The positioning is being communicated through its global campaign-released worldwide in February 1999 but in India, only in May-as well as through a four-ad print campaign developed locally by RK Swamy/BBDO. Says G Kanan, general manager, marketing, Adidas: ``We are the only brand with heritage in sports. As a brand, we're not an attitude that's fashionable. We're an attitude that is relevant all the time. The new campaign is a first step to communicate what we as a brand stand for''

Developed by a new advertising agency, 180, which was appointed in October last year, (in addition to Adidas' existing London-based agency, Leagas & Delanly) the global campaign comprises of three 30-second TV spots (two have multi-sport visuals, while one focusses on soccer) and a combined60-second TV spot. In India, however, only the combined 60-second spot and the 30-second versions are being aired on television and cinema theatres. The campaign demonstrates Adidas' involvement in all kinds of sports in all parts of the world. Each spot consists of title cards relating to the theme line: `Take what you want'. The message that Adidas wants to project through the new theme, is simple: no matter what sport you choose to play, no matter how talented you are, no matter what age you may be...Adidas simply encourages you to take what you want from the experience.

The campaign also introduces a new brand line for Adidas: `Forever Sport'. The line sums up the ``deeply-felt'' and ``long-term love affair'' (it has been involved with sports since 1928) that Adidas has with sport in all of its forms. Interestingly, the new brand line has been introduced almost after a decade, when it was using `Earn your stripes' as its tag-line. The company dropped it during the late 80s after it found that it wasn'tconnecting too well with its consumers.

Leveraging on Sachin
Continuing its association with trump card Sachin, the local four-ad print campaign tries to connect Adidas' product attributes with Sachin's magic. ``Instead of presenting just one dimension, we thought we'll project three dimensions:

Sachin and Adidas; global Sachin; and Adidas products,'' says Kanan. All the new ads will carry the new baseline Forever Sport, along with the company logo.

So far, only the first ad has been released, while the remaining three will break in the next few weeks. The first ad connects Sachin's choice of a heavy bat with Adidas' Falcon Dorf light-weight shoes. Says the headline: `Sachin likes his bat heavy, not his shoe.'

The second ad to be released this week will promote a new shoe range to be introduced for the first time in India. Sub-branded `Aksu' and priced at Rs 2,299, these are athletic sandals primarily meant for water-based adventure sports. Finally, the next ad will convey that Adidas coversvarious price points by promoting its existing Portland range priced at Rs 1,499 and 1,799 (the leather version).

Will the campaign make Adidas run?
The company expects the campaign to strengthen the image of the brand since research had indicated that neither of the three multinational sports shoe brands present in India had a clear image: most were perceived as diffused brands and personality-led. Says Kanan: ``Sachin has and will play a major role in pushing the brand. He is important, as there are certain values a consumer needs to know about Adidas. But after a certain duration, we have to present a global perspective too and hence the Forever Sport campaign.''

Interestingly, Adidas claims that it did not want to be caught up in the clutter of the World Cup promotions-and deliberately chose not to associated with the World Cup. Instead, according to Kanan, the campaign has been broken now to coincide with the peak season (April-June). ``The World Cup is incidental. It's too large an eventto make significance for us,'' says Kanan.

However, the company is maintaining a steady and dominant presence in the media during the Cup: strewn over select channels like Star, Discovery, and ESPN are the Sachin ads promoting Adidas. ``Star News is delivering good value while through Discovery, we can catch the elite customer,'' Kanan says.

Although Kanan admits that the sports shoe and apparel market is at a nascent stage, he claims that Adidas has grown by over 250 per cent from last year. As a company that takes pride in not joining the price brawl, Adidas does not intend to bring down the prices of its products. Says Kanan, ``We don't look at driving down the market by lowering the price. We are willing to wait for the market to evolve.''

For Adidas, the real breakthrough, says Kanan, has come through a combination of strategies: signing on Sachin, Leander and Bhupathi; expanding its reach (it opened 45 stores last year); a revamped range which covers a band of price points; and support to thebrand. ``We built-in value pricing in our products, and supported them through sports icons who are looked up to. We have realised that to have just one good guy endorsing your brand is more important than having several unknown faces,'' says Kanan.

The company is enlarging the scope of its business by concentrating on apparel. ``Apparel is driving the business. Most consumers start experimenting with the brand through apparel,'' admits Kanan. Essentially perceived as a male brand, Adidas however defends its range by pointing out that currently it has 50 items out of a total of 250, for women.

Further, Adidas is planning to add 30 new stores this year. ``We're looking at driving the market through exclusive stores.'' says Kanan. The logic is clear: use Forever Sport to ensure sales forever.