A.C.C.V.

A Project Report on

Adidas Sports Drink

Guided By
Dr. Vinod Kumar
&
Submitted by
Group 2
Kanchan Debnath
Pravesh Tiwari
Sampurna Sinha
Siddharth Dutta

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Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................ 3
About the company ............................................................................................. 4
Five Cs .................................................................................................................. 5
Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat analysis ......................................... 10
Porter’s Five Forces/ Strategic Analysis of The Sports Drink ..................... 12
Marketing Strategy: STP (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning) ....... 13
Marketing Research Process ............................................................................ 18
MARKETING MIX .......................................................................................... 21
CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR .......................................................... 23
HOW TO MAKE THE CUSTOMER LOYAL? ........................................... 25
ANSOFF’S MATRIX ....................................................................................... 28
Future Growth Plans ........................................................................................ 29
References .......................................................................................................... 30

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Abstract

The main objective of the report is to devise a marketing strategy for Adidas to
venture into a different market of Sports drink. This report focuses on ways in
which Adidas an existing market player in the sportswear market can target its
existing customer base and new consumers for the new product Adidas Sports
Drink. Furthermore, the report delves into various marketing concepts such as
five Cs, STP, SWOT analysis, Ansoff’s matrix, four Ps, Porter’s five forces,
Consumer Buying behaviour, Positioning, target market selection, Market
research process and new product development. These concepts provide a set
process for Adidas to venture into sports drink market.

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About the company

Adidas is a multinational corporation, founded and headquartered

in Herzogenaurach, Germany, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing
and accessories. Adidas' logo is three stripes, which is used on the company's
clothing and shoe designs as a marketing aid. Adidas sells a range
of clothing items, varying from men's and women's t-
shirts, jackets, hoodies, pants and leggings.
Adidas, like other sports brands, is believed to engender high consumer brand
loyalty. Brand loyalty towards Adidas, Nike, Inc., Puma AG and several other
sportswear brands was examined in a recent study. The study found consumers
did not exhibit unduly high loyalty towards such brands.
During the mid to late 1990s, Adidas divided the brand into three main groups
with each a separate focus: Adidas Performance was designed to maintain their
devotion to the athlete; Adidas Originals was designed to focus on the brand's
earlier designs which remained a popular life-style icon; and Style Essentials,
which dealt with the fashion market
Launched in 2004, "Impossible is Nothing" is one of the company's most
memorable campaigns
In 2011, "Adidas is all in" became the global marketing strategy slogan for
Adidas. The slogan aimed to tie all brands and labels together, presenting a
unified image to consumers interested in sports, fashion, street, music and pop
culture. There appears to be connection with the phrase "all-in" meaning
"exhausted" in some English-speaking nations.
In 2015, Adidas launched "Creating the New" as its new strategic business plan
until 2020. This plan has three strategic choices: speed, cities and open source.
Adidas has already launched a similar product in similar product in some of the
European countries, but it will be a completely new business idea for Adidas to
venture into sports drink market given the kind of image the brand captures in
its customers’ mind. As the customers are already loyal to its sportswear
category products and they will not have any inhibition to connect to the new
sports drink product as it not a lateral shift from its existing sports segment.

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Five Cs

1. Company
Adidas pertains to a strong culture of product and process innovation. It keeps
on bringing new and innovative products suiting to the needs of the customer
accordingly. This spirit acts as a preventive measure from marketing myopia as
there are a numerous number of brands incumbent into sportswear market
category.
Since it is almost a decade long company it holds immensely strong financial
position and availability of marketing resources and varied networks in terms of
distributors, retailers, storekeepers, etc.
Adidas has ability to scale production given its existing infrastructure. However,
since it is a new extension of the market all the capabilities needed with respect
to Sports drink market must be developed from scratch.
The business model of Adidas has always been offering unique and innovative
products to a large part of the customers. Adidas business model is highly
focused on creating innovative products designed to meet consumer needs.
Rather than investing in product endorsements, the company attempts to
demonstrate its value by creating a high-performance product line based on the
specific needs of athletes and consumers. Further it focuses on faster product
creation and production by continuously improving the infrastructure, processes
and systems. Additionally, they also emphasize on significantly reduced
complexity on a group level by streamlining the global product range,
consolidating the warehouse base as well as harmonising above market-service.
The ambition to deliver the best branded shopping experiences at all consumer
touch points. Innovative speed models in supply chain to respond quickly to
consumer needs. This strategy has motivated investors from around the world to
purchase Adidas common stock and the company has shown consistent growth
for many years. The public ownership structure of each company has been an
integral part of sustaining growth over the long run.

2. Consumer

Young generation inclined towards sports could be a probable target market for
the Adidas sports drink. There is a huge number to class of experimenter

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category in new age millennials who would like to explore something new in
this segment.
Existing sports men/women could also be a potential consumer as not many
alternatives are available in the name of sports drink in India and quality Adidas
intends to offer in its drink will be promising
The drink can also cater to needs of health-conscious people. People are more
health conscious nowadays they indulge in exercises and marathons of all sorts.
Adidas Sports can be potentially positioned such groups.
Some of the following questions can be addressed while analysing Consumers:
Who the target customer is – Should Adidas Sports Drink go for a
broader segment or position its product in niche segment. Our suggestion
is that it should focus on the niche segment as it is highly profitable.
What is the level of brand awareness among target segment and
general population – The brand awareness among the target segment and
among wider population is high. Adidas Sports Drink can leverage on it
to build sub brands for niche segments within the target market and
adjacent segments.
What are the features most desired by consumers –Adidas needs to
decide which are the features most desired by consumers and how Adidas
Sports Drink can position itself to deliver those 2-3 critical features.
What is market size of the segment that Adidas wants to target – we
believe the market size will grow at a steady pace and it will present
various opportunities to expand into adjacent segments.

3. Competitors

Gatorade is the only popular sports drinks available in the market, another drink
which is available in the market is Powerade. Powerade is the new entrant
whereas Gatorade is incumbent and have had a huge market share among its
competitors. It would not be easy road for Adidas to tread on, but it can
differentiate its product from competitors by offering a unique value
proposition.
Furthermore, following points should be taken into consideration with regard to
Competitors analysis:
What will drive future growth and how competitors will try to take share of that
future growth – technology innovations can result in making present positioning
less profitable, so Adidas needs to continuously innovate and look for new
opportunities.

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Threats of new entrants to profits of Adidas– Marketing efforts are often
barriers to entry in the industry and new entrants not only have to have huge
marketing resources to compete with the incumbents but also need high level of
marketing know-how.
Countering Marketing Campaigns of Competitors – Often one competitor
campaign must be matched with a counter campaign to stop the product trial of
the competitor’s product by the firm loyal customers. It must be done to control
the churn of customers.
Product Line Depth Decisions for Adidas– Depth involves targeting different
segments within the same product range. Higher the depth, the more the
company needs to spend on individual brands without putting too much focus
on the parent company.
Positioning strategy vis a vis competitor – The critical marketing decisions for
managers at Adidas is what strategic position to choose which at same time is –
different from competitors and relevant to the customers.
Threats of substitutes to Adidas– The threats of substitutes often arise either
from economic cycle or technological innovation. It may require repositioning
of Adidas Sports Drink in certain markets.
Intensity of rivalry among existing players – if the intensity is high then the
profitability is usually low in any industry. Thus, it requires Adidas Sports
Drink to spend higher resources on marketing efforts.

4. Collaborators

Adidas believes in “collaborate with those who inspire you”. Adidas have a
huge presence in tier 1 and tier 2 cities in terms of existing retail stores in the
market. It could be helpful in networking the product among large masses.
Similarly, various online platforms such as Bigbasket, Grofers, etc. could also
help adidas to reach out to their potential customers.
Furthermore, new collaboration with sports institutions and academies could
also increase Adidas to increase its market share.
Adidas marketing strategy should be such that it the product should be sold at
various levels even at the shelfs of local retail shops both in tier 1 and tier 2
cities.
Number of suppliers and abilities of the suppliers – If there are too many
suppliers then it will become expensive for Adidas to manage them but if the

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number of suppliers is too few then it will expose the company to supply chain
disruption risks.
Position and bargaining power in the value chain – If the collaborators have
strong bargaining power then Adidas Sports Drink will not able to sustain
higher margins even with higher marketing expenditure.
Risks to intellectual property rights and patents – Operating in local markets can
expose Adidas Sports Drink to theft of Patents, Copyrights and other
Intellectual Property Rights. Any marketing and diversification decision should
be taken after evaluating these risks.

5. Context

India as a nation is transforming from a “Sports Loving nation to Sports playing

Nation” so it is win-win opportunity for Adidas to target potential consumers.
People are becoming more inclined towards sports and it’s a supporting trend
for Adidas to introduce sports drink.
There are rising no. of premier leagues in different sports such as Cricket,
Football, Badminton, Kabaddi, etc. This will give boost to the sports inclined
environment and people will see Adidas sports drink as a drink to rejuvenation.
Furthermore, a PESTLE analysis is as followed:
This PESTLE analysis of Adidas goes into detail about the rules and regulations
they follow.

Political factors: Many systems

Adidas supplies, ships, and distributes their products worldwide. This requires
them to extend international supply chains and follow political procedures when
selling products online. The company also uses political forces as a method of
intervention of counterfeit products.
Each country abides by their own taxation system. Adidas is required to abide
by these rules for each sale and each product distributed overseas. The company
tends to outsource the development of their product to third world countries.
Most likely because it reduces manufacturing costs. But communities don’t
condone this type of business.
Additionally, Adidas must follow these laws:

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 International trade agreements
Product safety laws
Labour laws
Consumer safety product regulations
Economic factors: Counterfeit issues
The sports good industry is concentrated. The 50 largest companies contribute
to roughly 70% of the industry’s revenue. Adidas is one of these organizations.
The products Adidas creates are deemed “leisure items”. They’re not a
necessity. Sales are driven by sports buyer trends and preferences.
Leisure products of different categories must compete against each other. Sports
products are competing against the gaming industry and music industry. The
global economy fluctuates. Manufacturers shift to accommodate this. Adidas
must research where to sell and distribute products. This ensures company
growth and opportunities.
Adidas manufactures products in China because they’re labour intensive with
low cost for creation. Especially compared to North American countries. Adidas
must play smart with the price of materials. But they face continuous challenges
when importing/exporting goods. And the rise of counterfeit products dampers
Adidas’ sales.

Social Factors: Health conscious shoppers

Adidas changes designs of their products. Designs match the interest of

consumers. Products are often available for any age, gender or lifestyle. But
their core focus group are health-conscious buyers with a love for sports. They
must keep up with health trends and preferences to cater to their audience.
They also offer corporate volunteer programs. They support communities and
foster the health of individuals. Adidas also supports the Olympics, which
allows them to leverage marketing opportunities and catch the eye of new
audiences around the world.

Technological factors: Smart sportswear opportunities

Adidas tests their products under varying conditions. It’s because they cater to
athletes. They are trying to optimize performance for coaches and professionals
in the sports industry. For durable solutions to athletic problems, they use
natural material replacements.

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They support online sales through their website and with social media. Now,
they’re studying the smart sportswear industry. Technology, like the Fitbit, is
quite popular in the health communities. Adidas can use these technological
advancements to dive into new industries and develop an edge over the
competition.

Legal factors: Patents and more patents

Adidas has ownership of intellectual properties and IP systems. They also have
design patents, defending their right against copiers and infringement. The
patents also serve as legal protection to end counterfeit businesses. As a big
company, they naturally have trademark production.
Because if their connection to the sports world, Adidas endorses celebrity
sponsorships as a form of marketing. And follow full compliance with national
and local laws.

Environmental factors

Adidas decreases environmental impact. It’s their duty to monitor hazardous

substances and eliminate them. This may be why they offer natural materials in
their products.
They follow ethical business practices by committing to ensure supplies are
following regulations in every country their products are manufactured in.

Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat analysis

1. Strength
The Brand is at present #2 Sports Brand in the world, so the popularity is
humungous among various customer groups. It helps people to connect more
with the brand they will supposedly to try out the product because of the trust
adidas has build upon them over the years.
The Brand has a strong presence in tier #1, 2 cities, be it malls, retail stores or
online shopping platforms this sphere could be leveraged further for Sports

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drink product. Credibility of the brand is well known among its present
consumer base
Adidas drives on innovation, Adidas keeps on introducing new technology-
based products and so will this be “a rejuvenation drink filled with necessary
nutrients and vitamins to suit the needs of consumer”.

2. Weakness
Adidas has prior experience of sports drink in overseas market, but it is a new
venture in India. They will have to face stiff competition. Also, people will be
unaware about product’s benefit since it is a new venture, so it must be
sufficiently marketed over various platforms to raise awareness. At times many
varieties tend to confuse customers for instance Gatorade has numerous variants
some of customers will not aware even of all of them. Similarly, Adidas should
strike a balance between number of variants of the sports drink that are to be
launched. Further, there will be high entry cost to enter into the market all the
things have to be set up from scratch. The decision has to be made whether the
product should be launched pan India or some specific target regions.

3. Opportunity
Adidas has a beneficial opportunity to leverage as there are only handful
number of market players currently existing as far as sports drink segment is to
be considered. The product should be launched with several flavor variants.
Given the popularity of Adidas it can expand its market share progressively.
Adidas can rope in some celebrity endorsement that can help in increasing
market share. The celebrity should justify the appeal of the brand Adidas so that
consumers can connect to the image of brand and draw their vested interest in
the product.
After getting a stronghold in the sports drink market the brand could further
explore venturing into energy drink, however, the scenario for energy drink is
different from that of sports drink as there are a greater number of competitors
already present in energy drink market.

4. Threat

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Potential threat for adidas is Gatorade as it has 69% market share. Adidas will
have tough time to capture market instantly. The points of difference should be
distinctively mentioned to the potential customers. In what ways Adidas has a
different offering as compared to Gatorade or Powerade will be crucial in
appealing consumers.

Porter’s Five Forces/ Strategic Analysis of The Sports Drink

To Analyse the structure of a company and its corporate strategy, Porter’s five
forces model is used. In this model, five forces have been identified which play
an important part in shaping the market and industry. These forces are used to
measure competition intensity and profitability of an industry and market.

The five forces are discussed below:

1.THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS:

As the industry have high profits, many new other competitors are trying to
enter into the market like Adidas sports drink. However, the new entrants will
eventually cause decrease in overall industry profits. Barriers to entry that
includes copy rights and patents. High capital requirement is needed to get into
the market. Government restricted policies are available in places. Access to
suppliers and distributions and the most important the Customer loyalty to
established brand.

2.THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES:

This describes the threat to company. If the goods and services are not up to the
standard, consumers can use substitutes and alternatives that do not need any
extra effort and do not make a major difference. Price plays a major role to go
for substitutes and performance of substitute, Products substitute are already
available in the market. So, quality of the product must be of high-quality
standards. And, close substitution is available in market like energy drinks Red
bull etc.

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3.DEGREE OF INDUSTRY RIVALRY:

The lesser money and resources are required to enter any industry, the higher
there will be new competitors and be an effective competitor. It will also
weaken the company’s position. Competitive advantage is already existing as it
is high cost market not easy to enter. But continuous innovation should in place
for the sale of product. High Level of advertising is required as its competitors
depends more on advertising.

4.BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS:

It deals with the ability of customers to take down the prices. It mainly consists
the importance of a customer and the level of cost if a customer will switch
from one product to another. The individual buyers have no pressure. Larger
stores like Wal- Mart, have bargaining power because of large order quantity.
But bargaining power is still lessened because of the end consumer brand
loyalty.

5.BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS:

This refers to the supplier’s ability of increasing and decreasing prices. The
material used in very common and easy to supply. But as it is a new product in
Indian market it will have challenges in getting the Supplier with reasonable
cost for the materials. So, the supplier power is more in terms of other already
existing competitors and very less competitions in terms of sports drinks.

Marketing Strategy: STP (Segmentation, Targeting and

Positioning)

The Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Process of Adidas sports drinks: -

It is one of the most commonly applied marketing models in practice and useful
for creating marketing communications strategies since it helps the marketers to
prioritize develop and deliver product for required or potential customers.
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Adidas sports drinks overall objective is to rapidly develop market as Indian
consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious and is becoming serious
about physical training & fitness. It has an advantage as it has marketed itself in
many sport events, in other country and the brand belong to one of the most
exclusive sports brands. The company, therefore, mainly targets young people
both male and female who are concerned about their health and fitness.

SEGMENTATION: -

1. GEOGRAPHICAL-
As it is a high cost drink so, it is for customers belonging to the sports and
fitness sector and geographical segmentations for the product is Tier-1 cities
like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and also it
can be target towards the cities where Sports culture and health conscious
people are more.

2. DEMOGRAPHIC-
As per the demographic factor generally the age group we are targeting is
18-35 years as they are more toward sports and fitness activity. That
includes Youth, adults. Which also includes Gender (Male, Female). And
with Income class which are divided as Middle Class, Upper middle class,
Upper class person.

3. PSYCHOGRAPHIC –
As per the psychographic factor it is target for the Sports loving peoples and
who are also Health conscious and want to live fit and healthy life. And for
the Parents who want their child to have sports involvements.

4. BEHAVORIAL –
As many customers are aware/having knowledge of ADIDAS as a sports
brand. So, the Attitude – not difficult to accept as the Brand already has a
place in its customer’s mind. And the Drink – Adidas sports drink benefits
is that it is not Carbonated and High Energy content in it.

TARGET MARKET SELECTION

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The Target market selection can be Business to Consumers (B2C) and Business
to Business (B2B). And different clubs where for all kinds of sports which is
present in many Tier 1 cities, and different tournaments in all kinds of sports,
sports academies, Supermarkets like reliance fresh, D-mart, spencer’s, Local
stores and the E-commerce platforms like Amazon, eBay and last not the least
the third-party wholesalers.

Targeting: -
 S (Substantial):
For Adidas sport drinks the chosen segment is young generation and
people who are interested in sport activities which is large enough to
support profitably. The amount of their purchasing power for young
generation may change in time duration as they like experimenting new
products, but other higher 25-40 (age group) people may be loyal
customers.

 A (Accessible):
This criterion refers to the ease of effectively and economically reaching chosen
segments with marketing efforts. The offered sports drinks bottle will be
available broadly in various online, residential and commercial areas. The
customers can avail the sports drinks in diverse customized volumes and
sizes as per their demands. It will available in Adidas showroom, sports
centres, malls, shopping centres and airports and railway centres, vending
machines.

 D (Differentiable):
The adidas sports drinks is Lactose free, and Gluten free with Low calorie
and Natural ingredients are used to make the products which is more
required in today’s fit life lifestyle and with its intake the body gets instantly
hydrated while performing sports activity which differentiate it from other
sports drinks in its class.

 A (Actionable):

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 As Adidas Sports drinks is targeting to niche segment of the population, so
there are less competitors in market. And by the help of present distributor
channels all over the country for Adidas as a company will be easy to cater
the target segment. As being a large company, it invests lot on R&D
department.

 M (Measurable):
Segments must be identifiable so that the marketer can determine which
consumers belong to a segment and which do not. As per Adidas Sports
drinks the potential segments are Age group between 15-25 and above 25 to
35 and other potential customers are people who have concerns related to
fitness. The measurability can be tracked by the already existing customers
whole are loyal to the brand, who can be the measured as potential customers
for the product.

POSITIONING

 Points of Parity-
A new approach to hydration when the body gets dehydrated while
performing sports activity. Rejuvenates vital fluids and electrolytes which
provide lots of energy and Improved performance, suitable for all sports
and it will be Affordable for all the sports and fitness concerned persons.
 Points of Difference-
The adidas sports drinks is Lactose free, and Gluten free with Low calorie
which is more required in today’s life and all the Natural ingredients are
used to make the products.
TARGET GROUP-

Adidas sports drink primary target is athletic males/Females in the 25-35 age
category and 15-25-year-old high school athlete and all fitness concerned
audience in India.
VALUES-
1. Functional: - New approach to hydration, no artificial ingredients and
rejuvenates vital fluids and electrolytes which provide lots of energy and
Improved performance, suitable for all sports, easy to carry.
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 2. Economical: - It is a value for money deal, so it is economical in term of
the value of health benefits it is providing.
3. Emotional: - It is connected in terms of value provided by adidas in field
of sports.
4. Social: - A very strong brand which is instantly recognized by
consumers across India. when it comes to the name sports.

COMPETITION-

Other brands like Gatorade, Powerade are available in market but Adidas sport
drink will be the dominating player in the market, there are other few substitutes
in market like energy drinks like Redbull.
The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of Adidas sport drink is “New approach
to hydration”.

Positioning Map for Indian’s Sport Drinks: -

Positioning Statement

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Adidas sports drink from Adidas India offers a new approach for hydration that
is lactose and gluten free among its competitors in its segment and aims to
provide high energy to improve performance with low calories and natural
ingredients.

Marketing Research Process

In India the supply of sports drink is very less rather than its demand in market.
It is also true that many Indian athlete can’t come in front of the row only
because of lack of proper nutrition and minerals. We are trying to find out a
proper market with premium pricing strategy to sustain in Indian market.

DEFINE PROBLEM AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

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  As per below objectives we are trying to define problem and research
objectives to meet overall demand of consumer.
 Consumer’s fitness
 Willingness to pay for sports drinks at reasonable price at remote location
in India.
 Now a days the problem is Consumer have fewer options to choose from
market
 To Analyse competitor’s market i.e. Gatorade based on various factors-
price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc.

DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN

 We are trying to catch up the market as far as possible across all the
places where sport’s auditorium and institutions are there mainly, and
peoples are involved in sports.
 To develop a broad market even at remote location
 Value based pricing strategy such as Premium pricing strategy
 In terms of product’s benefit, we will do 5C’s, SWOT, STP analysis
below here in this report.
 We will do analysis of 4Ps in sport’s marketing mix.
 We will make a positioning statement below here in this document.

COLLECT INFORMATION

 According to the methods of data collection we have to collect data

through Focus groups, survey research, panel of various state wise big
stores.
 Focus group creation – state wise with 6-7 people who are athlete or
coach.

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  We will do survey research on upcoming young star who are aligned with
sport by interviews, Phone or Questionnaires.
 As Optical scanner record item purchased, and price paid at checkout
counter. So, we can get a good amount of insights into Advertising,
Promotion and Price change.

ANALYSE THE INFORMATION

 As per the buying process of consumer such as how much sale is going to
be increased while organizing tournament in a local area.
 Over all response of the market

PRESENT THE FINDINGS

 We will maintain our findings as a report of our new launched product

and will publish as per quantitative and qualitative approaches.

MAKE DECISION

 We will have a proper idea for our product’s strengths weaknesses

 Brand image and Positioning statement.

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MARKETING MIX
The Marketing mix is a set of four decisions which needs to be taken before
launching our sport drink product of Adidas. These variables are also known as
the 4 P’s of marketing.

These four variables helped us in making strategic decisions necessary for the
smooth running of our product.

Our product is defined by 4Ps in following ways –

PRODUCT

Before deciding on the product component there are some questions which we
have taken.

How many variants are there in our product?

• To be launched in 4 kinds of variants

• To be launched in different sizes

What is the USP of the product?

• Packaging has to be eye-catchy

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 • Adhere to the brand image of Adidas since other players do not have
sports background edge

PLACE

Place refers to the distribution channels of our product. Consumer of our

product is mainly athlete of different games. So, it needs to be available as far
and wide as possible across all the places where sport’s auditorium and
institutions are there mainly, and peoples are involved in sports.

 Mainly Tier 1, Tier 2 cities

 Sports inclined cities of the country

PRICE

• Value based pricing strategy such as Premium pricing strategy

• Company may set the price in comparison to competitors such as

Gatorade, Powerade

• People who desire to buy the drink already willing to pay nominal price
for

benefits of it

PROMOTION

• Our product is new in the market, so it needs brand / product awareness

promotion. Promotions also decide the segmentation, targeting and
positioning of the product. The right kind of promotions affect all the
other three variables – the product, price and place.

• Online promotion is less expensive and are more popular with tech savvy

• young generation.

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CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR
For the successful implementation of the launch we need to understand about
the need of the product and how will the consumer react to the product. We
need to find different kinds of information by studying the consumer behavior
which are discussed in detail in the following parts :

Problem/ Need Recognition : The first thing we need to while studying

consumer buying behavior is to identify how many numbers of players are there
now in India in sports drinks segment? We need to see how the acceptancy level
of those products is .We also need to see what are the USPs of those products.
We also need to see the options available to consumers who are willing to
expense in such kind of product.

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Since Sports Drink is merely a new concept in India and Gatorade is the only
major player in the market, consumers do not have enough options to play and
Gatorade is enjoying almost a monopoly in the market. It is also true that
consumers do not have enough awareness about the benefits of using the
product. The availability of products all levels of market is also a problem. So,
exploring all those things will give us enough scope to penetrate in the market.

Information search: With the rise in internet users and awareness of people
using it, information searching has increased multifold times in the recent years.
People are now more information oriented than just buying without knowing
any details of the product. So, our first look out will be to provide various
information and too in a very easy way. Product benefits, product composition,
brand awareness, places of availability of product, price and comparison with
other competitors are few of the information checkpoints that we must look
into. One of the most thing that we need to do is product segmentation. Many
consumers may not the difference between a sports drink and an energy drink or
other drink. We need to separate out our product in such a way that people can
easily differentiate it with other products in the market.

Evaluation of alternatives: One of the most thing that we need to do is product

segmentation. Many consumers may not know the difference between a sports
drink and an energy drink or other juices available in the market. We need to
separate out our product in such a way that people can easily differentiate it
with other products in the market. The taste of our product is quite different
than other juice or soft drinks or energy drinks where sugar content is more.
Apart from the taste, the price of our will be higher that the regular drinks
available in the market. Since the price will be higher the consumers will always
try to evaluate other options available.

Purchase decision: The consumers will only purchase our product when they
will find enough benefits more than the money the used to buy the product.

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They will also check Gatorade’s price. The packaging can also play a major
part. Lower the quantity, lower the price. So, we also need to see in what
packaged components we need to bring the product. The material generally used
for packaging of drinks are paper and plastic bottles. We also need to see in
what packaged form we need to bring the product in the market.

Post Purchase decision: This is the most important part of the campaign. A
satisfied consumer can increase your presence 5 times through various ways
like Word of Mouth, Online reviews etc. On the other hand, if they do not gets
satisfied it can also spread very fast. They say, a dissatisfied customer shares the
information to another 11 persons So, we also need to keep a watch on post
purchase reactions. Taste of our product is liked in Europe and US. But it does
not mean it will be liked in India. We also need to need to capture all those
aspects in the Consumer Buying Behaviour Process.

HOW TO MAKE THE CUSTOMER LOYAL?

This is one of the most important part in any marketing strategy. The above
figure represents a typical Customer Loyalty Funnel stages. Each and every
stage of the funnel is important. Let us discuss each stage one by one.

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Target Market: The target market are mainly the sports enthusiast, aspiring
sports professionals and existing sportsmen of the country. Since it is a sports
drink people who wants to quench their thirst but also want to get good
nutritional value without intaking sugar are the people who will be looking for
our product.

Aware: Awareness is the one of the most important part of the product launch.
People do not have enough knowledge about the benefits of a sports drink or
they can even hear the product sports drink for the first time even. We need to
take one or more than one popular sports event to promote the product. Since
the product will be launched in April 2020 we have considered ISL, IPL & Pro
Kabaddi as our product launch bases. Apart from these three events we have
considered online, print and media platforms to advertise the products and
showcase the benefits in many ways.

Open to Trial: For the success of the campaign and also to check consumer’s
acceptance for the taste of different flavours of the drink sample testing would
be done. It is preferable to do testing activities near sports academics, clubs,
stadiums etc. We can also target different malls and departmental stores. The
feedback of the sample is to be captured and if necessary changes to be made in
the final product. Also, other factors like packaging or need of any other
flavours can also get captured through the process.

Trier (Non-Rejection): Once the product is launched few people will try and
forget, few will try and reject and there will be few who try but not reject the
product also. To attract those people Promotional offers to be given to those
persons. Not only initial discounted packs but also other benefits by linked
offers with many corporate partners like Amazon, Flipkart, Bigbasket etc can
boost the Trier to come back and try the product again.

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Recent Users: Recent Users can also be attracted through Exciting Discounted
offers, feedbacks through online medium etc. We should also tap the voice of
the recent users because turning them into loyal customer can provide us more
mileage than only earning profit by selling the product to them. So,
categorisation of the recent users can be done, and promotional activities can be
done keeping them in mind also.

Regular User: Regular Users are the ones whom no companies want to lose. To
please them we first need to identify them. So, for that we need to maintain a
database for that. Online and digital payments will be given special offers and
through those we will be able to identify our customers. Once they are identified
push messages, mails and clubbing offer with their other online purchases will
enable us to create values for the customer.

Most Often Used: Consumers who will use the product most often will be
treated as A-category customer and they will be treated in the best possible
ways. Discount coupons, cash prizes, redemption of accumulated points to get
other adidas products will be few of the steps that company thinks of taking.
Company must also tap feedback of these customers to make them a loyal
customer.

Loyal: The loyal consumers are the strengths of the company. They spread the
good feedback about the product to their friends, family by Word of Mouth and
thereby increase the awareness and presence of the product in the market.
Company at time to time provide numerous benefits to those customers. For
example, sharing of referral codes to his or her friends may earn him or her
cashbacks and cash prizes.

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ANSOFF’S MATRIX

Our area to
focus

Key points through which New Product-Existing Market area to look out:

• New product – risky processes, high entry cost

• New product launch helps increase revenues and customer base

• New product must fulfil their needs and maintain the brand promise

A growth strategy involves more than simply envisioning long-term success.

Value based pricing strategy such as Premium pricing strategy can be applicable
here. Company may set the price in comparison to competitors such as
Gatorade, Powerade. Packaging must be eye-catchy. Adhere to the brand image
of Adidas since other players do not have sports background edge. Target
customers are mainly sports enthusiast, aspiring sports professionals and
existing sportsmen of the country. Since it is a sports drink people who wants to
quench their thirst but also want to get good nutritional value without intaking
sugar are the people who will be looking for our product.

The main USP will be Packaging of the product. As Adidas has a high
brand image in the market but still didn’t penetrate in Sport’s drink market so It

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will be a benefit to build up the product development strategy under the
umbrella of existing brand image.

As the industry have high profits, many new other competitors are trying
to enter into the market like Adidas sports drink. However, the new entrants will
eventually cause decrease in overall industry profits. Barriers to entry that
includes copy rights and patents. High capital requirement is needed to get into
the market. Government restricted policies are available in places. Access to
suppliers and distributions and the most important the Customer loyalty to
established brand.

Future Growth Plans

Our business plan is built around three strategic choices that will enable us to
focus even more on our consumers:
Speed – How we deliver: Putting our consumers at the heart of everything we
do and serving them in the best possible way means that we need to ensure that
they always find fresh and desirable products where and when they want them.
We will become the first true fast sports company to venture into sports drink.
Cities – Where we deliver: Urbanization continues to be a global megatrend.
Most of the global population lives in cities. Cities are shaping global trends and
consumers’ perception, perspectives and buying decisions.
Open Source – How we create: This is all about collaboration and innovation.
About learning and sharing. We are opening the doors of our brands inviting
athletes, consumers and partners to co-create the future of sport drink and sports
culture with us.

CREATING THE NEW ACCELERATION PLAN

To foster our brand momentum and accelerate sales and earnings growth, we
introduced several initiatives that we will focus on in addition to the three

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strategic choices and our corporate culture – Portfolio, Digital and ONE adidas.
Portfolio: This is all about more focus and less complexity. We constantly want
to revisit and sharpen the focus of our brand portfolio, fully concentrating on
our core competencies. This will allow us to reduce complexity and pursue our
consumer in a more targeted and consequent way.
Digital: The digital transformation is fundamentally changing the way our
consumers behave and the way we work. Technology has enabled us to build
more direct relationships with our consumers. With our relatively young
workforce we are in the unique position to continuously improve our digital
capabilities – not only to interact with the consumer, but also to become faster,
better and more efficient in every part of the organization.
ONE adidas: We continuously strive for operational excellence. ONE adidas
encompasses a set of initiatives that will enable us to work smarter, more
efficiently and in a more aligned way. Because we know that when we act as
one global company instead of 20 smaller ones, we can only get better.

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adidas

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http://www.ijbmer.com/docs/volumes/vol6issue3/ijbmer2015060302.pdf
https://pestleanalysis.com/pestle-analysis-adidas/
http://blueoceanuniversity.com/frontpage/marketing5canalysis/18020-adidas-dreyfus

https://www.adidas-group.com/en/group/strategy-overview/

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