adidas steps up to mobile marketing with wide-ranging campaign for <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />U.S. NBA All Star Week<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

By Gene Keenan, Isobar & Laura Marriott, MMA | May, 2007 | Reprinted with permission from Informa's Mobile Messaging Analyst

The brand: adidas

The agency: Isobar

The campaign:  NBA All Star Week 2007

The objective:  To provide a program guide for all of the events happening in Las Vegas during the NBA All Star Week 2007, and to extend the reach of the adidas brand through the mobile device.

Location: Las Vegas, U.S.

Date: February 2007

Program timing: Four weeks, from inception to launch.

The mobile media channel is providing brands with access to their consumers like never before.  Always on, always available and available everywhere, mobile provides a means for brands to newly engage with their consumers in a way which not only builds brand equity but also refreshes their relationship with their customers. This relationship becomes one of engagement and opportunity, where the consumer has newfound access to the brand from their mobile device.

Given the rise in the number of marketing campaigns which are reaching the consumer through the mobile device, MMA is pleased to introduce a monthly column, contributed by the Mobile Marketing Association, which will highlight mobile marketing case studies from all over the world.

The Mobile Marketing Association’s first campaign case study, co-written by Isobar’s Gene Keenan and MMA president Laura Marriott, features a cross-media mobile marketing initiative in the U.S. by sportswear manufacturer adidas.

adidas owned the media rights around the NBA All Star Week 2007, which was held in Las Vegas in February. In addition to making maximum mileage from its media rights, adidas wanted to build a consumer-centric program, the objective of which was to provide visitors and fans with information and content around all of the events, activities and other exclusive promotions up to and including the All-Star Weekend 16-18 February .

From a branding perspective, the sportswear manufacturer’s aim was to create a ‘gratitude effect’ by associating the adidas brand with useful tools for consumers.

Consumers opted-in to the program by texting VEGAS to adidas (234327). They then received an appropriately-worded opt-in message, in accordance with MMA Consumer Best Practices guidelines, after which they were sent a link to the mobile web site.

Once opted in to the service, consumers were also notified that they could receive dynamically generated event information ‘on demand’ by texting the key word ‘ORIGINALS’ at any time of the day.

Key features
The campaign provided a schedule of events in Las Vegas online using WAP, on-demand via SMS, and SMS alerts which featured highlights sent throughout the week. adidas also offered free content downloads including a ring-tone for each of the 30 teams created by hip-hop and rap artist Dan “the Automator” Nakamura, and promotional videos of the All-Star weekend itself. The wireless mechanisms deployed were SMS, mobile Web (WAP) and Bluetooth (in-store).

Cross-media
The adidas NBA All Star Week 2007 was promoted as a cross-media marketing initiative and included billboard and digital board advertising, VIP cards, magazine inserts, advertisements on the top of taxi cabs and in airports, and hotel banners, as well as experimental marketing vehicles. This truly was a cross-media initiative and the mobile call to action was embedded in all of the different media types.

Results and lessons learned
One of the most incredible results of the campaign was the response to a text alert that was sent out to all registered participants, promoting a limited-release edition of an All-Star shoe. Only 100 pairs each of East and West versions of the shoe were made available.

The alert resulted in a flash mob outside the Las Vegas adidas performance store within 30 minutes of the message being sent, says Simon Atkins, marketing communications director for adidas USA. Overall, sales at the adidas performance store increased 20x during the event.

The campaign also showed adidas and their agency, Isobar, that opt-out rates were lowest when the messages provided to the consumers were exclusive, providing those that opted-in with an ‘edge’ over those who were not.

These results are in line with Mobile Marketing Association’s 2005-2006 Attitude and Usage study, where people were asked what types of mobile marketing programs they would be most interested in. Most respondents stressed that they preferred to participate in programs, through their mobile device, which provided them with access to exclusive product information, discounts or content that were not available through other means.

The Bluetooth component of the campaign also revealed some interesting results. A Bluetooth transmitter was set up just inside the Las Vegas adidas performance store and experienced opt-in rates of approximately 15%. This participation rate was achieved with no other informational or media support. The total number of unique Bluetooth devices identified over the course of three days was 6,436.

Gene Keenan is vice-president, mobile, at Isobar. www.isobar.net. Laura Marriott is president of the Mobile Marketing Association. www.mmaglobal.com.