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Hello and welcome. You're listening to
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Marketing Matters on the Wharton Podcast
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Network, our weekly podcast where we
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analyze the latest in advertising,
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marketing, customer behavior, and new
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product launches. I'm Barbara Khan, the
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Patty and JH Baker Professor of
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Marketing, and I'm joined by my co-host,
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Americus Reed, the Whitney M. Young Jr.
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Professor of Marketing and the brand
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identity theorist. Hello, Americus.
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>> Hi, Barbara. Okay. So, I was pondering
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this and of course what we do at the
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Wharton School often is to think about
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the important case studies of iconic
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brands that can teach us about the
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wisdom of staying relevant over time.
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And I got to tell you, I was recently
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giving a co a talk, a keynote, and I
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wore these shoes. I'll show them to you
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briefly.
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>> Oh, nice.
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>> And I got to tell you, I got all kinds
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of compliments. So, I need to know. And
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by the way, I'm gonna put a quote out
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there to sort of kick us off here.
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There's a difference between timeless
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and timeliness. Okay.
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>> And so what have you got if I want to
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learn about this venerable company? What
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have you got for me today, Barbara Khan?
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>> So you're talking about the famous
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company Adidas, although a lot of people
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here say Adidas, but I believe it's
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pronounced rightly Adidas. And that is a
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brand that has been around for a while
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and is never more relevant today than it
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was in the past. And in order to talk
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about all of that, we have with us the
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vice president of marketing for Adidas
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Originals, Basketball, and Partnerships,
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Annie Barrett. Hello, Annie. Welcome to
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our show. Hello. Hello, Barbara and
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Americas. Thank you for having me. And
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Americus, I honest also brought a shoe
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beside me. So now I feel like Let's
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Let's book in this, ladies and
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gentlemen. Let's book in.
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>> I didn't know we were having a shoe
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party. I have my own upstairs.
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>> I love I love this brand and I am so
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excited, Annie, to learn everything. I
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We're going to just We're going to
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absorb your knowledge. So, we are super
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excited, as Barbara was saying.
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>> Uh yeah, I do wish I had my uh my shoe
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with me, but I do have one upstairs. But
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anyway, what we wanted to talk about,
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Annie, is your new campaign, Superstar,
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the original. Can you tell us like the
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motivation for the campaign and then we
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can get into it? I have to say I watched
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that spot. I don't know. America's
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abused.
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>> Awesome. If you haven't seen this spot,
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you have to go on YouTube immediately
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and see it.
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>> But why don't you give us the background
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for it?
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>> Oh, I'd love to. And honestly, you both
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are just making me smile ear to ear and
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you know how you're speaking about it as
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well because that's how how I feel about
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the campaign genuinely. So yeah, I'd
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love to talk you through the what and
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the why. And actually for us as Adidas
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originals, you know, the last couple of
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years we've been on a bit of a journey
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overall to really kind of set out and
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define who we are authentically and make
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sure we show up authentically even
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internally first to make sure when we go
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out into the world, we're being
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authentic to our consumers. So, we've
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been on a bit of a journey and with that
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we've really lent into the fact that we
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are a sport brand and we've lent in and
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been proud that we were born for sport
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and then for originals we've been super
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proud around how we've made our way into
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many subcultures all around the the
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world. And so when we set out with this
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campaign for for Superstar, although
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Superstar is a shoe, we really wanted to
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lean into it. It's it's so much more
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than than just a shoe. And we wanted to
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portray and and relive the journey from
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sport to culture because it's actually a
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shoe that was made for basketball truly
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to be played on the basketball courts
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and it was made in in the late 60s and
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and it was worn on basketball on NBA
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players all throughout the 70s and it's
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and it's actually at the time was was a
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crazy innovation and new innovation.
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basketball players at the time were they
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were wearing canvas shoes and Adidas
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came in America America's knows I feel
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like maybe he's a basketball fan you
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know was wearing canvas
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>> yes
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>> um and actually Adidas came in and and
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actually looked at it and said we need
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to make something that works best for
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the athlete um and that's where we were
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the first uh company to make a leather a
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leather performance shoe um but there's
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so much more to it and that's why I had
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the shoe because within the design and
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when when people look at the shoe of the
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Superstar, there's so much to it like
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the the shell toe here, the shell toe at
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the top, it's it's to protect the the
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toes, right? And and and the sole was to
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grip on the core and then the leather
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was to be durable. So, it was so
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innovative of its time and it was so
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precious, but actually the journey it
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then took is what we really love at Adas
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Originals. Um, you know, through the
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through the 80s it was adopted in
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hip-hop and music with Run DMC,
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iconic. Uh, in the '9s it took its way
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into grunge and into
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>> Let me just stop you on all of that and
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let's like unpack.
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>> I know my mind is exploding because this
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is so incredible.
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>> I I want to like just and America's
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weigh in whenever you want. Interrupt me
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galore. It's fine. But I'm trying to
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understand this. You started out as a
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basketball shoe and you were showing us
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the shoe to show us why it was so good
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on the basketball court, but then you
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started talking about the cultural
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influence it had. So, how how did that
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happen? Was it organic? Did you did did
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it happen because you thought to make
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you know your company thought to push it
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that way? How exactly did that move from
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one to the next world?
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>> Yeah, it's it's a beautiful question
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because it was organic. It truly was
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organic. you know, run DMC literally
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pointed to this shoe and, you know, they
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would say in their own words, growing up
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in New York, it was a durable shoe. It
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was it was a durable shoe that you could
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clean super easy. So, they actually
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picked it up and wore it um without, you
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know, us interfering in that way. And
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that was what was so beautiful about
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that kind of shift from sport directly
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into hip-hop. and and then from that
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point it took many different worlds of
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its own. So yeah, super cool.
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>> So when you I I don't know if you were
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at the company then or you just know the
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history, but so when you get that lucky
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break, that move, is there something the
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company does to capitalize on it or just
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from a marketing point of view, that
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sounds great that it was adopted
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organically, but I would imagine you'd
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want to build on that also and and
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certainly in this updated campaign, you
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want to build on all of that. So, can
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you talk a little bit about the
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marketing implications of of that move
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from one world to the next?
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>> For sure. And honestly, I think for us,
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it really did define collaborations
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uh and and and moving our sport product
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into culture and and defining a a true
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partnership. And we did sign a deal with
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Run DMC, but kind of after the fact and
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after the fact they won it. Um, so that
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really was a uh a pioneering step for us
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to kind of, you know, listen and see
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that they naturally adopted us, but then
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have a conversation and say, "Well, how
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else do we want to work together?"
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>> Right.
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>> And that then, yeah, for sure became the
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start of true collaborations and
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long-term partnerships and contracts and
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deals and
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>> and now for from where we sit today,
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it's such a vital part of of what we do.
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We're always trying to invite people
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into our brand, you know, to to
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collaborate, to share, to give us
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inspiration, and and our ambition is
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keep pushing us forward, help keep us
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forward as a brand. So, yeah, super
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super cool, super interesting. And I
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wasn't around then. Um, but I I I I love
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geeking out on it all. Um, and I I could
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keep going, but I'll I'll I'll stop at
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that point.
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>> Yeah. America, I'm sure you're aching to
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say something. So, I'm just going to set
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up my next one, but I'm going to let you
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to do it. So, I I love the fact that you
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weren't around that you're looking at it
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and now you have to have a modern uptake
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on it, and I'm curious about that, but I
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know Americas is just biting his tongue
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hoping to say something. So, let me uh
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give him the opportunity.
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>> Yeah, I this is fantastic. I do want you
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to address that point, Annie, that uh
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that Barbara was making. Uh, but I also
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want to I point out to you Barbara the
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how impressive this was because it it
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cannot be overstated the coolness of the
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earlier partnerships way back in the day
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as Annie was talking about because if
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you if you really studied the hip-hop
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community you understood that there at
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that moment at least there was this sort
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of push back against sort of
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corporations and there was a purity
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around the art form and people were very
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protective of the art. So there was no
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way back in those early days, Barbara,
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that companies could just come in and
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connect inauthentically. It wasn't going
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to happen because the artists would say,
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"I'm basically selling out. I'm
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basically not pure. I'm not I'm not This
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is not real." And so that's what for me
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is like super duper duper impressive
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about this. But I love your point. I
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want to connect those two dots, Andy.
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Barbara's point about stepping in with
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fresh eyes to be able to look at this,
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but also pulling forward the cultural
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iconicness and the authenticity of those
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brand moments that were early on in
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Adidas DNA. How those things are coming
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together to sort of set the stage for
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what you're doing now.
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>> Yeah, for sure. And and honestly, that's
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where, you know, our inspiration was
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pulled. And then when we were looking at
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this campaign, it was for sure, you
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know, we don't want to tell a history
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story, but how do we give a nod and
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point to the cues of its journey from
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sport into the different subcultures
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that I me mentioned? And that's where we
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kind of thought around, okay, what's the
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message we want to put out here? And it
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was two parts. The first one was we do
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want to show we truly believe we have
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the most iconic sneaker in the industry
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and it is the original icon and without
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just pointing to the shoe we want to
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have a lineup and a cast of partners who
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really represent being an original icon
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in their field and so that then led to
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the cross-pollination of the cast that
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led with people from basketball from
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skate in hiphop and in music. So, we
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kind of reinterpreted the journey it's
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been on into a more contemporary
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vision and creative and story without
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just pushing the direct product story uh
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in everyone's faces. So, yeah.
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>> So, how did you choose the people you
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chose? Like, did you choose them? Did
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they choose you?
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It it was a a collaboration and we have
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a really incredible sports marketing
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team and culture marketing team that we
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we name internally who look after all of
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our our partners and you know we work
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together to say look here's the vision
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uh here's the type of personality that
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we want to pull through you know an icon
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someone who walks in a room and has that
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aura and and you know authentically
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connects to our brand and and that is
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what then led to you know the likes of
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Missy Elliot an absolute dawn, a
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pioneer,
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uh, authentic connections to the brand,
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which was super important, too.
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>> You know, with Jenny from Blackpink,
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she's been a partner of ours for a good
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few years now. Anthony Edwards,
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>> you know, such a dawn right now in in
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basketball and such a personality.
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Again, he definitely has that aura of
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being an icon and so on so forth. So it
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kind of then started to craft from the
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story, the the feeling we wanted to
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portray and then who who can help us
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tell that story. And then that of course
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led to us uh pointing to the ultimate
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dawn of Mr. Samuel L. Jackson.
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>> Yeah. I mean that's Yes. Yes. Yes.
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>> I was wondering when you're going to
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mention him. He's kind of a star in the
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>> He's a big star. He is a big star. Yes.
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I I want to just uh you know I got the
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memo that Adidas might be looking for an
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icon in the identity theorist marketing
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professor in Philadelphia space. So I
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just want to put this out there. Uh
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Annie, I'm available. I'm available for
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uh for a conversation.
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>> I'll be calling you. I will be calling.
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>> In all seriousness though, I I I want to
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return back quickly to something you
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said at the earlier part of the
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interview that just stuck with me in my
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mind and you said building the brand
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internally. Building the brand
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internally. Can you speak on this
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because I feel like this is um a not
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often appreciated aspect of creating the
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brand strategy because the idea being
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that if the people in the building and
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the four walls of the building aren't
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buying into the DNA, it's going to be
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much more difficult to have that
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authenticity
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ripple out to the marketplace. So, can
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you talk about how Adidas creates that
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strong deep sort of internalized culture
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with the company within the company?
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>> For sure. and and I I've been at the
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brand 15 years, so and and I genuinely
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love it. I love the three stripes. I
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love the feeling it it brings to you.
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And and actually it was for me as well
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as with with my team, we I would say two
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and a half years ago as I kind of
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stepped into this space and role that
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I'm in now, the first thing I did was I
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brought everyone together and I said, I
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want you to bring something in that
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reminds you of why you love working for
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Adidas Originals
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>> because it it just and honestly the
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memories uh that people bring up whether
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it's their their dad's first soccer
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cleat or it is like a magazine they
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bought when they were young and all of
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these memories that remind you of like
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why why do you love love the brand and
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and we said we we say internally like
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you know if you don't love the brand and
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what it represents how on earth can you
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persuade the consumers to love the brand
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of what it represents so again just
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personally for me it was super important
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and it it was literally um uh work that
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we did to say let's make sure we we know
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what original stand for
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And and one other just um insight is
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actually we also did a a kind of
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workshop internally with many different
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groups to say what are the two words
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also that come front of mind when you
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think about Adidas originals and
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actually the the language our internal
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team used became a lot of our statements
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of intent which was super cool. Um and
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and two key words that came out which
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relates to this campaign as well was
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timeless pioneers.
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You know what's so interesting about
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what you're what you're saying is I I
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teach a luxury course and I think about
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European luxury and to me what you're
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describing is very much in keeping with
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these iconic European luxury brands
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where it is about the legacy, the
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history, the original and and it's
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really important to get within that
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ethos and not make comparisons and not
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think about all these other things. just
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think about what that brand means to
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you. And that has worked for 200 years
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for the European luxury brands. And I
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think it's a different perspective than
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we typically see in this space in the
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US. So it feels it feels kind of iconic
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and European to me. Is that fair or do
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you think I'm reading into it?
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>> No, I I I do think it's I do think it's
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fair. And we've had many conversations
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as well internally around you you know
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do do you rely too much on the heritage
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and how do you keep pushing forward and
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again it's totally twofold isn't it? It
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is like but our our magic power is also
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our archive and and people would love to
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have to be able to delve into an archive
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and then push it forward to today. And
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again, I think the super important part
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is is the juxaposition between the two
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of being timeless but yet pioneering.
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You know, you pushing forward and and I
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do think, you know, the inspiration of
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being a European brand but then still
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having the edge to cut through in the US
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too is is is vital as well because you
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can't just sit as a European brand uh at
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the same time.
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>> Absolutely. It has to be more than that.
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But it does give you a something special
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in your DNA that is really unique
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uniquely yours because you are in a very
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competitive space. Although you don't
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get that feeling from any of your
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marketing, you feel like you're the only
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one, you know, and which is great, but
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truth of the matter is it is quite a
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comparative area. And so like this gives
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you a unique differentiation. I think
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>> it it does and and and that's is super
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important to you can get caught up right
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for sure and in what's happening in the
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industry and in all the different spaces
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but at the heart of it it is it kind of
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goes back to you know internally do you
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love working for the brand and do you
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know what we represent and then make
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sure you you hold on to that special
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source externally too. Um, but yeah, so
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it's it's it's super exciting and we
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applied it to this campaign directly.
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>> That's incredible. I also want to just
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touch upon this point that you made,
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Annie, with respect. I love this. Can I
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just
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>> I just I just listen, every day is a
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parade. I just I just get to talk to
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smart people and just be inspired. I'm
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standing over here in my, you know, in
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my house with goosebumps listening to
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all of this.
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>> Yeah. Like you're special.
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I love the idea of that the and this is
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relating back to Barbara's question
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Annie about how do you pick these icons
00:17:43
and when you read that list off what
00:17:45
immediately jumped to my mind is as soon
00:17:47
as you read the name I could literally
00:17:49
picture the film the song the thing that
00:17:53
they did that they did first that you'd
00:17:56
never seen before and it was like ah so
00:17:59
iconic means that yeah we don't follow
00:18:02
you know we're not following it's what
00:18:03
you said in the commercial we're not
00:18:04
following time we said it Oh, set time.
00:18:08
>> Okay, I got to calm down here. But and
00:18:10
the point be the point being that I love
00:18:12
that DNA, Barbara, that notion of, you
00:18:15
know, doing things that create creative,
00:18:17
but yet also it's built on a legacy, a
00:18:20
very clearly articulated DNA, all of
00:18:22
those different things. And to me,
00:18:23
that's the magic of marketing. When
00:18:25
those things come together in a
00:18:26
beautiful authentic way, it just creates
00:18:29
so much power and so much inspiration
00:18:31
for not only consumers but professors of
00:18:33
marketing who are out here trying to
00:18:35
understand how can I take a little bit
00:18:37
of of this wisdom, bring it into the
00:18:39
classroom and describe to our marketing
00:18:41
students. This is why we brand because
00:18:43
it creates like Barbara was saying all
00:18:45
of this additional uh stuff that really
00:18:49
protects us when other competitors try
00:18:51
to show up and claim they've got the
00:18:53
same thing. So, I love that point. I
00:18:55
want to give you kudos for that. Your
00:18:56
tracksuit is on fire. This is awesome.
00:18:58
You probably get to wear this every day.
00:19:00
Uh, which is a beautiful thing. Barbara,
00:19:03
what else have we I mean, what what what
00:19:04
else is perkling on your mind, Barb?
00:19:05
>> Well, what what I'm thinking about is as
00:19:07
you're describing this amazing brand,
00:19:09
this legacy brand, this original, but
00:19:12
now you're, like you said, it's modern,
00:19:14
and so you've created this wonderful
00:19:16
spot that people can see, but I'm sure
00:19:19
there's other things you're doing to
00:19:20
support this campaign. So, what else?
00:19:23
you know, just getting into some of the
00:19:24
brass tax of it. How do you take this
00:19:26
beautiful idea and and take it out into
00:19:29
execution?
00:19:31
>> Oh, for sure. And Americus, I love that
00:19:33
you know the script because I I could
00:19:36
read that script of clocks over and over
00:19:38
again from the the spot. Know it by
00:19:40
heart. And um I could do a whole
00:19:43
>> section just on Mrs. Samuel Jackson,
00:19:45
too, because he was absolutely
00:19:47
incredible. But but to to your point
00:19:49
Barbara, it is you know it's more than
00:19:51
just a film and it it was more than um
00:19:56
just that one spot and that one piece of
00:19:58
roll out and kind of what we look at is
00:20:01
there's three areas that we we drive
00:20:03
through with the team. So it is the
00:20:05
first one is how do we continue to drive
00:20:08
equity in Adidas Originals and that is
00:20:11
that everything we've talked about so
00:20:12
far how how are you distinct? How are
00:20:14
you consistent? How are you, you know,
00:20:17
add us originals authentically? And then
00:20:19
the second part is and how are we
00:20:20
driving true credibility, right? And and
00:20:23
that actually is more around grassroots
00:20:26
and working with all our different
00:20:28
markets all around the world and going
00:20:31
how do you take take this idea of
00:20:32
original icons within your spaces? And
00:20:35
that then led to many continued uh
00:20:39
elements of the campaign from local
00:20:42
partners, local events. It was all about
00:20:44
putting upcoming musicians on a big
00:20:47
stage, you know, celebrating uh
00:20:49
celebrating that. Um it was all about
00:20:52
ensuring that the markets were equipped
00:20:55
with everything they need to take the
00:20:57
identity and land it consistently in
00:20:59
their market. So we still felt like one
00:21:01
holistic brand even though markets could
00:21:04
really delve into the story in their
00:21:06
way. So again, we we kind of talk around
00:21:08
how do you act like a big brand but then
00:21:10
be truly intimate as well like a like a
00:21:12
small
00:21:13
>> that actually sounds daunting to me you
00:21:15
know when you start saying all that like
00:21:18
I can see creating in some sense the art
00:21:20
the brand but then to execute it around
00:21:23
the world in all these local markets and
00:21:26
bringing all these different people I
00:21:28
mean that sounds like a headache I mean
00:21:31
really hard to uh to do flawlessly.
00:21:35
It's it's huge. It's a huge um it's a
00:21:39
huge task. It is for sure. And but we
00:21:42
work so intimately with every market and
00:21:46
we're we're a bit like a welloiled
00:21:48
machine now at this point, right? We we
00:21:50
bring them on the journey from our
00:21:52
creative concepting with the market so
00:21:54
they can again fall in love with where
00:21:57
we're going and we we share with them
00:21:58
here are the partners that we're working
00:22:00
with. So it it's it's a journey a long
00:22:02
journey we go on with the markets and
00:22:04
then at some point you there's trust in
00:22:06
the markets right you run and now you
00:22:08
execute it um and and so you know it is
00:22:12
a daunting task because you know we're a
00:22:15
global brand with every country in the
00:22:18
entire world that executed this campaign
00:22:20
but I do think what has helped us is
00:22:24
that we had quite a distinct point of
00:22:26
view clear creative direction clear
00:22:29
intent we brought all the markets along
00:22:31
in the process and and then we were able
00:22:33
to to execute it really wonderfully and
00:22:36
um yeah just kudos to all the markets as
00:22:38
well for for jumping on it. Um and then
00:22:41
the third pillar to to to the first two
00:22:43
is is obviously then how how do you make
00:22:45
sure then people feel compelled to then
00:22:47
want to put superstars on their feet and
00:22:50
and feel confident in in putting them on
00:22:52
their feet. So the business side of it
00:22:54
too, right? So equity, credibility,
00:22:57
okay, now how do we drive drive business
00:22:59
off the back of all of the incredible
00:23:01
work we've done? So that's how we take
00:23:03
it just from uh one campaign spot and
00:23:06
then pull it all the way through the
00:23:07
markets and even I mean we were super
00:23:10
intentional too around the roll out. Um
00:23:13
because the first spot that dropped was
00:23:15
just Samuel Jackson with a a script that
00:23:17
related to pyramids which was so random,
00:23:21
right? It it sounds
00:23:23
very random. You know, why are we
00:23:25
talking about pyramids when we're meant
00:23:27
to be selling superstars? But again, it
00:23:30
was the beauty around giving a nod to a
00:23:32
wonder of the world and
00:23:33
>> yeah, originals, right?
00:23:35
>> Yeah. I mean, the metaphor of clocks as
00:23:37
America's mentioned that I love that
00:23:39
idea, you know, that tiny bit of that.
00:23:42
>> Incredible. So, yeah, that's how we we
00:23:44
took it and we expanded it again all
00:23:46
around the world, every country. And
00:23:48
yeah, super proud of what the team and
00:23:50
every every team around the world have
00:23:52
done.
00:23:55
>> Yeah. Well, Annie,
00:23:58
>> we're letting it all sink in. And it's
00:24:00
just like
00:24:00
>> I just have I'm gonna have to this when
00:24:02
the podcast drops, I got to watch this a
00:24:04
100 times because
00:24:05
>> there's so much in here. There's so much
00:24:07
so much to share with our students and
00:24:09
so much really cool wisdom. I love the
00:24:11
idea to Barbara's point. She said it was
00:24:12
daunting and she's 100% correct. this
00:24:14
idea of trying to bring things together.
00:24:17
You historic icon but also pioneering,
00:24:20
you know, a large brand that has scale
00:24:22
but also personalized and identity
00:24:24
relevant. So, this is just incredible
00:24:26
stuff.
00:24:26
>> And also the the idea that it's a
00:24:28
basketball shoe, it's a functional shoe
00:24:30
that's moved into all of these different
00:24:32
cultural realms and, you know, speaks to
00:24:35
identity. Um, it's just kind of amazing.
00:24:38
Well, Annie, thank you so much for
00:24:40
joining us today. Where can our
00:24:41
listeners go to watch this spot, to find
00:24:44
out about this campaign, find out about
00:24:46
you?
00:24:48
>> Oh, for sure they can. Well, definitely
00:24:50
hit up our our social channels for
00:24:52
Adidas and Adidas Originals and our Tik
00:24:54
Tok channels and and all that good
00:24:56
stuff. And then obviously Adidas.com
00:24:58
will have the whole shebang on there,
00:25:00
too. Um, so please go watch. Yeah, I'm
00:25:02
still a I'm still a huge huge fan of of
00:25:06
it and I I still love watching it. And
00:25:08
then if you want to catch me LinkedIn um
00:25:11
try find me on there. Um happy to happy
00:25:14
to connect and yeah appreciate um you
00:25:16
both. It's been really wonderful and
00:25:18
warm and really love chatting to you
00:25:20
both.
00:25:21
>> Excellent.
00:25:22
>> Yeah, thank you so much for joining us.
00:25:24
That's all we have time for today. Thank
00:25:26
you all for listening. We'll be back
00:25:28
next week. Till then, this has been
00:25:30
Marketing Matters on the Wharton podcast
00:25:32
network. I'm Barbara Khan here with
00:25:34
America's Reed.
