Corporate'Adidas doesn't want to run before learning to walk'
Adidas, which launched its premium lifestyle product – Originals — in India two years ago, is still in the process of educating customers about the different story that the collections, represented by the Trefoil logo, has to tell vis-à-vis its regular "performance’ brands. Timo Pape, adidas’ Director Sport Style, Asia Pacific, spoke to Suvi Dogra about the German sports wear company’s strategy to increase the share of Originals to one-fifth of its business in India. Excerpts:
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Originals is still a new concept in India. Are you happy with the progress?
The response has been positive, but the Adidas performance brand still accounts for a larger share of the total umbrella. It has been only two years and we don’t want to run before we learn to walk. The target audience for Originals is in the 18-35 age group and we have to educate customers on the different story that Originals has to tell.
Where does India fit into the scheme of things for Originals globally?
In Asia, our three biggest markets are – China, Korea and Japan. India is an interesting market that will evolve in a couple of years. Most of our collections that are present worldwide are already here and doing well. The aim however, is to build the Originals brand image in India as a separate entity since it is a totally different field of play from the performance range — going from a niche brand to a lifestyle brand of choice. Originals accounts for 20 per cent of the global business for adidas and we would like to see a similar story in India.
Which other brands does Originals compete with in India?
I would say we are very unique with our sports-inspired casual products. In Asia, players like Nike with their lifestyle products maybe our competition but Nike still hasn’t launched that collection in India. Puma, I would say, is closer to competition, since they have tried bringing in that fashion and style element in India.
What kind of labels do you promote under Originals? Are they all present in India?
The Originals collection comprises four key ranges — Respect M.E. by Missy Elliot, Porche Design, Freizeit and Urban/Core. On the labels front, our latest introduction globally is the Style Essentials label. The collection is a part of adidas" updated retail distribution and marketing strategy to reach consumers across multiple categories in a targeted way, while growing market share. Style Essentials becomes the latest collection within adidas" Sport Style division, joining Originals, Y-3 and SILVR. Originals is adidas" original lifestyle brand; Y-3 is the sport-inspired high-fashion label; and SILVR is adidas" pure fashion label for the modern individual. India is a young market; so while Porche are is available here, the rest are not. We don’t want to dilute the brand imagery by just adding labels.
adidas has a larger male consumer base. Do you wish to keep it that way?
Historically, footwear has been dominated by male consumers. But we are making inroads into the women’s wear segment, as well as with new sleek collections. We ultimately see it as a 50:50 ratio from 70:30 now.
Do you think there could be a certain cannibalization, since the Indian consumers still may be unaware of the difference between Originals and the ‘performance’ brands?
We are investing in communicating the brand ideology globally and it will come to India as soon as we achieve a critical mass. The advantage in India is that the retail environment allows mono-brand stores that allow us to tell the story of the brand and give consumers an opportunity to interact directly with the brand. This may not be the case in certain markets in Europe, where it becomes harder to sell the story.