Source: https://t.co/RCEKnBqlcy PDX via Clare Duffy
Earlier this year I reported on several moves adidas made with their digital sports division. Those articles are below. Each post was basically a surface discussion on adidas digital, but there is one comment I made in regard to the Future/Fit model that adidas was attempting to create.
My one issue is that wearable tech is not going to increase so there has to be an easier way to monitor and integrate health and digital into the lifestyle of the people in the market. Nike has a natural ally in Apple. Apple is controlling the wearables market so this could be a costly project for adidas to maintain and promote.
adidas, like Under Armour took the time to begin building their digital tech department. I reported that Under Armour’s investment in tech (Connected Fitness) was the primary cause of Under Armour’s collapse over the last year. UA eventually got rid of the Connected Fitness department and there were layoffs. PDX states that it isn’t aware if layoffs will happen with adidas Digital.
When adidas began their push I thought that it could be a smart approach to connecting with the women’s market and was a logical move since the company was doing some fantastic work with Avenue A and Stella McCartney as well. However, if you look at my quote above I was hesitant to think that this was a solid move by the Three Stripes. Digital is an interesting play. While the world revolves around cell phones, the decision to build departments dedicated to the very volatile fitness market is shaky. At least adidas was smart enough to pay attention to Under Armour’s failures and axe the project early enough that they didn’t divert attention from what is working for the brand. You can read those older articles by clicking the links below.
adidas Digital Sports releases the first-ever Future/fit Forecast
adidas Introduces ALL DAY – New All-Around Fitness App Inspired by Sport
