‘Adidas hits a cricket jersey masterstroke’
NEW DELHI : The Indian arm of German sportswear giant Adidas is putting a strategic focus on key segments such as running, cricket and the lifestyle brand Adidas Originals to amplify its market presence in the country, Neelendra Singh general manager for the India market, said in an interview. For instance, it sold over half a million Indian team jerseys during the recent ODI World Cup on the back of its partnership with the BCCI as the official kit sponsor of the Indian cricket team. Adidas has a network of over 350 franchise stores and 75 company-owned stores in India.
Edited experts: We’ve been courting the opportunity for some time to be able to be a part of the cricket narrative. Then, early this year, we got the opportunity to work with BCCI to be the kit sponsor—it goes on for the next five years. It covers men, women and under-19; it covers the playing kit, travel kit, training kit etc.
The other interesting part of the journey has been to create a performance product that also looks good on athletes. The third part was to monetize the opportunity to make sure we create a jersey culture while celebrating the game, the product and the fan. The ₹999 pricing for the fan jersey was probably one of our biggest masterstrokes i.e., to get the pricing right.
The players’ jersey, the most authentic product, was priced at ₹4,999; the authentic jersey has a replica jersey which we priced at ₹2999. Under that, we have a fan jersey at ₹999. The thesis was to make it affordable and accessible so that every Indian gets to wear it.
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