MICHELLE NEWBY

ADIDAS / WOMEN’S CREATOR NETWORK

Building a Brand With Women, Not Just For Them

Building a Brand With Women, Not Just For Them

Building a Brand With Women, Not Just For Them

Consumer Insight · Community Strategy · Co-Creation · Global Brand Building

01 / THE CHALLENGE

How could a historically male-led sports brand build a more meaningful relationship with women?

How could a historically male-led sports brand build a more meaningful relationship with women?

adidas saw significant opportunity in its women’s business, but traditional sports marketing wasn’t necessarily the right way to build relevance with this consumer. Building the women’s brand required a different model for how adidas participated in those relationships.

adidas saw significant opportunity in its women’s business, but traditional sports marketing wasn’t necessarily the right way to build relevance with this consumer. Building the women’s brand required a different model for how adidas participated in those relationships.

02 / THE INSIGHT

Inspiration was moving closer to home.

Inspiration was moving closer to home.

Women were increasingly finding inspiration through people who felt closer to their own lives: trainers, creators, entrepreneurs, models and community leaders whose perspectives felt credible and attainable.

The opportunity wasn’t to build another influencer roster. It was to build a community.

The opportunity wasn’t to build another influencer roster. It was to build a community.

03 / THE IDEA

Build a brand with women, not just for them.

Build a brand with women, not just for them.

I led the brand-side creation of the adidas Women’s Creator Network, developing the vision and strategic framework for a community built around values rather than follower count. The network intentionally brought together different relationships with sport, fitness, wellness and culture.

04 / BUILDING THE NETWORK

01

VALUES OVER FOLLOWERS

Build the network around alignment, credibility and community influence rather than reach alone.

02

DIFFERENT FORMS OF INFLUENCE

Bring together athletes, trainers, creators, entrepreneurs, models and cultural voices across macro and micro levels of influence.

03

AUTHENTICITY OVER CONTROL

Create clear adidas brand guardrails while protecting each woman’s individual voice and relationship with her community.

I created the creator toolkit that introduced the adidas brand, clarified what participation in the network meant and established the framework for how creators could represent adidas while remaining authentic to their own voices.

05 / FROM AMBASSADORS TO INSIDERS

To speak authentically about the brand, they first had to experience it from the inside.

To speak authentically about the brand, they first had to experience it from the inside.

We brought the Creator Network from adidas headquarters in Germany into Berlin for an immersive brand and cultural experience designed to make them part of the community.

UNDERSTAND THE BRAND

Explore adidas history, archives and the culture behind the brand.

SHAPE THE PRODUCT

Connect directly with product teams and share what they and their communities wanted from footwear and apparel.

EXPERIENCE THE CULTURE

Train together, experience Berlin and connect with communities including Berlin’s running culture.

BUILD THE NETWORK

Create relationships between the women themselves so the network became a community rather than a collection of individual partnerships.

06 / FROM INFLUENCE TO CO-CREATION

The network became an input into the brand, not simply an output channel for it.

The network became an input into the brand, not simply an output channel for it.

As the network evolved, creators became an ongoing source of consumer insight and an active part of campaign development and storytelling.

Here to Create

Here to Create

I led the adidas relationship with Clubhouse, connecting the brand, agency and creators across campaign development, production and image selection.

07 / FROM CAMPAIGN TO CONSUMER JOURNEY

Creative didn’t stop when the shoot wrapped.

I translated the campaign across digital, social, retail, email and other consumer touchpoints, then built the toolkit for consistent market activation.

CAMPAIGN → SOCIAL → DIGITAL → EMAIL → RETAIL → MARKETS

CAMPAIGN → SOCIAL → DIGITAL → EMAIL → RETAIL → MARKETS

08 / GLOBAL ROLLOUT

One strategy. Hundreds of stakeholders. Global activation.

One strategy. Hundreds of stakeholders. Global activation.

Every six months, I presented the next chapter of the women’s brand strategy to approximately 500 global market and retail partners, giving teams a clear framework to activate it locally.

GLOBAL STRATEGY → MARKET ACTIVATION

09 / IMPACT

+77%

+77%

+77%

WOMEN’S BUSINESS GROWTH
NORTH AMERICA

+27%

+27%

+27%

WOMEN’S BUSINESS GROWTH
WESTERN EUROPE

25+

25+

WOMEN IN THE INITIAL
CREATOR NETWORK

3M+

3M+

ADIDAS WOMEN’S
INSTAGRAM COMMUNITY

Business and community momentum during the evolution of adidas Women’s creator-led strategy.

What began as a new way to identify influence became a new way to build the women’s brand: listening to women, bringing them inside the organization and creating with them rather than simply marketing to them.

What began as a new way to identify influence became a new way to build the women’s brand: listening to women, bringing them inside the organization and creating with them rather than simply marketing to them.

What began as a new way to identify influence became a new way to build the women’s brand: listening to women, bringing them inside the organization and creating with them rather than simply marketing to them.

WHAT THIS WORK DEMONSTRATES

Consumer Insight · Community Strategy · Creator Strategy · Brand Strategy · Integrated Marketing · Creative Leadership · Global → Local · Cross-Functional Leadership · Agency Leadership