Brand Adidas identifies India as a key market

‘Impossible is Nothing' says the new Adidas brand campaign. And one market where this assertion will be truly put to test is India.

Adidas does not quite enjoy the popularity that a Nike or Reebok do in India, but the situation, say company executives, could change for the better, given the brand's newfound thrust and aggression.

Adidas is attempting a major comeback in the country, and the first step in this direction, is the company's association with cricket in a big-way.

The group has launched a new range of cricket shoes called the Master Blaster series, which, say executives, will help it "leverage its strengths in the Indian market".

Priced between Rs 3,999 to Rs 4,499, the product, for the record, has been developed completely in India, and will be sold in all major cricket markets around the world. It is the first product from the global sports gear manufacturer to be produced in the country.

Alongside the new product launch, Adidas will kick-off its global brand campaign ‘Impossible is Nothing' in the country today to make its presence felt in a big-way.

Endorsers Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra will be a part of the campaign spanning print, outdoor, Internet and in-store advertising. However, the emphasis will be on the Master Blaster (Tendulkar, for people who hate cricket) who will make his entry into the hallowed list of global Addidas brand ambassadors with the campaign.

Andreas Gellner, newly appointed managing director of Adidas India, says, that the statement ‘Impossible is Nothing' symbolises an "attitude without boundaries". "It is an emotion. And we felt there was no better way to connect with out target audience than to associate the feeling with cricket."

Besides producing cricket gear, the company may consider sponsoring cricket tournaments as well, though no specific plans have been devised so far, says Gellner.

Globally, the brand is identified with four major sporting events - football, basketball, tennis and athletics. The company, however, says Christophe Bezu, CEO, Adidas, Asia-Pacific, is aggressively pursuing a localised strategy at the same time, which is why the focus on cricket in India.

"At the beginning of 2004, we launched Vision Asia, which identifies three powerhouse countries, namely, Japan, China and India, which will help us in our endeavour to more than double our revenues by 2008. Indeed, our goal is to be the premier player in the region by 2008," says Bezu.

India, he says, will be crucial to pushing the company's agenda in the "mid-term", and on the cards is an aggressive focus on advertising and marketing-related activities as well as an overall beefing up of its distribution network in the country.

The current brand campaign by Adidas India, incidentally, is the biggest "in a long time", and will conclude by the end of September. © 2004 agencyfaqs!