Adidas All Blacks Jersey Row

Source: http://www.3news.co.nz/

Oh, adidas.

There's been a lot of anger towards them in New Zealand over this past week. But are they really doing anything wrong? Businesses mark up products to exuberant levels all the time, and we New Zealanders are used to paying higher costs for just about everything, compared to everyone else. So why is everyone so angry?

It's been a huge (costly) lesson for adidas in how to manage their pricing structure (and crisis management). Here are some of my thoughts:

• Rugby is the ultimate 'everyman' sport in New Zealand - and the All Blacks are a national treasure. This was always going to be the biggest market for the All Blacks jersey, and pricing should have reflected that. Online shopping makes price comparisons super easy - international price points should have been based off NZ's price point to avoid this issue.

• Yes, they have sunk a lot of money into the sponsorship deal, but since rugby is still seen as largely grassroots, drawing attention to the 'selling out' of the sport was only going to cause backlash towards the brand. Plus, it's given people the opportunity to bring the issue of the sweatshop labour back into the spotlight - not something adidas wants people to associate with the brand.

• Preventing online retailers from shipping to NZ is just plain bullying. Far too heavyhanded - especially to the average person with little comprehension of the distribution and supply chain, and the reasons why adidas was doing this. To these people, adidas is still getting their money - so why prevent this from happening? More anger and resentment = very bad for the brand.

In the end though, I think this will blow over. Adidas is a strong brand, and the goodwill towards the All Blacks brand is huge. I imagine they'll be learning a lot from this experience, and taking notes for next time. It was definitely a big mistep for them.

EDIT: This article in the New Zealand Herald takes all my thoughts on the subject, and puts it so much more eloquently. Plus it features quotes from some of my marketing lecturers at uni - Denise Conroy and Mike Lee. Great read.