Marketing in the News: Adidas goes sci-fi with personality-based metaverse avatars

 While browsing through the internet I was blown away by the amount of advertising around virtual reality. Many companies big and small are hopping aboard the train into this realm. What stood out to me the most was an Adidas article posted on April 5, 2022. This new phenomenon to me and the world, and is a huge opportunity for companies to make money and market their brands in new way. This is something completely fascinating to me. I have a strong passion for shoes and clothing as well as the new idea of VR and the metaverse, being able to explore online with others and show off your design passions. 

This advertisement from Adidas allows users to design their avatar through the Ozworld experience and use it in the metaverse. Virtual reality is defined as "a computer-generated environment with scenes and objects that appear to be real, making the user feel they are immersed in their surroundings." Adidas is stepping into a new chapter of marketing and innovation as a company. This is something that is still very new and customers may not be as interested right away. There are news forms of marketing styles now with the metaverse being explored, and many other problems they are going to have to overcome for this to be successful. 

The value proposition for Adidas is innovation, customization, brand/status, and a high priority on innovation. Adidas has a mission to try to be the first and the best at everything they do. This is a perfect example of how Adidas is trying something new that many companies wouldn't even consider trying. The idea of being able to virtually purchase goods online through virtual reality is something that most companies will never partake in, but for Adidas, they could be on to something very big for their future customers. 

New forms of marketing have been coming out like crazy between the metaverse, NFT, and many other digital experiences. This has given companies a lot of new ways to market if they choose to. Adidas is one of the first companies to get on board with these new digital marketing strategies. This will allow the user to join the Ozworld metaverse experience and create a digital avatar based on a questionnaire and try on and purchase shoes virtually. 

Some issues that Adidas may fake come along with all of this technology being so new. Only around 19% of people have even tried virtual reality. Even though there is such a small percentage of people using this technology it is also going to be difficult for consumers to be persuaded to purchase a good that is unattainable and will always be something that stays online virtually. Although, the concept of purchasing things online is not something new. Games like CSGO and Fortnite sell skins that can be bought and sold for money. This is going to be a fun, new way for Adidas to market their products to potentially a whole new group of consumers.

This marketing technique is defiantly something that will be heard around the world. Adidas team states that they were going to "have a shoe lineup designed to blend modern styles with those from the 1990s, aiming to bridge the gap between the past and future." With this marketing strategy, it is going to try to connect all different generations to own a piece of history in a sense. 

One thing that I believe they should have changed, was the fact that the shoes needed to be purchased. I think that this is something that they should do in the future. I believe a better marketing strategy is to release a limited amount of shoes in the beginning for free to customers to first draw them in. Then they could continue to charge a fee to buy things on the metaverse but the idea of having to pay to set up your avatar seems like it may turn people away.