Updated 11/17/2018 Follow Up with Insider Ties Episode 128: adidas and Finish Line are Failing Each Other
In this episode I take a quick dive to follow up on a post I wrote a few weeks ago about the “In Pursuit Of” adidas x Finish Line exclusive campaign.
Nike and Foot Locker work in an almost symbiotic manner. Finish Line has a chance to do something similar with adidas and the premium product they release. They rearranged the wall and gave the Three Stripes the front of the store, but the follow through on the presentation of premium product falls way short. There are such easy fixes that I can only assume the merchandising and marketing teams are intent on using poorly coordinated social media strategies than capitalizing on incredible omnichannel customer experiences.
Originally written on 11/8/2018
A few weeks ago I popped into Finish Line right before close and the store manager was walking in. The entire crew was in the process of closing the store and shifting an entire wall. The Finish Line had been leading with Nike Air products and they seemed to be moving adidas from the back of the store to the front. Curious, I asked, “Isn’t that a ‘not’ smart thing to be doing at this moment?” The store manager responded, “we’re preparing for a campaign with adidas.”
I asked, “When Nike is dominating right now?”
She replied with the best answer she could, “The customer will always find the Nike products in the store. We could hide it in the back and they would make their way to Jordan Brand. adidas needs this and the campaign is kind of good.”
That campaign recently launched. Finish Line has dedicated a splash page and a dedicated landing page to the “In Pursuit Of” project. They led with an e-mail notifying of the new adidas event and they have wisely invested in considerable video on YouTube. The videos don’t read like ads at all for adidas or Finish Line. The videos feel like movie trailers for a documentary and that’s a good thing:
NBA player Kris Dunn is one of the influencers from the Chicago series. The video captures the grittiness of the city and adidas actually has a golden opportunity as the newly backed JD Sports Finish Line is making an effort to remain connected to a brand that is very strong for the company in Europe. In my opinion it’s a bit risky to overinvest into adidas when the company has seen a considerable slowdown in premium priced product sell through. The Chicago version below is 200.00 which is very problematic.
What’s even worse is that at a time when I’ve been speaking about the benefits of long-form content Finish Line has done a heavy handed job of presenting the project on its site. There is very little storytelling and the company is relying heavily on the video. On the YouTube page they are utilizing a ridiculous amount of broken English and sneaker slang in the copy which creates an inauthentic approach to the product, the company and the campaign. To further complicate the problems with the campaign, the YouTube description isn’t utilized to explain who the people are in the videos which kills the connection opportunity.
Here are a few of the phrases on the YouTube description:
- WE ALSO HAVE SOME DOPE SOCIAL CHANNELS. FOLLOW ALONG TO STAY UP TO DATE WITH EVERYTHING WE’RE DOIN’
- GET SOME DISCOUNTS AND FRESH DEALS BY SUBSCRIBING TO OUR EMAIL LIST
- LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? THROW A SUBSCRIPTION OUR WAY
- VISIT FINISHLINE.com TO COP THE LATEST AND GREATEST IN THE SNEAKER GAME
I like the idea that Finish Line and adidas are collabing because it adds diversity to a Nike driven market, but this is another instance where a company is failing at delivering the story in a concise manner. What do you think about the language in the copy above? What do you think about the description on the YouTube videos and the lack of story on the landing page?
https://www.finishline.com/adidas-in-pursuit-of