Adidas TV

Branded TV stations have had a chequered history. Audi TV launched in 2005 to a mixed reception, but is still going strong. Meanwhile, Bud.tv from Budweiser recently pulled the plug as it failed to attract the young, male-dominated crowd it was targeting as visitors to its 'destination' website.

So what will the fate be for adidas.tv, which soft-launched last week on adidas.com's basketball sub-site? There already seems some controversy surrounding the launch.

A selection of adidas-branded video clips could be downloaded from the beta site via a free adidas-branded player and embedded into blogs or any one of 25 social networks that are compatible with the service. This is great branding tool for adidas that will help spread its content far and wide across the net. There was also the adidas.tv widget which will relay regular content updates when these become available on the hub. The site was initially slated to offer 75 clips created by adidas and its partners, but this is expected to increase quickly, with channels covering specific sports, alongside a dedicated adidas Originals channel hosting short films. In short, adidas.tv is expected to become a hub for all adidas video content.

I believe adidas is well positioned to create content which is well suited to the sports community and will be picked up across the web by there intended audience. That isn't to say that every brand can provide the correct engaging content for the audience they serve. Adidas has a history of non-traditional marketing, and regular gets involved in collabarations which don't necceasarilly just embrace sport culture but youth culture in general. This is why i think adidas.tv wil be a success. I am sure more brands which try and follow suit as it becomes increasingly difficult to reach your target audience, as media becomes more and more diverse.