Adidas Begins To Cater Marketing Toward Women Driven By "Athleisure" Trend

adidas is making a "concerted effort to reach female consumers," and the company's branding strategists "have determined that women respond to a different message" than men, according to Elizabeth Segran of FAST COMPANY. Rather than "portraying women focused on a single sport, they believe female consumers will respond to images of women who incorporate their athletic pursuits into a busy lifestyle." Sports participation among high school girls "has jumped from 17% to 35% in the last 35 years, which has cultivated a generation of women who want to incorporate fitness into their everyday life." This has "driven the so-called 'athleisure' trend." adidas VP/Global Brand Strategy Alison Stewart said that one part of the company's current five-year plan "is to build a brand that will appeal to the woman currently buying athleisure clothing -- a customer that Adidas describes as the versatile female athlete." Segran noted adidas this year "rolled out a shoe called the Pure Boost X." Rather than "simply adapting male running shoes for women, which it had previously done, the company invested in studying the female foot in motion to create a shoe that would adapt to it." adidas has already "developed a bra with a heart-rate monitor built into it and has a pipeline of other garments that incorporate wearable technology." adidas Head of Global Women's Business Nicole Vollebregt said that the company "will continue to release products like this over the next few years that will help the brand stand out in a crowded marketplace." adidas is hoping to "right the course by claiming a voice on its own channels, from its website to its brick-and-mortar stores to its social media streams" (FASTCOMPANY.com, 7/9).