Adidas announced that it would “definitely achieve” its €2 billion sales target for football products in 2014, after assessing data in the run-up to and after the first 12 days of the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil. The company has been gradually building demand for its shirts, boots and balls since last November, bringing to market an ongoing stream of new football products and concepts for the World Cup. Adidas is the official sponsor, supplier and licensee of the tournament. As such, it is supplying the official match ball of the 2014 Fifa World Cup and equipping officials, referees, volunteers and ball kids. In addition, nine teams and roughly 300 players are competing in Brazil in Adidas gear.
The German sporting goods giant said it expects to sell more than 14 million balls in the Brazuca design, one million more balls than in the year of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when it sold 13 million balls featuring the Jabulani design.
The company also expects to sell more jerseys. It anticipates selling 8 million of them, up from 6.5 million in the 2010 edition of the World Cup. The jersey of the German team is leading the way, with record sales of more than 2 million units so far, over 30 percent more than in 2006, the previous record year, when Germany hosted the tournament. The German national team is also becoming increasingly popular internationally. More than half a million jerseys will be sold outside Europe as compared to around 300,000 in 2010. Other best selling jerseys among Adidas-sponsored teams include Argentina, Mexico and Colombia, with sales of over one million units each.
In addition, the company hailed the “sustained” impact that the tournament had on sales in Latin America. In the last 10 years, sales in the region have jumped from €179 million to €1.575 billion.
Adidas has implemented a powerful social media campaign around the 2014 Fifa World Cup. The brand has set up a newsroom in Rio de Janeiro, for the duration of the tournament, called “Posto adidas.” During the World Cup, the company has been creating and sharing content via its social media channels in real-time, with the aim of being the most talked-about brand in social media. The Brazuca is the first Fifa World Cup match ball to have a Twitter profile and Adidas' first product to have an account on social media. The @brazuca Twitter account had already reached one million followers by June 16, only a few days after the tournament opened on June 12. @brazuca enables fans to track the tournament from the ball's view as it travels the world offering an insider's perspective on the sport and popular culture.
