adidas Looks To Team Oriented Spots To Cut Into Nike Share

adidas Focusing On Team Play In “It Takes 5ive” Campaign

adidas’ “biggest advertising offensive ever” in the U.S., the “It Takes 5IVE” campaign that “emphasiz[es] team play and the need for dependence on each other,” was examined by Thomas Heath of the WASHINGTON POST. A TNT interview two seasons ago with T’Wolves F Kevin Garnett, an adidas endorser, in which his eyes filled with tears as he discussed the state of his team, inspired the “team-oriented basketball shoe campaign.” adidas Dir of U.S. Marketing Simon Atkins: “It was a very pivotal moment for us. Superstars aren’t anything without a great team around them. ... It’s a very bold break from tradition.” Heath noted the campaign “parallels the marketing of the NBA itself.” While NBA Commissioner David Stern has “turned the NBA into the league of the worldwide superstar,” in recent years, the NBA has “emphasized its softer side, including the players’ commitment to community and team play.” But Sports One Source Analyst Matt Powell said, “It’s all about personalities, and Nike has the players that the kids want.” Powell noted that Nike endorsers Michael Jordan, Cavaliers F LeBron James, Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony, Heat G Dwyane Wade and Lakers G Kobe Bryant “account for 45[%] of U.S. basketball shoe sales” (WASHINGTON POST, 11/24).