Transnational Sport Marketing at the Global/Local Nexus: The adidasification of the New Zealand All Blacks

Abstract

This study examines the strategies used, and the challenges faced, by global sport company adidas as it established a major sponsorship deal with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. In particular the study focuses on how adidas 'localised' into the New Zealand market, how they used the All Blacks as part of their global marketing campaign and, the resistance they encountered based on claims they were exploiting the Maori haka.

“Sexual Ornament” or “Spiritual Trainer”? Envisioning and Marketing to a Female Audience Through the NHL’s “Inside the Warrior” Advertising Campaign

“…The critical analysis in this article focuses on (1) how the cultural intermediaries from Conductor imagined and conceptualised female hockey fans as a target audience; (2) a comparative analysis between the creative strategies in the production of the ''Inside the Warrior'' campaign with characteristics of female narratives (e.g., soap operas) to attract a female audience; and (3) the accommodation of resistance to the stereotypical representations of gender in the ''Inside the Warrior'' campaign by the cultural intermediaries. Such an analysis aligns with the burgeoning body of literature on the cultural production of sports advertising that examines the role of advertising practitioners and other cultural intermediaries in mediating between producers and consumers (e.g., Gee, 2009;Gee & Jackson, 2012;Goldman & Papson, 1998;Jackson, Batty, & Scherer, 2001;Kobayashi, 2011Kobayashi, , 2012Scherer, Falcous, & Jackson, 2008;Scherer & Jackson, 2007, 2008a, 2008b. This study is not concerned with the actual work routines or labour processes of the cultural intermediaries, but ''the role [they] play in imagining and constituting specific (ideal) 'market segments' and incorporating them into advertising strategy and end-products (advertisements)'' (Cronin, 2004, p. 357).…”

The Media Sports Cultural Complex

“…In what follows, we present a narrative, drawing on interview data, that focuses on the emergence of an NZRU-Adidas axis in 1999 (see Jackson et al, 2001). This relationship signified a powerful interdependence in the reformulation of New Zealand rugby both locally and on a global stage.…”

When Do Ex-Sponsors Become Ambush Marketers?

“…For example, the NZRFU ran an advertising campaign in which a series of former All Black captains were shown putting on the All Black jersey to promote the idea of an All Black legacy that spanned several generations of captains. Other recent promotions have also featured past All Blacks and focussed on the values that current All Blacks have inherited from their predecessors, and that future All Blacks will, in turn, inherit from them (see Jackson, Batty and Scherer, 2001, for a discussion of campaigns undertaken with adidas).…”