Lionel Messi is name synonymous with anyone in the football world. The 4 time Ballon d’Or winner is no stranger to the limelight as he was subjected to the view of the who’s who of football right from when he dazzled audiences with his skills in the La Masia academy of Barcleona. Messi is heralded as arguably the greatest ever and there are a few who would dispute that claim.
The biggest sports brands in the world also see Lionel Messi as one of the greatest sporting assets worthy of a profitable association. Adidas currently share that relationship with Lionel Messi and have greatly benefitted. How?
For starters, their key competitors Nike’s relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo brings the Ronaldo vs Messi war into the sports branding world as well.
From an aesthetical stand point, majority of the sporting world see Lionel as the most naturally gifted player for many generations, and there is a special adulation beyond the sports cars and the modelling contracts that many find so magnetic in his rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The World Cup
Adidas through their FIFA WORLD CUP contract found adequate space to market Lionel Messi on the international stage as yet another South American superstar featured in the tournament. Marketing Messi throughout a World Cup held in Brazil would’ve been next to impossible; hence they took to social media to advertise the Argentine superstar. Incidentally, Lionel Messi reached the final with his Argentina team but fell short to a Mario Gotze goal in extra time. Adidas missed no opportunity to promote the little magician.
Promoting a Messi inspired boot
It would be rather amusing to find Adidas not milking Messi’s football fan base by introducing a football boot inspired by him. We would never know, because as scheduled, they did.
The Adidas “Mirosar10” inspired by Messi’s hometown Rosario in Argentina was actively marketed as the first Adidas product which was Lionel Messi inspired.
Adidas have fallen short in terms of sales of football boots in comparison to Nike and the Mirosar10 was to be the catalyst that would spark their brand image.
TEAM MESSI CAMPAIGN
Adidas took their Messi inspired campaigns to the next level by introducing a new campaign based on simply revelling in the genius and success of their superstar brand ambassador.
“TEAM MESSI” has its own Facebook and Twitter pages complete with posts dedicated to one man, LIONEL MESSI.
Adidas have taken a new step into promoting a player by handling additional responsibilities relieving Lionel Messi’s public relations team off additional duties.
Active social media advertising of the page was carried out a year before the World Cup so as to promote Lionel Messi at the World stage since his Argentina team were genuine title contenders.
The page currently boasts of an impressive 6,760449 likes and averages a ridiculous 160,000 likes per post.
TEAM MESSI posts involve quotes, news items and statistics presented through well edited images that gain maximum traction on Facebook and Twitter.
These posts are especially designed keeping in mind that the fan base involves fans of Lionel Messi.
Hence, all updates on the page concern Lionel Messi’s career at Barcelona and Argentina and his exploits with both teams.
As one of the campaign posts suggest, the TEAM MESSI page “……brings forth Messi fans from all over the world to bask in the success and achievements of the Barcelona forward as a tribute to this career and his records.
The posts also involve tributes from colleagues, coaches and other professional associated with world of football.
Adidas football’s impressive #therewillbehaters campaign featuring James Rodriguez,Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and a few others was also infused with Lionel Messi’s TEAM MESSI franchise even though Lionel Messi was never really advertised as part of the main “There will be haters” campaign.
The hash tag #therewillbehaters is extensively used on the TEAM MESSI page.
It’s safe to say that Lionel Messi and Adidas share a symbiotically successful bond.