Participative marketing - Adidas & Puma's Berlin experience

As I may have already told many, I went to Europe not long ago and, for a marketing guy, that was simply frantic. Brands are everywhere! I mean the big ones, they seem to own every European capital and most of all, while you are there, you want them to! They are just bigger than life but at the same time they get to be so welcoming! Why? Because they seem to put all their efforts to reach customers, to touch them, not to attract them coldly like they usually do in here. Brands are hot, they’re welcoming, almost romantic! They use those old buildings and adapt to them, they do not just rape their surface, they keep the authenticity of the place and people like it, they come naturally. Now, that’s participative marketing!

I will now highlight two campaigns I saw in Berlin. They’re from brands I had absolutely no attraction to at first but that I now love: Adidas and Puma.

First I have to give a little setting, I went there during the Athleticism world tournament so, obviously those brands were all going upfront. First, let’s talk about Puma’s guerrilla marketing. It was just so simple! Puma sponsors the Jamaican national team and there comes the concept; right in the middle of Alexanderplatz, they put that hut, serving drinks (ok alcohol is legal in public places, which makes it all easier...) but, with a little reggae music, it gave a whole new feel to that cold Eastern Berlin place. But the center of attention wasn’t the hut, still, simple, right beside it was a 50m race track with a speedometer. Nothing more. And people were lining up to see how fast they could go and to beat their personal records. The whole thing was, of course fully branded; but it was not the center of attention, you had to look for the brand; and we did! We wanted to know who had organised that cool thing! People who did not like it did not go for the brand and all recognition was therefore positive! Isn’t that cool? Moreover, they gave some nice Jamaican bandanas to the runners who did run fast enough, and to the kids (I have to confess I did the race just to see what they were giving away). So, people went back home after a drink in a cool Puma atmosphere or with a bandana symbolizing a nice Saturday afternoon running experience. Now, that was cool festive guerrilla marketing. They did not force the brand to us, they seduced us and we went happily looking for them.

Now, Adidas. I have to confess I had heard a bit about that marketing effort and was therefore eager to see if it really was worth it. It was! In Kuffurdemstrasse’s Adidas store was some kind of a performance zone. There were a few futuristic looking machines made to tell you how strong you were at different skills (reflexes, jumping, those kinds of things). At the entrance, they had little manuals helping people to use the machines. Now, that zone may first look like some, dump your kids here while you spend, area. It was not. It was not some cheap secondary attraction It was a cool, professional looking, experience. People were curious to try it and they did, I did too.

Now, the place was in the center of the store so, unconsciously you were looking at all the products. And, in the area was the marketing part: some cool looking sofas and computers. On those screens, you could make your own customised pair of running shoes. Sounds cheesy? It was not. Unlike some other similar thing I saw in Berlin, it was no cheap customisation. You really did make your own shoes. You chose the shape, width, length, model, colors, laces, etc... You could also write your name and do all other fun things. And, you had a wall of shoes behind you for sizes and inspiration. The computer also gave a lot of information on the different models, the advantages of their shape, sports they were made for... it was complete. And people were not pushed to use it, they looked at it first, curious, and all went for a try. Whether they did buy the shoes they made or not (I didn’t) they had a nice feel of making a brand resembling them. And for those who bought it, the shoes were shipped to them a few days later, giving a real impression of taking the time to make them custom. It is hard to describe what made this store come out of the bunch but, lets just say it had a feeling, it was welcoming, it arose curiosity without that final pull we North Americans are so tempted to add. They were not worried about losing a sale if they did not push people to try the equipment. They offered it freely, left it there and waited for you to request their help (they were happily coming to us if asked to). There was simply no pressure, it was not a marketing effort, it was some curious thing we wanted to try. And it sold.

Now that’s what we have to learn. We should not focus on return on investment that much. We should not worry about the fact that an idea which we know is good may not pay of. If we like it, others will and if they like it enough, they will buy (or influence others to). Good ideas, inspiring ones do not need to be pushed that much. And people like to be invited, teased, entertained not pulled to you and rushed. It is just like if you are too aggressive, you will simply waste more energy for lesser or equal results.