Social Media Case Study

Brand Fight in Facebook Adidas Vs Puma

2010 InRev Systems

Social Media Case Study

Introduction
Quite everyone knows that these two giants were incubated by the Dassler brothers, Adolf and Rudolf. Ever since the split in 1948, these giants have had fierce battles in acquiring market share and attracting sportsmen and teenagers alike. With the spawning of the expansion of social media, the brands have forged several channels to keep up with their patrons. Facebook is one arena where the saying Even Homer sometimes nods makes much sense. The Facebook habitude of the giants differs considerably from the other and is an interesting analysis.

Facebook Strategy
Manufacturing sportswear for a variety of games, adidas and PUMA have several pages, each of different domains, to keep the fans informed. adidas has instituted 8 pages targeting on sportsmen and fans of different sports inclusive of baseball, hockey and golf whereas PUMA has 6 pages inclined towards the common sports (Golf, cricket, Football, running) along with Ocean Racing and Motorsports.

Facebook Fan Page Review

The formers official page, adidas Originals, has recorded an astonishing 6,358,172 likes and is one among the top 20 brands to have registered a huge fan base. The pages on football and cricket have acquired the maximum number of fans out of all the other pages (close to 31 lakhs and 2 lakhs*).

adidas has integrated Facebook apps like I WANT THAT, Fantasy Cricket and Store Locator in addition to Twitter and YouTube integration. The regional pages (Philippines and Uruguay) focus on updating the local crowd about the product stock. 2010 InRev Systems

Social Media Case Study

The numbers on the like part of all pages spawned by adidas shows the victory of adidas in promoting its brand name (adding upto 1,00,66,488, from all its pages). The firm has acquired the fan-base over years and through varied activities including institution of the Jabulani. Apart from the pages induced by the firm, there are numerous other pages created for the brand by its lovers. Key Discoveries: adidas uses its pages to update the fans with every move it makes. But on a profound inspection, it can be noticed that the huge fan-base obtained by the pages of adidas is left unmatched by the level of correspondence with the fans. The pages are more inclined towards flaunting its products and selling them rather than engaging with the customers / fans and hence considerable backfiring can be spotted in some posts, which havent been responded properly. As the media agency managing the fan pages of adidas hasnt interacted quite enough with the firm on the issue of customer complaints. Clearly, the page has acquired the fan-base through its brand image but unfortunately the base is not entertained properly and witnessing a negative vibe.

PUMA, on the other hand, has not been as fortunate as adidas with regard to the fan-base (3,427,936 likes on PUMA Social) but still has made it to the top 50 brands engaged with people on Facebook. It has 4 regional pages (Hong Kong, Malaysia, Honduras and parra correr) and 2 other pages (Animagical and Creative Factory). Unlike adidas, PUMA utilizes the fan pages to constantly keep up with the fans and has incubated the Creative Factory page which is run on the primary motive of keeping the page social. It is of worthy mention that Ussain Bolt and Diego Maradona have played a significant role in bringing up the fan-base

2010 InRev Systems

Social Media Case Study

and the 50th birthday celebration of football legend by PUMA has bought huge numbers for the fan-base count. Both PUMA and adidas have social media games working on different rules (Kickups with Maradona and Fast Fuels Danger, Danger Makes Legend respectively). But the significant strategy of Kickups with Maradona is that the game is carried on forward by inviting a friend unlike the other which is carried on with the gamers playing already. Interaction Level (Out of 10) 6 5 9 6 8 9 7 4 8 9 7 8 4

Puma's Pages Company's Page Puma Sports Pages Golf Cricket Football Running Motorsport Ocean Racing Regional Pages Hong Kong Malaysia Honduras Parra Correr Other Pages Creative Factory Animagical Total Fans

Fans

3427936 12607 10979 966947 30307 10670 9661 15202 36936 14999 6674 54644 3508 4601070

The tables above and below shows the distribution of fan base of Puma and Adidas. The statistics clearly shows how the focus in the facebook strategies have given each brand a competitive edge over each other. The table also shows how PUMA has gone beyond just Sports page and Regional page towards more creative page like Creative Factory and Animagical. As a result, PUMA is creating more engagement with respect to Adidas.

2010 InRev Systems

Social Media Case Study

adidas' Pages Company Page adidas Originals Sports Pages Golf Cricket Football Running Soccer Baseball Hockey Football US Regional Pages Phillipines Uruguay Total Fans Fans Interaction Level (Out of 10) 7 7 8 6 3 7 2 1 8 2 4

6358172 15328 174642 3168023 106641 102088 3166 15610 25443 34295 63080 10066488

Fig 1 : Comparison Graph showing the number of fans in different pages.

2010 InRev Systems

Social Media Case Study

Summary A wise market researcher once said, Work as a co-creator, not a marketer. Though getting a fan-base is a huge step, engaging with them in the right way is of more importance too. This can be perceived from the part-failure of adidas Facebook strategy. The brand image built on a longer run can be lost if not managed fastidiously. If molded properly taking interaction to the next level through more rigorous dedicated campaigns and promotions through existing fans, PUMA can scale up to obtain the level of fan-base attracted by adidas. Disclaimer All the logos used in the document belong to the respective brands and is not owned by InRev Systems. About InRev InRev System is a social media analytics and product company. It owns one of the most loved twitter application in the Internet buzzom.com. InRev is driven by innovation and research in social media and has recently launched an enterprise version of the social media engagement console called simplify360. Simplify360 is a social media engagement + analytics platform that allows business to monitor their brands and engage with them. In addition to that, business can also create creative campaigns for a social media like Email Campaign, Poll, Facebook application and so on. For more information please contact: Deep Sherchan Co-Founder, InRev Systems deep@in-rev.com +91-1-9611122994

2010 InRev Systems