Case study: adidas China’s “all in for my girls”

Case study: adidas China’s 2013 Women’s “all in for my girls”Category: SportswearThe problem:Females’ participation in sports begins to drop once they enter the job market. According to media agency Carat, only 3% of girls in China aged 17-24 went to the gym in 2012. The challenge of the campaign is to improve the sales of athletic apparel to mainland females and to promote sports participation.The objective:Targeting a younger generation among mainland Chinese girls between the ages of 16-26, the campaign aims to instill the sport spirit in the target group and to inspire them to take up sport not just occasionally but for life.Businesswise, the campaign aims to achieve 61% sell-through of the adidas 2013 Women’s range within 90 days, and to achieve 91% sell-through of “hero” article (the apparel that featured in the TVC and print) achieved within 60 days.The strategy:Based on pre-campaign research, to most mainland females, sport is about "having best times doing what I love with the people I love”, which means doing sports is not about competition but about social bonding. The insight breeds the main purpose for the campaign and to show how doing sports helps consolidate relationships and how “cool” doing sports can be.In order to demonstrate what “sisterhood” means to Chinese girls, the campaign launched a TV commercial, featuring three groups of participants with each represents the three types of sports that appeal to the campaign’s target audience: dancing, running, and parkour.[gallery link="file" columns="4" ids="32105,32106,32108,32109"]The TV commercial features the pop singer Hebe from the Taiwanese girl-band S.H.E. as well as interviewees from the running, parkour, and dancing groups, aiming to show that fun and bonding happens when girls come together to do sports.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2LNXZn2OBsThe ending with Hebe from S.H.E. speaking into the camera: “These are my sisters, what about yours?” and the end frame showing the campaign slogan “all in for #mygirls”, directed audiences to the print, OOH, and digital pieces of the campaign to learn more about Hebe and her “sisters”, and also spans online to share stories about their sisterhoods.On the media front, the campaign dominated the spaces where girls spend most of their time. They include television, magazines, online, bus and train shelters, university campuses, gym rooms, and shopping malls.The result:The campaign has brought 60% sell-through of the adidas Women’s range within 90 days.In addition, 91% sell-through of “hero” article (the apparel that we featured in the TVC and print) achieved within 60 days. More significantly, the comparable store growth of Women’s range in March has increased by 28.4%.On the digital front, the TVc and behind-the-scenes videos have garnered over 1.5 million views; adidasgirls.com.cn, the website that serves as the hub of the Women’s campaign which invited girls to submit photos, send virtual gifts to their “sisters,” and share stories about their sisterhoods, has recorded 10,639 uploaded photos and 77,538 virtual gifts sent out.Meanwhile, its main rival Nike had decreased their investment in communicating to a female target audience during the campaign period, compared to a year earlier (according to media agency Carat).Perceptions and attitudes toward adidas have also seen a rise in one week after the campaign ended.According to Millward Brown’s statistics, spontaneous awareness on the brand among mainland females has increased by 5%, from 64% to total 69% one week after the campaign ended; brand consideration among girls has increased by 3%; “Brand Image - suitable for female” among girls has also increased by 4%, from 25% to 29%.“For a single market in a non-event year, to run a completely localised, publicly televised campaign just for women, is a big step for the brand,” said Jens Meyer, VP of marketing at adidas China.“Sales of our men’s products didn’t decrease, and women’s sales increased, so the share of business is now more balanced between men’s and women’s lines,” he added.Credits:Project Name: All in for my girlsCreative Agency: TBWA\ShanghaiClient: adidas ChinaHead of Creative: Edmund ChoeGroup Creative Director: Patrick TomCreative Director: Dagmar HooglandArt Director: Kenny HuangCopywriter: Nokkia WangTV Producer: Yanti SannieManaging Director: Brian SwordsGroup Business Director: Rick MultariDirector of Creative Strategy: Kevin ChoiAccount Director: Chris LeungAccount Manager: Kiko ZhaoAgency Producer: Sariyanti SannieDirector: Ben NewmanProduction Company: Pulse Film / SixtoesProduction Company Executive Producer: Haydn EvansMedia Agency: Carat ChinaMedia Team: Rohan Lightfoot, Gordan Yapadidas China Team: Jens Meyer (VP Marketing Sport Performance), Marcus Chew (Brand Marketing Director, Sport Performance), Monerie Ning, (Brand Manager, Womens & Training)Category/Exposure: TV, print, outdoor, digitalTerritories: Greater China