adidas has to find the connection between Germany and the U.S. It always seems that there is a disconnect in where the brand is, where they are headed and how they are going to get there. Not to bring up terminated relationships, but the Three Stripes gets discussed more for Yeezy and Fear of God, than the success the brand has had in marathons and the highlights their athletes in track and field have attained. I’ve discussed how track and field is underutilized, but it’s understandable. The events are long and spread out. You can’t really watch the event in a contained space when distance events are included, but when you nail down the most popular aspects of track, the 100 meter has produced many of the memorable moments and adidas has the greatest of them all in Adi Dassler’s spikes under the feet of Jesse Owens.
adidas has an amazing history and it’s being continued with athletes like Aleia Hobbs, Noah Lyles and Erriyon Knighton who all showed up for the Atlanta Track Club’s partnership with adidas at the Atlanta City Games. The event included a bevy of events and the way it was set up, this could become a WWE styled traveling contest or key cities could create facilities built specifically for training and running events like this. The problem is adidas on their adi Running IG still has info on their Road to Records event, but not this Atlanta City Games. On their news site there isn’t any mention of this event. To be honest, if I hadn’t been watching Doha Diamond League events on YouTube, this event would not have popped up for me to view on Saturday. adidas’ press team didn’t reach out to sneaker blogs, understandably, but at least reach out to a site like mine early to profile and highlight the competition.
A Fractured Brand
The teams in the U.S. have consistently been moved to the side by the push of fashion over performance and what seemingly feels like a North American unit operating independent and without support. It also feels like a company trapped in sneaker cities (Portland, Boston, New York) hiring the same people from other brands carrying the same methodologies instead of building something new and exciting to engage the consumers. I’m not saying that people aren’t doing a good job, I think adidas is a fractured brand with an absentee landlord business structure which causes the company to miss out on opportunities that can be found in alternative branding events. In the broadcast a point was raised about how far American athletes have to travel for events where they can compete against world-class competition. adidas has found an opening. It’s one that is being poorly filled by the American Track League which is sponsored by Puma. If the Three Stripes is smart there is a coordination with 10-20 cities (in distribution areas where there are an abundance of warehouses collecting dust) and an allotment of marketing funds utilized to build facilities to highlight the events featured in this event. At 55,000 views over a weekend and the video up in perpetuity (which should be broken down beyond video segments) this is an incredible educational and entertainment event that will undoubtedly grow the sport and the connection to the brand.
Event:
8:00 AM Run with Maud 5K – Click Here to Learn More
2:30 – 4:45 PM adidas Atlanta Youth City Games – Click Here to Learn More
3:00 – 6:30 PM Youth Track and Field Zone
4:45 – 6:00 PM Running City Mile – Click Here to Learn More
5:00 PM Women’s Pole Vault
6:05 PM Elite Women’s Mile
6:15 PM Elite Men’s Mile
6:30 PM Elite Women’s 600m
6:40 PM Elite Men’s 600m
6:45 PM FootSpeed powered by MONDO – Girls’ Finals
7:05 PM Trials Elite Women 100h
7:12 PM Trials Elite Women 100h
7:15 PM Men’s Pole Vault
7:23 PM Trials Elite Men 110H
7:30 PM Trials Elite Men 110H
7:40 PM Trials Elite Men 100m
7:47 PM Trials Elite Men 100m
7:56 PM Trials Elite Women 100m
8:03 PM Trials Elite Women 100m
8:05 PM FootSpeed powered by MONDO – Boys Final
8:22 PM B Final Elite Men’s 150m
8:30 PM B Final Elite Women’s 150m
8:35 PM Mascot Race
8:45 PM A Final Elite Women’s 150m
8:55 PM Final Elite Men’s 100m
9:05 PM Elite Women 100h
9:15 PM Elite Men 110H
9:25 PM Elite Women 100m
9:40PM Elite Men 150m