Good afternoon and happy Monday,
As many of you may know the Swimming and Diving CAA Conference Championship meet concluded this past Saturday. Unfortunately the Seahawks were unable to continue the winning tradition that spanned 13 straight years. However, the basketball team seems to have generated a strong push towards the Championship. This week we will be analyzing the impact that advertising has directly on sports in terms of sponsorship, promotion, commercials, and other aspects.
Every University has at least one athletic apparel brand that sponsors that school’s athletic teams. The UNCW Seahawks are sponsored by Adidas. There is steady competition to gain recognition, produce quality products, and have high brand recall between Adidas and Nike, but, over the past decade, Adidas has become an established brand among sports addicts. Adidas has displayed significant change in their campaigns in the past, and is definitely gaining sufficient recognition for their efforts. In one of the most recent advertisements released by Adidas, “Take It,” they showcase professional and ordinary soccer, basketball, and football players in the head of ‘battle,’ which conveys Adidas ability to make ordinary players seem professional and professional players even greater.
According to AdAge in the week of February 15 – 21st, the advertisement below was ranked the highest and best YouTube Brand Video based on VidIQ’s rating system.
Using Lavidge’s and Steiner’s hierarchy of effects model, this advertisement can be viewed as a persuasive message aimed at making YOU choose Adidas over any of their competitors. The steps in this model include: awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, and purchase. As you may have noticed, Adidas is dedicated to making their brand visible; the three stripes on cleats, pants, and jerseys are ways to make the consumer associate that symbol with their product. This assists the second step, knowledge. If consumers are not aware of what a company is selling, or if they do not ensure their advertisement is easily identified with, the chances of a consumer running to a competing brand is high. Adidas also provides their three-stripe symbol alongside professional athletes and everyday athletes (the targeted viewer of the advertisement) in hopes to encourage a customer’s support or “liking” of their product. Adidas also uses the styling, materials, and colors of their products to produce a sense of preference for consumers. When the consumers see the visual and colorfully astounding apparel that the athletes in the commercials are wearing, they become “convinced” that this is the brand they want. Once they have been convinced, all they have to do is buy the gear. This is the easiest step due to the availability of the internet directly to the consumer and viewer of the commercial. Therefore, they complete the cycle of steps and Adidas prospers.
Adidas is not the first to use this method in advertisements, in fact most brands use this method to produce effective campaigns, but they have been one of the most successful players in the game. Against powerhouses like Nike and Under Armour, Adidas has classified themselves among the elite in sports apparel and college sponsorship sales. The attention to detail, and more importantly attention to the presentation and delivery of a brand message can determine a brand’s loyalty or the brand’s downfall.
– Colby Cummings, Connor Gold, Chase Seymour
IMC Hawks Blog 