Brand architecture and stretching of Nike and Adidas Part2

Nike and Adidas Architure and extensions 

Nike and Adidas are major players in the field of brand architecture.

Adidas' brand architecture is endorsed. Each brand and sub-brand is responsible for bringing its own distinct positioning to life, through the creation of products and communications. Adidas and Reebok each have unique identities, heritages, technologies, designs and reputations, the strategic principles and methods for driving future sales growth and profitability improvements are common to both. 

-  adidas Sport Performance (football; basketball; running; training; outdoor)

-  adidas Golf (footware, apparel, accessories)

-  adidas Sport Style (adidas Originals; Fashion Group (adidas SLVR, adidas NEO)

Reebok  (running, football, cricket, basketball, tennis, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, gymnastics, baseball, field hockey, skating

-  baseball)

-  TaylorMade-adidas Golf

-  TaylorMade (golf equipment)

-  Y-3

-  Porsche design (part of Fashion Group)

-  Ashworth (golf / lifestyle footware)

 Nike has endorsed brand architecture as well. Over the years, Nike created and integrated naming conventions that play a large role in establishing a unified portfolio architecture model and sustainable brand equities. 

- Nike

- Nike + names

-  Vapor, NikeGolf (Change the visual expression), SQ

-  Colemann, Hurley, Converse: Brands ranging specific audiences
 - Umbro: Company owned by Nike

What  about brand extension? Do they dare to stretch their brand name?

As virgin Group which was initially a recored label  that extended that  its brands many times, Nike and Adidas are doing the same too. Brand extension or brand stretching have advantages for the two sportwear brands : Use the awareness of the brands to launch a new product totally different from the original products sold by the Brands.

An Adidas extension is the Adidas shower gel. Adidas conveys a spirit image of effort with the sportswear and the shower gel plays with the idea of comfort after having made exercice. It is well thought, the proof is that you can find a good variety of shower gel.

But Brand extension can be risky if you make a venture with a product conceptualy impossible to join with your formal offer like the perfume bic. Bic products are cheap whereas perfume is a luxury good. That is why the launch of the bic perfume is a famous marketing strategy failure taught in business schools. What about Nike perfume. The price of the perfume is not cheap (they remembered the Bic lessons) and very very expensive (750 $). The logo looks like appropriate for a luxury good. But in the consummer’s mind, it must be weird to smell a perfume wearing the name of a brand making sportwear clothes. And in sportswear clothes what do you do ? You SWEET. So in our opinion, some customers can imagine involontary that the Nike perfume smells Sweet. The brand awareness for Nike can be risky in that case.

 Marie-Caroline Lassagne

Alexandra Tsarkova

Edouard Lévêque

Mengdi Li

Irina Kalashnikova

sources:

http://www.allegro234.net/brandixit_english/2008/8/21/strategically-boring-the-nike-example.html

http://www.adidas-group.com/en/investors/strategy/global-brands-strategy/#/brand-architecture-and-differentiation/