IJBER
Volume 1, Issue 1 (January, 2013)
International center of Science Education and Academic Research for Scholarswww.isearchscholars.com
63
Abstract
Brand image is an important consideration for any of the firm or company operating inhyper competitive business environment. In this study, brands chosen for comparison areNike, Adidas and Puma with respect to the actions and strategies adopted by them inorder to enhance and strengthen their brand image. These are the top 3 sporting brands of the world. Nike is at 26 th position; Adidas is at 62 nd while Puma has just entered at 97 th position in top 100 brands ranking list published in Year 2009 as best global brands byinter brand dot com. Nike and Adidas are in the world's top 100 brands list for last somany years. All of these three brands are growing brands and consistently movingupward in that list. As per the year 2009 figures published by interbrand.com and otherbrand rating agencies/bodies, the brand values of Nike, Adidas and Puma are $13,179millions, $5,397 millions and $3,154 millions respectively. This study has identified thekey steps and strategies adopted by the decision makers of these brands which resulted inthe strong brand image for them. Moreover, those areas were also identified whichrequire the improvement particularly by comparing Puma with Nike and Adidas.
Keyword
s:
International brands; Nike; Adidas; Puma; Marketing.
1.

Introduction
Brand Image for any brand is built by many different factors which includes brandawareness, brand associations, brand loyalty, perceived quality and so on. All of thesefactors mainly depend upon the activities with respect to integrated marketingcommunication i.e. brand message, brand ambassadors, sponsorships, partnerships, brandrelationships, brand communities, brand extensions etc. Nike, Adidas and Puma havebeen examined considering these aspects and various strategies adopted by them toenhance their brand image.
Schmitt (1999) has explained the marketing and branding as a delightful experience of the consumers and liked it with the customer satisfaction.
Keller (1993) has associated itwith the perceptions of the consumers regarding that brand such that it must be reflectedby the associations of the customers with that brand through his memories.
Aaker (1996
)explained these associations and linked it to any aspect which can connect that brand withthe memories of the consumers. Brand Image is very much related to the BrandAwareness and Brand Message must be communicated to create Brand Awareness. BrandAmbassadors play a vital role in communicating the Brand Messages.
Kotler (1991
)hasexplained the different promotional strategies and highlighted the recognition of Brandimage in different elements of marketing mix. Successful transmission of brand messageis directly proportional to the Brand Awareness. Thus Integrated marketingCommunication is at the heart of the efforts or steps contributing towards the strongBrand image.
Drumwright (1996) has identified that the social dimensions have become a part of thepromotions and marketing campaigns of the current era.
Benezra (1996
) has elaborated IJBER
Volume 1, Issue 1 (January, 2013)
International center of Science Education and Academic Research for Scholarswww.isearchscholars.com
64
the corporate social responsibility and highlighted its demand from the consumer‟s perspective. Jundong Hou (2008
) has explained the importance of Cause-relatedmarketing (CRM) for the business and how the companies have identified its importancein terms of strategic social alliances. He further added that now-a-days, Cause-related marketing is widely used for the promotion of the company‟s business.
Adidas was theOfficial Sponsor for the Beijing 2008 Olympics held in China. Importance of China as anIndustrial Hub for business entities is obvious and it is very large consumer market forSporting goods. Adidas Sponsored $80 million for this mega event and opened 2 stores inone day on the average. For Nike China is the second largest market after United States.Nike encountered the Adidas Promotional step by sponsoring 22 out of 28 Chinesefederations participating in the Olympics and Liu Xiang who is one of the top Chineseathlete (hurdler) represented Nike by wearing the trade mark of swoosh. In Beijing Nikehad invested in Dong Dan Park to establish more serious and strong community links.Puma has sponsored 16 teams in that Olympics.
2. Discussions
Nike, Adidas and Puma all the three brands have very well organized their marketingprograms through all aspects of Integrated marketing communication and leveraged theirbrand image through contracts with athletes, sponsorships/partnerships with teams andplayers of international repute in the field of football, athletics, golf, cycling, sailing etc., and sponsoring mega international events. “Nike and Adidas gear up for Olympic shoewars” This was the news of New York Times published on October 4, 2007. That was a war for Beijing 2008 Olympics. Nike and Adidas are present in China for decades. Usainbolt (Contractual Athlete represented Puma) got 3 gold medals and made 3 world records of being “The fastest man in the world in 100 meters race”. This was a real opportunity for Puma to communicate its brand message as criticised by Wall Street Journal to go formassive print ads, but Puma did not communicate it through TV Commercials in bigmarkets like China, Los Angeles and Jamaica. As stated officially by Adidas that “The deal with Adidas will see the sportswear company receive marketing and licensing rightsto London 2012, providing kit for the British Olympic Association and BritishParalympic Association in Vancouver 2010 and London 2012. In addition, during theGames in 2012, Adidas will provide sportswear to Games Officials, London 2012 staff and volunteers.”
Football is one of the very popular games of the world and Football World Cup 2010 andFootball 2014 FIFA World cup (Ghana) are the attractive and important events in termsof strengthe ning the Brand Image for any Sporting Brand. “Adidas has extended its sponsorship agreement with FIFA for the World Cup soccer tournaments in 2010 and2014 in a deal worth $351 million. Adidas will get priority access to TV and stadiumadvertising at the t wo events.” (FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, 2005).
These are the steps whichstrengthened the Brand Image for Adidas and took it from the p