Sports brand Adidas is winning hearts, when in a sign of solidarity, the brand shared its rival Nike’s tweet "For once, don't do it" with a video message stating: "Together is how we move forward. Together is how we make change."
Though Adidas took a stand for everyone to see, it has also raised many questions. Nike and Adidas are staunch competitors and if needed Adidas could have made its own video. However, they chose to lock arms to defend the rights of black men and women.
There is a huge risk for a brand to simply enter into the national dialogue on race at this point. Amidst these intense emotions around the topic of racism, an Adidas post was historic as well as symbolic. After all, the world is bigger than a brand and one needs to focus on adding value to the world, which eventually the customers will notice. When a problem arises, this kind of gesture displays that there is a real person behind your brand.
Whatever the message may be, whether it uses positive emotions like happiness or negative emotions like fear, it moves people to act with an emotionally based response as most crushing moments can often be the most unifying. Striking an emotional chord always helps promote trust and even brand loyalty as consumers expect brands to have not just functional benefits but also a social purpose.
Emotions are the key drivers behind our everyday decisions. Emotions are what convince us to do business with the brands that stand out to us. At the end of the day, consumers are human beings with complex emotions and even more complex stories. Emotions are valuable for marketing. Marketers and business owners need to make sure that they’re connecting with audiences on a human-to-human level.
As a result, it won’t be wrong to say that supporting rivals and taking a social stand in a very visible way is just the right path to winning hearts.
