Why Adidas Stopped Chasing ROI

Something interesting just happened in sportswear. Adidas, a global powerhouse that had lost its footing in the hype cycle, didn’t bounce back by throwing more money at performance marketing. It rebuilt momentum by reinvesting in something far more elusive: brand heat.

That term might sound vague, but CEO Bjørn Gulden is clear. Brand heat is not a vibe. It is a metric of relevance, reputation, and cultural traction. It means people care enough about the brand to want it before they even look at a discount code.

In H1 2025, Adidas reported €12.1 billion in revenue, up 11% on a constant-currency basis. That came with a 14% increase in brand growth and healthy margins, even as external costs like US tariffs loomed large. And the real story is not just in the numbers. It is in how they got there.

Adidas did not outperform through volume. It out-thought the category

Marketing spend stayed proportionate to sales at 12%. That matters. Gulden is not crediting increased investment but smarter marketing. Creative platforms like the UEFA Women’s Euros partnership or regional collaborations like the Oasis reboot worked because they weren’t just product ads. They were brand statements. They put Adidas back into cultural conversations.

This was not about chasing attention. It was about re-earning it.

This goes deeper than brand versus performance

The marketing industry is still stuck in a binary that no longer applies. Adidas is not switching from paid to organic. It is not pitting emotional storytelling against conversion metrics. It is simply reminding the market that without long-term brand value, all short-term tactics start to collapse under their own weight.

If your customer needs to be bribed to return, you do not have loyalty. If your creative cannot be remembered without a call-to-action, you do not have a brand. And if your agency tells you reach is the same as relevance, it might be time to change agencies.

The data tells its own story:

• H1 2025 revenue: €12.1 billion

• Constant-currency growth: 11%

• Q2 marketing investment: €712 million

• Marketing as share of sales: 12%

• Estimated tariff hit in H2: €200 million

• Core market drivers: terrace trend, women’s sport, cultural collaborations(Source: Adidas Investor Relations, Marketing Week)

  
  

Lessons from Adidas for serious marketers

This isn’t about selling trainers. It is about reminding marketers why we exist in the first place.

• Campaigns should influence culture, not just commerce. Adidas didn’t ride trends, it reignited them.

• ROI does not always look like a dashboard. Some of the most effective marketing efforts start with feel, not figures.

• Global brands win through local relevance. The Oasis campaign worked in part because it was designed to resonate in the UK first.

• Restraint is a strategy. Adidas did not overspend. It out-positioned.

When you build equity instead of spending it, the results show up across the funnel. Not just in clicks.

Our take at Truene Creative

We work with brands that are serious about being remembered. That means:

• Finding creative frameworks that build heat, not just headlines

• Designing campaigns that become reference points in your category

• Helping internal teams shift mindset from deliverables to desirability

• Building commercial value with brand-first, audience-led strategy

Brand heat is not about popularity. It is about priority. When people instinctively prefer your brand, you spend less convincing them. Adidas is proof that brand still leads when it is treated as a strategic function, not a creative indulgence.

If your brand has lost its momentum or is stuck cycling through underwhelming campaigns, we can help refocus. Let’s talk about how to build lasting demand, not temporary clicks.