Introduction
Adidas has solidified its brand by maintaining cultural relevance, from its connection with hip-hop in the 1980s to its endorsement of global sports figures. Currently, TikTok serves as an innovative domain, with the platform’s algorithmic For You Page functioning as a potent channel for brand exposure. In contrast with traditional advertising, TikTok’s algorithm enhances material that seems genuine and in line with prevailing trends, necessitating marketers to consistently update their strategies. Adidas has embraced viral challenges, collaborated with influencers, and encouraged consumers to co-create content that enhances engagement and identity expression. The algorithmic landscape remains unpredictable; TikTok can bring back historical items like the Adidas Samba through viral appeal, yet it can equally obscure efforts that do not resonate. This essay argues that TikTok’s algorithms not only reshape Adidas’s branding strategies but also change consumer engagement with the brand, generating significant opportunities and considerable risks in the constantly changing digital marketplace.
TikTok Algorithms and Branding context
Social media algorithms are quite good at personalising material streams by looking at a lot of user data, such as browsing habits, preferences, shares, and engagement metrics . Peng et al mention this rationale is shown by TikTok’s For You Page (FYP), which works as a “style detector” that ranks postings not by how many followers they have or how well-known their brand is, instead by how frequently individuals interact with them, such as how long they watch them, how many times they share them, and how many comments they leave. This dynamic sets TikTok apart from other popular platforms, especially since more than 60% of its users are members of Generation Z, a group that values creativity, authenticity, and being a part of cultural trends (Muliadi, 2020, as cited in Zeng & Bondy, 2022, p. 80).
On TikTok, even well-known brands like Adidas can’t rely on old sponsorships or a high number of followers to get their video seen. Instead, they need to make fresh content that is responsive to trends and can go viral. Zeng and Bondy say that creators’ popularity comes from how well each post does, not how many followers they have. This means that both people and brands must adapt to fit what Cotter calls the necessity to “play the visibility game.” In practice, this means that Adidas has to constantly negotiate its identity within the algorithmic circumstances of the platform. Zeng and Bondy mention this entails coming up with techniques that fit with both TikTok’s collaborative culture and the changing dimensions of algorithmic visibility. Zeng and Bondy respond TikTok’s algorithms also have the capacity to regulate creators and companies by pushing them toward socially responsible initiatives that fit with the platform’s corporate image . Therefore, TikTok is a good example to look at how algorithmic governance changes the way brands work and puts greater cultural and political values into the circumstances of prominence.
Adidas branding strategies on TikTok
Adidas’s branding strategies on TikTok demonstrate a deliberate alignment with the platform’s algorithmic culture and participatory ethos. Collaborations with notable figures such as Bad Bunny and Edison Chen achieve popularity not only through Adidas’s established brand strength but also because influencers and fans recirculate this content in native TikTok formats, amplifying its reach through stitches, duets, and remixes. Peng et al declare the short-form video format is central to this approach, as concise clips allow Adidas to communicate key brand messages with precision and achieve rapid distribution across diverse demographics. This reflects what Stein et al. describe in their discussion of spreadable media: the cultural and economic value of circulation rests not solely on content creation but on the creative labour of fans who adapt, share, and embed brand messages into wider cultural conversations. By leveraging this spreadability, Adidas ensures that its branding becomes less a top-down message and more a co-authored narrative shaped by consumers. At the same time, Adidas’s strategies highlight the dual role of social media marketing as both functional and intentional. As Al-Zyound notes, social platforms enhance branding functionally by providing services such as brand pages and posts, yet they are equally intentional in shaping consumer perception by generating emotions that allow organisations to control how products and services are understood. For Adidas, this duality means using TikTok not just as a distribution tool but as a cultural stage where strategic collaborations, viral aesthetics, and user participation converge to sustain the brand’s relevance and emotional resonance with Gen Z consumers.
Consumer Engagement with Adidas
Consumer engagement with Adidas on TikTok reflects by the platform’s focus on being real, interactive, and collaborative participation. Adidas takes advantage of this by showing micro-influencers and regular users styling its items, which makes the brand more real and relatable to younger consumers, especially Gen Z. Through the “retro-core” movement, Adidas Sambas and Gazelles have re-emerged as icons of nostalgic fashion by showing the help of algorithmic popularity can recall old products and make them fashion standards for a new generation. TikTok’s algorithms give Adidas more than just visibility; they also give the brand important information about how consumers behave. Alam et al. show by looking at engagement statistics, the brand can improve its targeting and segmentation techniques to make sure that its content is relevant to its audience’s interests .
Sulonen mentions TikTok is different from traditional branding since it doesn’t just talk to people; it creates a space where people can actively form brand stories. Adidas shows this by using design-focused material such as its emblem, Boost technology, or fashion elements that in user-generated videos that mix brand storytelling with individual creativity. Sulonen says that TikTok’s duet, stitch, and live-stream capabilities stimulate two-way connection, leading to consumers more active instead of passive. But this strategy also has risks: brands that don’t follow TikTok’s participatory rules could lose cultural relevance, and relying too much on trends could hurt brand consistency. Still, Adidas’s use of co-creation, influencer partnerships, and viral aesthetics shows how TikTok’s community-driven logic can help brands connect with customers better in a competitive digital space.
TikTok offers Adidas a significant chance to enhance its branding initiatives and strengthen consumer engagement; nevertheless, these advantages are coupled with significant risks that underscore the volatility of algorithmic branding. The platform’s global reach has proved useful in new markets where use of smartphones and internet access are growing quickly. Suhardi claims this extension lets Adidas reach people who may not have been reachable through traditional advertising tactics.Suhardi shows that TikTok’s advanced advertising tools and analytics also give Adidas a complete picture of what customers require, which lets the company improve its targeting strategies and content distribution to better engage with certain groups of people. These insights provided by algorithms show how important data is for modern branding, since consumer behavior is always being watched and turned into useful marketing information.
Opportunities versus risks
As TikTok adds more advanced technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), Adidas has more chances to reach people on the platform. These tools give marketers new methods to create immersive stories that get people involved and make them feel something. This changes TikTok from a place where people only watch videos to a place where people can create and tell stories together. Suhardi says that AR and VR help Adidas show off how they create their products, highlight their performance qualities, and provide people engaging experiences that set their ads apart from all the other ones on social media. For example, AR filters and virtual try-on features let people ‘wear’ famous shoes digitally or look at 3D design aspects, combining fun with self-expression. Real-world proof outside of TikTok supports the usefulness of these methods: According to VirtualRealityMarketing , Adidas’s in-app AR try-on feature, which was made using Vyking, reportedly increased the likelihood that people would buy the things it showed. These results show that technologies that are immersive have both commercial and cultural potential. This shows that similar techniques within TikTok’s ecosystem could increase brand engagement by integrating new technology with algorithmic visibility.
The return of the Samba sneaker by Adidas shows how algorithmic attention may turn regular products into cultural icons for today’s audiences. This shows that algorithmic popularity can improve both visibility and the perceived authenticity of antique designs. TikTok’s algorithm encourages material that gets people talking, like remixable trends, duets, and challenges. This can bring back classics to younger consumers who may not have seen them before. This shows how powerful algorithmic virality can be in building brand equity and bringing back fashion trends based on nostalgia. On the other hand, these chances come with major hazards that come with TikTok’s trend-driven environment. In the fast-paced world of viral culture, brands that don’t keep up with the times risk becoming old-fashioned or invisible. Even campaigns with a lot of money might be affected by algorithmic instability, which means that visibility depends less on a long-term plan and more on how people interact with the campaign in unexpected ways by Sulonen.
This illustrates Cotter’s concept of “playing the visibility game,” whereby creators and companies must continuously modify their strategies to maintain algorithmic preference. Over dependence on this dynamic may undermine Adidas’s long-term brand identity by promoting ephemeral viral content over coherent storytelling. External risks further limit Adidas’s utilization of TikTok. Continued regulatory examination of data privacy and national security threatens TikTok’s international activities, prompting inquiries about the platform’s enduring efficacy as a branding instrument by Suhardi. Adidas encounters significant competition from direct competitors including Nike and New Balance, as well as from platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, which continuously innovate and struggle for customer attention. TikTok facilitates meaningful involvement; yet its governance directs businesses towards specific campaign types that resonate with its corporate ethos, particularly those highlighting social responsibility. Although this may enhance Adidas’s visibility, it may also restrict the brand’s ability to express its identity freely by Zeng & Bondy.
In this regard, TikTok is a paradox. It gives Adidas ample opportunities to make its products more visible, bring back old favourites, and interact with customers on a deeper level. At the same time, it puts the brand at risk of instability, regulatory pressure, and too much competition. So, for Adidas to do well on TikTok, they need to do more than just use new technologies and algorithmic opportunities. They also need to carefully manage the risks of working in a digital ecosystem that is platform-driven and hard to predict.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Adidas’s presence on TikTok shows that algorithms are no longer just means for distributing content; they are instead active agents that shape branding strategies and how brands interact with customers. The For You Page on the platform pushes Adidas to move away from traditional top-down marketing and sponsorship approaches and toward a more participatory strategy in which consumers help build brand stories through viral trends, influencer collaborations, and user-generated content. This change has brought back heritage items like the Samba and Gazelle, showing that algorithmic virality may successfully combine nostalgia with items that are still important in today’s culture.
However these benefits come with significant risks. Algorithmic instability may easily ruin even the greatest plans, and oversight from regulators could hurt the platform’s stability and worldwide growth. Also, relying too much on short-lived trends can break up Adidas’s story, which impacts its brand identity.
Ultimately , TikTok makes companies like Adidas work under a new set of guidelines where exposure is based on both algorithmic logic and creative strategy. To be successful at branding now, you need to find the right balance between being responsive to data and keeping your brand’s integrity throughout time. Adidas’s problem is finding a way to combine short-term viral visibility with long-term brand value. They need to ensure that TikTok improves, not negatively impacts their global reputation as a leader in fashion and sports culture.
Sammy Tassone 
Monique B 
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