Engaging Runners Through Social Media : A comparative Study: Adidas, Asics and Nike

Abstract

The fast-paced social media environment has changed the nature of marketing in the recent years. Marketing has shifted from a top-down model towards a two-way dialogue in which companies are able to communicate with their customers on a more personal level, leading to a further understanding of the marketplace and consumer behaviours. Social media platforms have made it possible for companies to follow the activities of their consumers as well as directly engage with them.

The social media landscape is now an important environment for sporting goods companies building closer relationships with their customers and, furthermore, runners as a rapidly growing community of socially connected consumers. Smartphone applications, training programmes and running communities as well as the basic social media channels are a huge opportunity for sports companies to build a relationship for the customers and revolutionalize the runners' experiences with sports brands.

This research is a comparative study of the three large sporting goods companies: Adidas, Asics and Nike and their attempts to engage with runners as a marketing phenomenon enabled by Web 2.0. The study highlights some of the currently practiced forms of social media engagement in the sports industry as well as the new opportunities which are starting to occur. Consumer behaviours and reactions of runners are covered to provide a more holistic approach to the topic of social media engagement in the sporting goods industry.