Adidas notes a drop in sports participation among women and LGBTQ+ people during adolescence as a combination of the onset of menstruation and social pressures that discourage people from engaging in sports activities.
Adidas plans to address this drop with product, marketing, and community activations. “Women are part of any business opportunity,” says Free. “You name the category and women are hugely influential, if not driving the family buying decision. In sports, women are changing the game. We just have to find where their needs have not been met.”
Of Adidas’ 62,000 employees worldwide, a third are sales associates who act as a network of consultants on what the consumer wants, says Free.
Products focused on the female body
In June 2021, Adidas launched Stay in Play, a line of period-proof sportswear, to help prevent sport dropout when people start menstruating. The range has met with a “phenomenal” response in the market, says Free.
The Adidas Ultra Boost shoe, designed with women’s feet in mind, launches this quarter. Following Adidas research showing that 90 percent of women have a sports bra that doesn’t fit them, Adidas is also launching a full range of sports bras in 72 sizes, designed with 43 models. “[We have] women designers, women product developers,” says Free. “We brought this product to the market for women made by women.”
Soccer, or football, is a fast-growing sport for women’s participation. Adidas sponsors the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and has stepped up its sponsorship of the Uefa Women’s Champions League and UEFA Women’s Euro 2022. Nike was a key sponsor of the 2019 Women’s World Cup and signed partners including the star of soccer Megan Rapinoe.
Representing women’s stories.
Adidas’ new Impossible is Nothing campaign, launched today, features seven high-profile women, ranging from Squid Game actor Hoyeon Jung, to Brazilian volleyball star Tifanny Abreu, the first trans woman to play in the Superliga de Brazil. “We also have model Ellie Goldstein, who is changing the game on the catwalk, and poet and basketball player Asma Elbadawi, who challenged the International Basketball Federation to wear her hijab,” says Free.
Squid Game star Hoyeon Jung is also featured in the Impossible is Nothing campaign.
Jung Jung
Source: www.voguebusiness.com