An amazing young woman under contract to Adidas, Sasha DiGiulian, had a social media effectiveness score that was through the roof, even higher than the competitor athletes! What was going on here? We determined that all the competitor athletes had been through formal social media and personal brand-building training. Nobody at Adidas had offered this training to their athletes. But Sasha also had a contract with Red Bull, where she learned to cultivate a profound and effective social media presence.
The problem was easily solved. After training sessions and a little follow-up coaching, the Adidas athletes rapidly raised their scores to the level of the competition – and in some cases even exceeded it.
We weren’t trying to stylize an athlete to make them conform to a corporate standard. That would have been a disaster. Adidas simply showed them how to be their amazing selves online more effectively and with greater intention, consistency, and reach. That helps everybody.
from “Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins” by Mark Schaefer
