Likeable Content Daily

“Hello this is Kevin Garnett, All-Star forward for the Boston Celtics, James can’t come to the phone right now because he’s busy playing basketball, please leave your message and he will get back to you as soon as possible.”

Now I know what your thinking, this is supposed to be a marketing blog not a sports day dream journal. Well, thanks to an innovative marketing strategy by Adidas, this may be more than just a day dream. According to the January 18th, Ad Age video, Adidas, the current world’s number #2 basketball apparel brand in the world, is in the process of creating a website where you can go and customize a voice mail message from Kevin Garnett or any of the other “5ive” athletes. You can type in your name and select from a panel of different voice mail messages and once the information is received it will be sent directly to your phone. I find this concept interesting and fun. The idea of personalizing advertisement is something that I can get behind. There’s just something about hearing a celebrity (albeit pre-recorded) saying your name and speaking on your behalf is something that I would not mind having on my phone. Imagine the reaction of your friends and family the first time you miss a call from them. In a test pilot Adidas ran, they received over 25,000 calls from people leaving messages for Kevin Garnett, some even calling multiple times a day. Although it is currently not up on the Adidas website yet, it is so far generating great buzz. Creating personalized content that people can share within their circle of friends is an excellent way to generate word of mouth buzz, increase brand awareness and ultimately drive sales up. 5 Bees for a great concept.