Marketing Performance of Adidas - Assignment Example

The 4 Ps of marketing that the company has employed are products, Pricing, place, and promotion. As illuminated earlier the Adidas group has four subsidiaries. The first subsidiary is Adidas which focuses on sports footwear and clothing. The second is Reebok. Reebok is the leading subsidiary of all the Adidas brands. The third is the Taylor Made-Golf. Taylor offers golfing clothes and equipment among other golfing products. The final subsidiary is Rockport which majors in outdoor footwear, accessories, and apparel. The apparels include jackets, sweatshirts, T-shirts, shorts, and gloves (Marketing, 91, 2015).

Adidas products have an appealing statement attached to them by the majority of its customers. Therefore the company uses two techniques to price Adidas products. The two techniques are skimming prices and the application of competitive pricing. Skimming pricing is used mainly when new products are launched. These new products are uniquely designed. Moreover, the skimmed prices are usually higher. They psychologically price highly because most customers have convictions that the higher the price the higher the quality of the product. In order not to give its competitor (Puma and Nike) leverage in the market; the company also uses competitive pricing of its products (Marketing, 91, 2015).

Regarding the placing of its products, the company has major retail outlets where the products are sold. The company has three major distribution channels. The first channel is where after the product has been manufactured; they are distributed to its various major outlets. In turn, these major outlets are responsible for ensuring that the products get to the consumers. The second channel is where the products move from the manufacturing point to the distributors and finally to multi-branded showrooms where they are sold (Borowski, 2013). The final placing involves the use of online in selling the products. The products are sold through fashion online sites such as myntra.com as well as the Adidas website after which the products are delivered to the clients (Marketing, 91, 2015).

In addition to the above-stated Ps, another Important P is promotional techniques. Adidas Company markets its brands using various marketing tools. The use of mass media such as TV adverts has been employed to reach out widely and wildly to customers and prospective clients. In TV adverts various celebrities are used to showcase these products. For an instant, during the last Olympics renowned footballers such as David Beckham was used to market the products. Besides TV channels, the other avenue that has been effectively employed is through sponsorship of sports clubs and sports players (Marketing 91, 2015).

Through the various avenues used in marketing and promotions, the messages disseminated to the customers have always been consistent with the company’s tagline being ‘’Impossible is Nothing”. That tagline is so powerful because in the sports arena motivation and confidence is the key to success (Marketing, 91, 2015).

There are various steps that the company has used in conducting marketing research. These steps involve the use of SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces, 4ps, and finally the use of SMART objectives. These steps determine the best marketing and promotional tools that can be used to achieve its objective (Borowski, 2013).

For an instant, in the SWOT analysis, the company relies on the strength of its brand and is also aware of the threats presented by the competitors. That coupled with the ability to identify major weaknesses and opportunities helps the company to strategize. Moreover, the strategies involve the use of five forces (threat from rivals and new entrants, and bargaining power of suppliers and buyers) (Borowski, 2013).

In addition to the 4 Ps discussed above the company can come up with the SMART objectives. These objectives must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed. After the analysis of the above the company then identifies and evaluates the marketing and promotional tools that when employed are likely to achieve results within the requisite stipulated time.