Sport Brand Marketing: The case of Nike and Adidas

Nike in Adidas sta globalni športni blagovni znamki, ki sta na trgu športnih oblačil,obutve in opreme najbolj prepoznavni. Verjetno ni skrivnost, da blagovna znamka Nike in blagovna znamka Adidas nista najboljši prijateljici. Veliko rivalstvo se kaže predvsem pri razvijanju novih tehnologij in novih izdelkov ter sklepanju večmilijonskih pogodb tako s športnimi klubi kot tudi posamezniki. Za uspehe, ki jih iz leta v leto dosegata, pa je zaslužna njuna marketinška politika in njune marketinške strategije. Nike in Adidas veliko vlagata v marketinške aktivnosti. Adidas je v letu 2016 vložil 4,3 milijarde dolarjev, Nike pa je v fiskalnem letu 2016 porabil 3,3 milijarde dolarjev, kar pomeni, da je Adidas v letu 2016 porabil več denarnih sredstev v marketinške aktivnosti. Blagovni znamki Nike in Adidas imata zelo širok asortiment izdelkov. Obe imata tri glavne linije izdelkov in vsaka glavna linija ima veliko športnih kategorij. Blagovni znamki sta si tako zelo podobni, da se konkurenčna prednost lahko kaže v dveh značilnostih, in sicer v hitrosti razvijanja tehnoloških inovacij in v ekskluzivnosti.Nike and Adidas are global sports brands that are the most recognizable on the market of sports shoes, apparel, and equipment. There is probably no secret that Nike and Adidas are not best friends. Their huge rivalry is shown mainly in development of new technologies, new products, and signing several-million-worth contracts with many sports clubs (sponsorship deals) and athletes (endorsement deals). The credit for the successes that both brand achieve year after year goes to their marketing policy and their marketing strategies. Nike and Adidas invest heavily in their marketing activities. Adidas in 2016 invested 4.3 billion dollars, while Nike in the fiscal year 2016 spent 3.3 billion dollars, which means that Adidas invested much more in marketing activities. Both brands have a very wide range of products. Both have three major product lines and each line has a lot of sports categories. The two brands are so similar that a competitive advantage can be seen in two characteristics: speed of the development of technological innovation and exclusivity