Strategy & Execution: How to Confuse Consumers

This morning, I was walking to get my coffee from my loved coffee shop in Istanbul.

I passed by the window of a store, and I got confused. 

It was the window of the new Adidas x Gucci collab.

I was confused because last night, I read an article at AdAge about the collaboration of Adidas x Prada.  

I thought I mixed the brand names but it was not me. It was Adidas collaborating with two luxury brands around similar timelines.

This is a good example to explain a strategy and execution mistake.

First of all, there is nothing wrong about a collaboration. They are a good way to merge brand signifiers for producing tempting hybrid collections.

It also helps both sides to position themselves on a different segment than their powerhouse. For Adidas to be positioned on the luxury segment, for Gucci & Prada to own more of the sneaker/lifestyle. 

However, this is confusing for people like me.

Why?

1. Timelines are close: Announcement for Prada collab was in Jan’22 and for Gucci in Feb’22 at the Milan Fashion Week.
2. Collab product categories are the same: Both collections have bags, sneakers, apparel.
3. Segments are almost the same: Lifestyle, Sports, Luxury

Increasing brand perception in a new segment is a strategic decision. Such as, for Adidas that strategic priority can be:

• ‘Win in the Luxury x Lifestyle segment’

or

• ‘Be the brand of choice on high-end sneaker market.’

Execution of that strategic priority can have different paths:

1. Collaborations: It can be executed through joining forces with a luxury brand on hybrid collections. This is probably a faster lane using less resources. It also helps both brands experiment another segment without taking lots of investment risks.
2. Going Solo: Alternatively, Adidas can build an internal engine within the brand to own that position in the longer term. This requires building an internal product & design team, bringing new merchandising & retail skills, allocating store space to that category, understanding the consumer insights within that segment, and pushing big with marketing investments.

The problem here is not the strategic priority or the execution path Adidas takes to reach that goal. Both paths can work as long as you don’t confuse consumers while executing that strategy.

Do they have to collaborate with Gucci and Prada around similar timelines on similar categories? Probably not.

Happy Monday,

Itir