MUMBAI: adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted believes that the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia will provide a lesser opportunity to maximise sales as compared to the event that took place four years ago in Brazil, Marketing Week reports.
In 2014, adidas sold more than €2 billion ($2.4 billion) in football gear helped by Germany (one of the teams it sponsors) winning the World Cup. However, Rorsted indicated that the marquee event this year will be a ‘tremendous’ platform to showcase the brand if not gain the most from it. As many as 12 teams will don adidas clothing or equipment for the event and adidas will be looking to drive global desirability around the brand.
“We see this as a brand-building event. The direct financing impact is limited and the football has over time relative to the size of the company become a small event from a financial standpoint, but not from a brand standpoint,” he noted.
To make the most of the brand opportunity, adidas will invest 12% more in marketing in this quarter taking its budget up to about €80 million.
Interestingly, Rorsted revealed adidas’ strategies at a time when FIFA has found it hard to sign up sponsors ahead of the World Cup, with many brands still to come on board.
Unlike in Brazil, most brands haven’t begun planning their marketing campaigns and would only do so until much closer to the start of the competition, according to Marketing Week.
