My Love Affair with Adidas

The last weekend in January I participated in the Paige, TX Tough Mudder, which to date, is by far the hardest, most strenuous, most miserable, and most awesome experience event of my life. 10 miles and 19 excruciatingly difficult obstacles (which were designed by the British Special Forces, no less) later, I was exhausted, ready for a nap, and in desperate need of some new shoes. The combination of 40 degree water, mud, hay, and electric wires took their toll on my poor shoes.  Apparently I wasn’t alone in this either, and in fact, this is fairly normal for every Tough Mudder challenge because there was a designated area to donate your muddy shoes.   So in the end I left battered, bruised, tired, and shoeless-which meant it was time to go shoe shopping.

Goodbye, dear friends.

I have been playing sports for my entire life, so when it comes to buying athletic gear of any sort I have my brands that I immediately go to. I didn’t realize how strongly I preferred some brands over other until I went to buy my new shoes. After 14 years of soccer I have come to be a loyal Adidas consumer. Any other brand was incapable lasting for an entire season. Looking in my closet now, I have three pairs of Adidas sweat pants, one Adidas sweatshirt, six pairs of Adidas soccer socks, over five pairs of Adidas shorts, and five pairs of Adidas shoes.  I hadn’t purchased a non-Adidas pair of shoes in over eight years. Buying Adidas had become a habit over years of playing sports. All my uniforms had typically been Adidas and, because I knew Adidas footwear would last (partly because I wanted my cleats and uniforms to match) I would instinctively buy Adidas all the way around. It occurred to me when I walked in to Academy that I hadn’t willingly bought a non-Adidas pair of shoes in over 8 years. Nonetheless, I was planning on continuing this and adding to my Adidas collection.

Ah, the glorious pile of destroyed shoes.

But, tragedy struck when I walked into the Women’s Shoe aisle. There were no Adidas shoes in my size. None. There were 8.5s and 9.5s—too bad I’m a size 9. It had become so ingrained in my mind to buy nothing but Adidas that I nearly settled for an 8.5 shoe size, solely due to the fact that I was so reluctant to buy another brand. It was then that I realized the profound effect that sports can have on brand loyalty. Sports in and of themselves are the embodiment of passion, drive, and loyalty. Athletes devote countless hours, days and even years to sport, and when there is that kind of passion and devotion behind a sport, athletes will seek out the best gear from a very young age. I believe a prime target Sports apparel and gear brands should be targeting is young teenagers. At this age they are finding “their sport” and entering higher levels of play such as Club Leagues. If they are able to find a durable and reliable brand at this age they will come back year after year to this brand for all of their sports needs-no matter what the sport. This is coming solely from my experience. I’ve been loyal to Adidas since I was about 13 years old and I viewed, and still view, their brand as the most dependable and classic sports brand on the market.