Adidas Combat Sports

Boxing shoes and competitive gloves are not repurchased frequently. Shoppers loyal to Adidas can buy the same products from many retailers. “At the end of the day, they sell Adidas products that can be purchased from a variety of different retailers. It’s really not ‘I’m loyal to Adidas Combat Sports.’ They’re loyal to Adidas. Where they buy that product is where we have to show up,” said Kyle Tapper, Account Director.

That insight shaped the strategy. If you can’t lean on returning customers to drive growth, every dollar has to pull its weight on acquisition. And when shoppers can buy the product on Amazon, or through retailers, “showing up” isn’t enough. We have to win the moment of intent. Meta finds people ready to buy. Google captures purchase-intent opportunities. Channels work from the same strategy, with one agency partner orchestrating acquisition through retention.

All channels have a role, and work together.

• Acquisition-first across every channel. Differentiated ROAS expectations by audience, blended to a portfolio-level efficiency target that the client set.
• Price competitiveness as a precondition for paid media performance.
• Email as a steady foundation layer to recapture visitors who did not immediately convert.

Every channel outperformed the previous year.

Google Ads stalled. The account was optimized for keywords, match types, and asset quality. The prices were the growth blocker. Adidas Combat Sports products were listed at higher price points than the same products elsewhere, and bid optimization could not solve that disadvantage. We surfaced the issue, the client adjusted pricing and the channel hit stride.

We consolidated the account into fewer campaigns with asset groups organized by product type. That tied budget control to inventory. When a boxing shipment lands, spend can shift to that campaign without disturbing the rest of the account.

“We made that recommendation, surfaced it to them, they agreed to make price changes, and after that happened, Google Ads really exploded.”

Kyle Tapper, Account Director

Catalog ads consistently outperform other formats in this account. Shoppers searching for Adidas combat gear know which glove they want and are choosing a retailer. Catalog ads put the product in front of that intent and remove a click.

Static and lifestyle creative build familiarity with the Combat Sports vertical. LimeLight ships and tests new creative to replace low-performing ads. That responsiveness creates velocity.

Acquisition spend works harder when the site converts. Each color and size once lived as a separate listing. A shopper comparing Box Hog 2 colorways moved through 15 pages. We consolidated those options into one product page with variant selectors. We also corrected product descriptions and rebuilt collection pages around buyer intent, using callouts such as best for amateurs and best for sparring.

Email is earning a larger role in the program. A subscription offer and welcome flow build the list, abandoned-shopper flows recapture visitors paid media did not convert and campaigns support retention.

Subscribers are tagged by sport. As Adidas Combat Sports expands across boxing, taekwondo, karate and other disciplines, those tags provide the foundation for sport-relevant segments.

Adidas runs Meta, Google, email and the website through one agency. Meta hands off to email. A pricing insight found during Google Ads work reshaped the merchandising conversation. Site work follows the pages receiving paid traffic.

Revenue per user softened as first-time visitors arrived in volume. The client accepted that trade for scale, and the next phase of work is designed to tighten the ratio while the acquisition program continues.