any customers
at all.

MARKET POSITIONING
Adidas position through speed, cities and open source. (“Strategy,” 2018) They deliver
customers with products that they are looking for to where and when they want them
which is very efficient. They deliver to target cities which are shaping the global trend.
Furthermore, Adidas tries to collaborate and innovate with athletics, social influencers,
reporters to co-establish the sports culture together with Adidas. It also includes the
marketing mix which consists of place, price, promotions and product. Adidas is sold in
their retails outlets that can be found in most shopping malls around the world. Some of
Adidas products can be found through distributors and market intermediaries such as
JD sports and Aw Lab. (Place)

The prices in Adidas are rather affordable but there are still some products that are
higher priced than usual as it may be a new product that is introduced in the market
recently or is a uniquely designed item. (Price)

Adidas uses social media to promote their items to notify online users of the newly
added or promotion items that may catch their eye. For example, sometimes when I am
surfing the net such as Instagram and Facebook, I happen to chance upon Adidas
advertisements showing me the new designs that are available in stores which I may be
interested in. This serves as a more convenient way for customers to look for items they
want since many have smartphones these days.

Adidas also involves influencers/ athletics for sponsorships and collaborations. Through
this method of marketing, Adidas is able to increase their sales with their help. For
example, users of internet are able to see the posts of the influencers using the product
and showing how good the product is. This will then convince the customers that it is
worth buying that product and may actually really purchase it. (Promotion)

Adidas products are usually designed with three-stripes with unique colours and
designs which may appeal to different groups of customers. Adidas is also considered
as one of a luxury brand. (Products)

CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, Adidas provides high quality and durable products. Market segmentation,
targeting and positioning is one of the important factors in Adidas’s company marketing.
“Impossible is nothing” is Adidas’s slogan which strengthen the brand philosophy. I
believe that with continuous efforts and determination, Adidas will be able to sore to a
greater height and be the first ranking sports brand in the world.

BRANDING
Despite Nike’s market dominance, Adidas has continued to make its presence felt
as a very strong player in sports shoes and apparel industry. Considering its
performance during the last few years, Adidas has made a quite but impactful
return. Its Superstar was the top selling shoe of 2016. The growing popularity of
the brand has turned it into investors’ favourite. The reason cited most often in
this regard is the effectiveness and success of its marketing efforts. Nike poses a
tough challenge before Adidas and Under Armour. However, the German Sports
brand (Adidas) still has an impressive global presence and ambitious plans for the
future.

Adidas is a sports brand or a brand which believes in the emotion and power of
sports to change lives.   The mission of Adidas is to be the best sports brand
in the world. This mission is anchored in its core belief that big changes can be
brought about through sports. Sports can make things possible around the world
and Adidas’ mission is to help athletes at all levels make a difference. Its target
market is mainly the youth. However, it connects with every person whose heart
is with sports. Several of its products are popular across all the age groups. In the
recent years, it has brought some major changes to its strategy. Everything
Adidas does has the customer at its core. The brand is trying to create a
difference and the new strategic changes could are a major step in the direction
of developing a financially successful and sustainable brand.

Adidas Product Strategy:

The product strategy and mix in Adidas marketing strategy can be explained as follows:
Adidas is one of the leading sportswear and goods brands. Adidas has always strived to
provide the best of the best goods and equipment to the athletes through its innovations
including the first shoes designed for ice and the first multi-studded shoes. The product
strategy in the marketing mix of Adidas covers its entire product line across various
sports and types. Adidas also deals with selling sports bags and sports-wear for people.
In 2000’s Adidas was first in the industry to introduce a new lifestyle segment, focusing
on streetwear inspired by sportswear, in addition to its sport performance offering.
Adidas’ product range includes apparels, running and lifestyle shoes, soccer shoes and
other sport utilities for tennis, golf, cricket, basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, rugby,
gymnastics, skateboarding, baseball, field hockey and kabaddi. Adidas also designs
and makes watches, sunglasses, caps, socks etc and it also has deodorants, perfumes,
aftershave and lotions. The TaylorMade- Adidas golf segment includes products for golf,
Rockport designs leather goods and Reebok- CMM caters the hockey segment. Adidas
also a subsidiary in the social networking segment named Runtastic that creates apps
for outdoor and indoor fitness activities. Basically, Adidas makes apparel and equipment
for almost all types of sports.

Adidas Place & Distribution Strategy:

Following is the distribution strategy in the Adidas marketing mix:
Adidas has made its products available around the globe through various distribution
channels like franchises, mass merchandise, special stores and online retails (own and
other e-commerce platforms). All these show the extensive global reach in its place and
distribution marketing mix strategy. In the early 1990’s Adidas used to categorize its
sales into 3 categories – Adidas originals (which sold the old and traditional Adidas
designs), Adidas Performance designed for athletes in different sport segments and
Style Essentials which catered the general public and their lifestyle. Through these
methods, Adidas aims to outreach the customers in every segment and every country.
Its associations with ILO (International Labor Organization) and IFC (International
Finance Corporation) has provided the company a scope to perform and lead a
sustainable business as compared to other competitors. Flagship Adidas stores are
present all across the world. With growing internet penetration, Adidas is aggressively
tapping the online market not only with its website, but with also other multi-brand
ecommerce websites.

Adidas Price/Pricing Strategy:

Below is the pricing strategy in Adidas marketing strategy:
Adidas has a particular set of customers and it strives to give the best products and
experience to them.
Due to its innovations and continuous product improvement which leads to top notch
performance, all the Adidas products are premium priced. The pricing strategy in the
marketing mix of Adidas has focused upon high quality and competitor offering. The
main reason of this is that the products are either customized as per need. Even if not,
the price of Adidas products are already high due to the high quality of the material
used. This is turn, makes the product less affordable to the customers of developing
nations. The price is also impacted by the fact that the company invests heavily in
marketing, advertising & sponsorships. Import regulations and duty and tariffs may
affect the pricing of different products because 90% of the production is done in Asia,
due to availability of cheap labor. However, Adidas never compromised with its quality
and standards, and its price is always justified.