Mini: What the Adidas Pet Collection Gets Right (and What It Misses)

🐶 Adidas just launched a China-exclusive pet collection—and it’s more than just cute.

In this Soul & Science mini, Jason unpacks the marketing strategy behind Adidas Originals’ latest capsule: apparel and accessories designed for pets and their owners. Matching outfits? Yes. Global rollout? Not yet.

For marketers, this launch raises big questions:

🧠 Is this a clever test-market move or a missed brand moment?
📍 Why China first—and why not global?
📱 How could influencer strategy have amplified the rollout?

Whether you're building brand love or exploring new categories, there's a lot to learn from this bold (and adorable) launch.

Brought to you by Mekanism.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to the podcast. This is a mini Soul in
Science episode about the Adida's Pet collection. That's right, Adida's
Originals just launched a new pet collection and I am
definitely impressed with it. As soon as I saw it,
I wanted it immediately. This mini capsule features peril and
pet accessories. It shows Adidas really leaning into the pet marketplace,

(00:35):
which is growing. The collection itself has cowhide collars, pet
bags with breathable windows, T shirts, all with that Adida's
original three stripe aesthetic that we are all familiar with,
and I think the idea in some of the work
that they put out there. It shows owners matching their pets,

(00:57):
which I think is a big unlock. The idea that
you could wear the same thing as your pet and
walk down the street and be twinsies, I think is
a huge concept that pet owners. I am a dog owner.
I would love to actually wear the exact same thing
as my dog because I love that little bastard so much. Anyway,
I think the strategic misstep here is they decided to

(01:21):
launch this collection in China. It's a China exclusive and
it's available in Shanghai from May twenty onward and then
online only in China May twenty seventh and onward. So
I think that limited release, I'm sure it was on purpose,
maybe because China's launching a lot of trends now and
they're going to see if it takes off. But I

(01:43):
would have liked to see them have a global launch
because I think it's such a big idea. But maybe
they're doing, you know, half steps to see if it
catches on. But I think the idea is fantastic. Also,
I would have probably launched it with if they were
going to go global. Do some influencers on TikTok and
Instagram sporting the same clothes as their pets. But great idea.

(02:07):
I think it's really going to take off. I think
the idea of Adidas doing a pet collection. Whoever came
up with that idea and their product development team should
get a raise. It's a great idea.