I ain’t gonna front. It feels odd to start an exciting new venture on the back of gears that have been ground. However, as long as businesses experience missteps, especially ones this public or prominent, lessons can be learned—ones at the brand (as a verb) foundation and, most often, firmly ensconced in cultural fluency. So, without any further ado, let us begin: Lionel Messi, Adidas, and them being caught off guard regarding the demand for a specific pink football shirt.

The Situation...

On June 7, 2023, Messi announced his intentions to sign with Major League Soccer Club, Inter Miami CF. Within a couple of days, Adidas received approximately 500,000 requests from stores and suppliers for his Heartbeat Kit football shirt, also known as his home jersey.

Adidas knew Messi coming to Inter Miami CF was more than just significant. As the company that outfits Major League Soccer, they used this opportunity to welcome the star to Miami by turning the city pink for his debut. The logistics involved to make this happen prove that they had to know this signing was a big effin’ deal.

It's also important to note that major sportswear companies would much rather produce large batches of team apparel way ahead of time of a product launch, so time was an issue since there was only a month and change between when Messi announced his intent and when he signed with the South Florida club on July 15, 2023. Also of note, the supply of Inter Miami CF jerseys that Adidas did have in stores and storage facilities—the without Messi's name and number—quickly “evaporated” upon La Pulga's first announcement. 

One could deduce that if a person has enough power that his mere intention to sign with a team makes people excited enough to go out and purchase that team jersey, even without his name or number on it, the shirt is apt to fly off the shelves. That fact notwithstanding, further analysis of Lionel Messi's career, stature, and influence shines a blinding light on what can happen when you don't stay ready.

🐐 sh*t

I'd be remiss if I didn't at least provide a short list of the achievements in the past two years that grant Messi the global influence, celebrity, and attraction that warrant the passion for this jersey:

• Led Argentina to win Copa América in 2021

• Led Argentina to win CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions in 2022

• Led Argentina to win the country's third World Cup in 2022

• Won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball in 2022

• Won the Best Men’s FIFA Player in 2022

• Won his 7th & 8th Ballon d'Or in 2021 and 2023

I guarantee some players wish they had accomplished this much in their entire careers.

All Eyes on Me[ssi]

As mentioned before, Messi is, worst-case scenario, one of the Top Two footballers in recent times. As such, anticipation around the milestones he had yet to meet kept him top of mind, especially during the lead-up to the Men's FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. 

As you can see here, interest in La Albiceleste's World Cup jersey in the United States was high, mostly due to the popularity and influence held by the team's clear top superstar. Besides, Adidas’ proximity to soccer and the Argentinian champion is well noted, mainly because the company was an official sponsor of the 2022 World Cup, has outfitted the Argentinian National Football Team since 1974, and signed Lionel Messi to a lifetime contract in 2017 after his 17-year regular sponsorship deal with the three-striped brand.

Naturally, Messi's World Cup jersey was sold out even before Argentina beat France in the final match. In addition, the generic club jersey sold out shortly after that, and the 3-star kit denoting the team just having won their third World Cup sold out within minutes of release.

If the Messi experience during the World Cup wasn’t enough to have Adidas on their toes for the forthcoming Inter Miami CF #10 shirt sales bonanza, perhaps actively monitoring search intent would've been helpful.

Kit Culture

For Adidas, or any brand for that matter, this is likely the most crucial part of being caught flatfooted. If you follow me on LinkedIn or hear me on a stage or Zoom, you know I speak on cultural fluency's value to your company's bottom line. And in this case, the sport's global popularity intersects with fashion and representation.

In sports, fandom or allegiance to a particular team, or in this case club, is more of an ephemeral concept. The connection itself may be intangible, but we are able to join together through the uniforms the players wear. The jersey serves as a physical manifestation of the game we enjoy that we can take anywhere, as well as a display of our allegiance to a team or player. 

In the specific case of football shirts, the time put into creative design and the frequency by which the designs often change make these shirts, in as many versions as possible, a must-have. 

Furthermore, the fit and quality of these shirts empower people to add their fashion tastes to how they wear them—a direct way people lean into their own identity. 

Lastly, when these shirts are adopted by people who hold celebrity or influence, the amount of cultural currency created directly mirrors the level of cool held by the person wearing it. That level of authority applies to celebrities, influencers, and, expressly, the player being represented on the shirt. Having the #1 footballer in the world is an incredible place to start demand for a new product that is intrinsically linked to who people know him to be.

Conversely, a company like Adidas being late during a moment at the confluence of sports—the business's wheelhouse—and culture can lead to questioned or damaged reputation, customer alienation, and, most obviously, lost sales or revenue. I don't know what businesses you deal with, but the ones I know don't like the idea of losing easy money in most situations.

Conclusion

Needless to say, Adidas moved as quickly as possible to fulfill the demand to mitigate any financial losses or bad customer sentiment. The point is that the same energy used for large-scale ideas that include shipping containers and helicopters to cover a city with pink smoke should also be used to create meaningful, impactful occasions that lead to longstanding emotional ties. Those emotional ties are often the catalyst for money being transferred from the consumer to the brand.

Sports are inherently open to these moments by design. Moreover, the characteristics of culture naturally intersect with the instants created by the games people play. All of the puzzle pieces are there, especially when you're in the unique position of having access to the best player on the planet. As a business, it's up to you to put the pieces together instead of leaving them in the box and just looking at the picture on the cover. 

Just do... what you're supposed to do, and you can get an easy win.