The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here and it’s all about the digital world.
With the exponential growth of data and internet connectivity, brands are rapidly moving towards consumer-first mindset, with digital as its backbone. But how does a brand get to a point where it’s thinking is not only a part of brand philosophy but is also put into action?
At Adidas, it starts with digital.
One word that encapsulates Adidas’s spirit is performance. Performance on the field, in the gym, on the court, it’s all about giving it your best. A leader in sports and apparel industry, it has earned a reputation through a dedication to innovation and growth. But that’s not all. Adidas’s success is also attributed to another factor, data-driven culture. Adidas relies on data-driven insights to make business decisions and drive results.
Adidas and Data-Driven growth
Adidas as a brand embraces data and technology as a way to be smarter and faster in a market that is ever transient. Brands are fighting for a mere second of consumer’s attention and telling brand stories that connect with the consumer at a deeper level make all the difference. As the tech evolves and the way we interact with the world changes, the brand has to be able to keep pace with the time if they wish to stay relevant.
“With the right approach to data and technology insights, you can continuously monitor the pulse of the consumer and how they respond,” says Joseph Godsey, Global Head of Digital Brand Commerce at Adidas.
Digital information also helps Adidas tell more relevant stories. The best stories come from consumer insights generated through data analytics. Adidas is constantly working to understand their consumer better and deliver stories that the consumer can connect with. And if the analytics show that something is not sitting well with the consumers, it can be modified and adapted.
A part of Adidas’s investment in the digital world was for extensive consumer research, not only for better marketing decisions but also for consumer research to be able to tell better stories and uncover a different way to make their product better and create a better consumer experience associated with their product.
Adidas and AM4NYC Runners
They say there is no perfect shoe, but Adidas is trying to come as close to one as possible.
Digitally designed around research data, embedded with cutting-edge technology and assembled by robots to achieve the perfect fit, Adidas has just amped up its game a few notches.
These shoes are specifically designed for new york runners. One might wonder why would a global leader make a show only for a select few? But For Adidas, it’s not about selling its product with this one. It’s about paving the way of shoes could be made in the future.
All AM-4 shoes are manufactured by robots at Adidas Speedfactory located in Ansbach, Germany, Atlanta and Georgia. Each center makes shoes for the runners of that city itself. Before the data is sent to the robots to begin manufacturing, Adidas does a very extensive research of the needs of the runners of that city and then comes up with one design that fulfills anything a runner from the city will ever expect from his/her shoe.
But Adidas doesn’t stop at that. With its Speedfactory, it’s aiming to make running shoes more personalized to the runner’s needs. Imagine a person walks into Adidas Speedfactory outlet.
His shoe size and running patterns are scanned and sent to a nearby Speedfactory that can create
a personalized shoe for that person. Now rather than trial and error, this person has a perfect shoe for designed just for him.
Paying Attention to Consumer Insights
One can’t be relevant unless they have a very strong grasp on what the consumers want.
And you can’t grow unless you adapt to the changing world. As an organization, Adidas keeps
a commitment to innovation and performance above all else.
Globally, Adidas is one of the top players of sports apparel, including places like Russia, Japan, South Korea, Western Europe, China, North America, Latin America, Southeast Asia and other emerging markets. As its market presence grows, so does it’s online sales. According to the 2015 annual report, e-commerce is Adidas’s fastest growing channel and is expected to account for $2 billion in revenue by 2020.
Connecting Teams
The consumer first thinking adapted by Adidas has brought together various teams to create an unforgettable experience for the consumers. One example of this is the consumer-centric model launched by the Adidas app. Through extensive consumer testing and iterations of app development before it was even launched in the US market, positioned Adidas very advantageous in the market. Using consumer feedback before the final launch is very powerful in terms of what is shared and greatly helped the development of the app.
Times are changing rapidly and its important keep pace with it. To see how you can integrate
data-driven culture in your brand, contact Datahut, your big data experts.