Comments on: adidas: branding one sole at a time

By: Arif Hussain Nomani

Arif Hussain Nomani — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:11:54 +0000

I completely agree with the fact that we need to have the resource that are aligned with the company vision and mission. Demonstrate the key attributes and values which the management desires in the employees at Adidas. My comment was that Adidas limits its pool by specifically focussing on candidates that have love for sports. Suppose you are looking to hire a CFO but the right candidates( with the right skill and competence) does not like sports would you not hire him.

My observation was that love for sports and the product will be built by the management and the culture of the organization.

But Bill and Steve your views are highly enlightening

By: Brett Hummel

Brett Hummel — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:32:30 +0000

I have to disagree with Arif as well. While the idea of hiring just based on experience and skills has worked in the past, the entrance of Millennial employees in the workplace has changed the game. Millennial employees, who I am guessing by the use of social media are the targets of Mr. Fogarty (but not the only one), associate a part of themselves with their employer. Engaging and maintaining the productivity of young professionals is extremely challenging, but by recruiting people with the same values as the brand it becomes much easier (since the employee’s lifestyle already fits with the brand’s ideals/lifestyle).

Additionally, when you create an employer brand, and recruit based on that employer brand you do a very important thing: the company differentiates itself from the competition. Today, many people have the idea that within a given industry the only thing that separates one job from another is salary. The employer brand enables the Millennial recruit who seeks not only a salary, but a place to build a community and achieve personal growth to get an inside view of what the company is really like. This allows the recruit to evaluate the prospective job, making sure it is a good fit for them, which reduces the amount of work Adidas needs to do because now the candidates that fit will be drawn to them.

An interesting book that you might want to read that discusses the trend toward more human centric operations is called Talent by Edward Lawler. He describes how some corporations, and especially as the War for Talent increases, are moving towards investing in human capital over the long term because of its increased productivity and stability benefits. The employer brand is the first piece of a human centric company that is exposed to a potential recruit, and as mom always said: first impressions count. So, I really applaud Adidas because they are certainly out in front of this trend.

By: Steve Fogarty

Steve Fogarty — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 07:43:43 +0000

Sorry, I meant “Product Marketing”, not “Production Marketing”.

By: Steve Fogarty

Steve Fogarty — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 07:40:52 +0000

Arif, I agree that it is important to focus on skills and experience. I disagree that it is an either or scenario though. If you are Petco you probably aren’t going to hire someone that doesn’t like pets. In fact I would argue that no matter how smart or skilled a candidate is they won’t outperform someone who is equally skilled and passionate about the brand. This is where I differentiate Brand Marketing and Production Marketing. Our Brand is centered around our connection to the athlete and our ability to shape the future of support. Our Brand Marketing focusses on driving this message. In HR/Recruiting our product is our jobs. I didn’t focus as much about this in my interview because this is an area that I think our industry is generally getting better at–knowing how to market our jobs to the right target audience. This is equally important though so I fully agree that you cannot lose site of this.

By: Arif Hussain Nomani

Arif Hussain Nomani — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:17:50 +0000

Well I see that adidas is making a concerted effort in strengthening their recruitment practices and gearing it to find the right fit for their organization. The employee engagement is a psychological function where the employees see a vested interest in seeing the organization achieve its goals.
However, I feel that Adidas by only targetting the candidates who have a love for sports are limiting their applicant pool. Rather they should focus on attracting people on their skills and experience and then building their committment around the goals of Adidas.

By: Jennifer Sanford

Jennifer Sanford — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:52:36 +0000

This is an excellent post. The adidas presentation at Kennedy was inspiring both from a recruiting and a marketing standpoint. Their sole focus is the athlete. Their brand development speaks to every stakeholder about the primary goal of the business: to serve athletes. I agree that the recruitment function has become very complicated. Ultimately, the best future recruiters will come from business development backgrounds.

By: Jon Ingham

Jon Ingham — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:17:43 +0000

Great post, thank you.

One of the things I’ve been thinking about after my “notable impressions” at Kennedy is how Adidas’ employer brand focused on sport actually influences their HR and recruitment processes, because I don’t think they really said much about this.

So I liked hearing about the use of Candace Parker to support Adidas’ interactive career site – I think this demonstrates how they are using (and how other organisations could use) their employer brand to act as a focus for HR / recruitment activities.

Jon.