How You Launch A Product
Adidas has shown how to launch new kits and integrate top talent with their third kit launches in their top-tier clubs.
How?
Adidas has brought back its iconic Trefoil logo and connected it to the different generations of fans and players
Adidas brought back their legendary players from each club they are promoting (two famously wearing rival brands boots in their prime)
Arsenal - Patrick Vieira (even integrating his famous vapour rub on his shirt in the promo video)
Man Utd - Rio Ferdinand
Bayern Munich - Bastian Schweinsteiger
Juventus - Alessandro Del Piero
Real Madrid - Zizu aka Zinedine Zidane
Adidas has integrated legend ex-players across their launch and teased through social media updates across all club updates
Each athlete is connected to each other in each ad (Patrick Vieira rejecting Del Piero’s call etc)
Each launch references something cultural and historical to each club (and including famous fans)
Each player used in their official promo are adidas athletes (in Arsenal’s case using Alessia Russo (Arsenal women’s player), Jurrien Timber and record signing Declan Rice)
Each update across the social media channels has been smart, leveraging different ways of using each platform, from WhatsApp Channels, Instagram to YouTube To Twitter and TikTok.
The Instagram Promo
The Promo Video Will Land With Arsenal Fans (note the video clicks through to arsenals website , please watch on Twitter or YouTube)
Here’s a smart behind the scenes look at the adidas kit launch filming ↓
Well played adidas and well co-orientated by the clubs.
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Chat Apps New Fight Your Love & Attention
For the last couple of decades I have been working with brands to think about the customer and potential customers more than just transactions, I have pushed for brands to become community led businesses (I have embedded my recent keynote deck below).
WeChat (1.35 billion MAUs) and Telegram (+900m MAU’s) have led the way for chat apps (instant messengers) to create community and enable brands, KOLs and influencers to engage with their audience/community.
Discord, Slack and Teams have become professional alternatives to community with some boasting thousands of paid subscribers.
WhatsApp has slowly but surely become an option for brands to cut through the algorithmic filtering of social networks and email and engage with broadcast and polling options.
What has struck me is the reach off the channels within WhatsApp, here is an example from my team Arsenal (football club) official channel with over 5m subscribers.
What - Arsenal’s official channel with a poll
Why - Brand new kit launch with adidas
How - Offering a poll to then post an update with their favourite player
Arsenal then shared the most popular player Bukayo Saka as voted by fans.
With over 4700 reactions (as time of writing this) and counting it shows how engaged football fans and communities could be.
The bigger question for brands to answer is could WhatsApp be a way to stand out for free until they flip the monetisation switch and turn it into another pay to play platform?
My take: If I was in a growth or marketing leadership role (again) with a company today and our brand was consumed weekly and a loved brand I would be pushing my team to test the channel and offer audio, behind the scenes looks and push for engagement from my most loved customers and superfans.
Maybe worth the extra few minutes every few days for your social team to dive into…