Color had been approached differently by each sport category, making cross category merchandising difficult, and the brand’s retail presence was diminished. In addition, Adidas followed the same color trends as the competition, but with the breadth of Adidas' athletes there was an opportunity to influence trends rather than follow.
With refreshed products and marketing every season, there was an opportunity to annually own color. By persuading all of the sport categories to rally around a single color, influential athletes across sports could shape public perception of which colors were desirable. We introduced a year long ‘promoted color’, which was supported by each category.
The single color palette increased brand recognition in crowded retail environments, resulting in a substantial increase in sales, not only for products in the promoted color, but for all brightly colored products.