Dose of Prose

These past two weeks I’ve been challenging myself in ways that I never thought were possible in terms of fitness. My body has been sore for a few days, but I know that this short term discomfort will be worth the long term results of the happy and healthy lifestyle I want to achieve for my mind and body. I’ll speak more on my workouts/fitness journey in another post, but this week I want to talk to you about an event I attended earlier this week with Adidas, one of the largest sportswear manufacturers in the world. I’ve mentioned in the past how much I love athleisure (check out 3 ways to style the trend HERE) and if you follow my social media, it is clear that fitness is a top priority for me. I love to sweat not only because it’s a huge stress reliever, but also because staying active makes me feel good both physically and mentally.

I personally prefer attending workout classes rather than the gym and I value developing strong, personal relationships with my fitness instructors. Most importantly, I love the sense of community that goes along with exercising in groups. It’s nice to be surrounded by people who are working towards a common goal – we are (literally lol) lifting as we climb! All of those qualities as well as feelings of empowerment and being a part of a bigger collective is exactly what #AdidasWomenLA represents. The event I attended was a Community Launch Party that celebrated not only the launch of #AdidasWomenLA but also a new product line! See photos below for a preview of some of the pieces. To shop the latest arrivals, click HERE.

#AdidasWomenLA is essentially a community for females in LA to join that brings them an exclusive Adidas brand experience through partnerships, programming and events in the city. At the party, I was able to see the new line, enjoy some drinks, light bites, dance the night away and they gifted me a jacket that I customized! (spoiler alert – I chose a palm tree…fitting right?)

The event was so fun because it was carefree with good vibes. Everyone was welcoming and I truly felt like I was a part of a valuable, meaningful, diverse and of course, stylish community of people. So, me being the business-minded person I am, after the event, I kept thinking about how important and powerful localization is for businesses. Let’s talk about it.

First of all, what is localization?

Localization is the process of adapting a product or content to a specific locale or market…The aim of localization is to give a product the look and feel of having been created specifically for a target market, no matter their language, culture, or location.

Essentially, with localization, you are translating a product or service in a way that connects to your audience on a deeper level; thus, creating a user experience that further drives your marketing strategy and ultimately encourages consumers to buy. Why? Because we (as customers) naturally attract to things that are familiar, relatable and understandable to us. In order to effectively market your product, it is imperative to know the relationship between the consumer and the product and how they connect with each other. People in Los Angeles don’t want to be told about a new Adidas product from the US Adidas team headquartered in Portland, Oregon. It just doesn’t make sense. Products you sell need to tell a story and be relatable to the customer.

The Adidas event was on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, a popular stretch of shops, restaurants and galleries in Venice, California. The entire Adidas store was also 30% off, which was another perk perfectly timed with the launch of their new product line. Overall, both the Community Launch party and #AdidasWomenLA campaign perfectly embrace the west coast hip-hop street style and ultimately make the Adidas brand meaningful to LA locals; thus, increasing traffic from the California target market. Ultimately, localization helps to foster strong relationships and build community, which plays a big role in growing the brand overall.

With the creation of Adidas LA, and now Adidas Women LA, Adidas is building brand awareness and targeting the right markets by using localization. In fact, lots of companies are doing this and if you are a business owner and reading this, it is definitely a technique that could give your business a competitive advantage, especially if you want to go global. Localization also can help you to track consumer behavior and preferences, which is directly connected to driving sales.

Overall, I love the mission of #AdidasWomenLA and can’t wait to see this community grow. Although I’m not a California native, I love LA, and with the increased use of localization from brands I interact with, this city begins to feel more and more like home.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. First of all, how do you feel about the new Adidas line? They added a piece (the tulle skirt) that you typically don’t see in athleisure. How do you feel about it? In terms of localization, do you think it serves as a main driver of growth in a business? Have you seen any negative effects of localization? Let’s discuss.

As always, thanks for rocking with me. I have lots more content coming your way. Stay tuned.

-Kaamilah