Monday, August 11, 2014

Adidas goes 'all in'

A fully liveried bus ad is an impressive piece of outdoor marketing that will usually receive a fair amount of attention due to the sheer impact of the format. The reach opportunities are increased by the obvious mobility and also the ability to access retail areas where there are little or no other OOH formats available.

As with most media, it is especially effective when tied into events, such as the recent ‘All in or Nothing’ message from adidas which was timed to maximise their presence along the routes of the no.38 and no.8 buses during the World Cup.

These fully wrapped buses are high cost in terms of production which encourages longer campaigns to maximise value for money and lower media costs pro rata. There is the risk, however, that the message soon becomes stale and the impact diminished.



The latest Adidas activity is for their new Predator boots, timed perfectly to coincide with the start of the upcoming season. It’s both refreshing and intriguing to see a brand follow up on successful bus branding rather than using it as a ‘one-off’ impact piece. This willingness to spend big on the on further production augments the Adidas brand stature, especially given the assumed association with the cutting-edge Routemaster buses.

It’s good to see the use of the large format hashtag. It’s being used to pinpoint a particular product (and potentially help measure response) rather than being used for the sake of it.

Adidas has definitely kicked on and let their #predatorinstinct take over, giving them familiarity in the space and the potential to score a victory over rivals in owning the medium within London.

#PurePoint

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