Alegra O’Hare: The Brand Genius Behind Adidas Originals

For Adidas’ VP of global brand communications, creativity and collaboration go hand in hand. “We don’t know everything. .. You need to have conversations and open-mind thinking,” she explains in this week’s Marketing Today podcast.

For this week’s episode of “Marketing Today,” I spoke with Alegra O’Hare, vice president of global brand communications at Adidas. O’Hare led the Adidas team in the creation of the “Original Is Never Finished” campaign that took home a Grand Prix at Cannes, and she was honored by Adweek in 2017 as a Brand Genius.

In the course of our conversation, O’Hare talked about the value of courage in leading a brand. “You have to embody and show it,” she said. “I think you really have to transmit it, be authentic and genuine about it, be championing it—and be celebrating it when it’s successful.”

That isn’t to say O’Hare endorses a “fools rush in” approach: “It’s not about taking risks for risk’s sake,” she added. “It’s got to be part of the strategy. It’s got to be close to the values of the brand. It’s got to make business sense.”

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today” podcast include:

• The fuel for O’Hare’s fire. (3:25)
• O’Hare on her role at Adidas. (4:38)
• How to foster a culture of courage and practical risk-taking. (8:40)
• The vision and creativity (and collaboration) behind the Adidas Originals brand. (10:43)
• Why “Original Is Never Finished.” (12:14)
• O’Hare’s campaign secret. (16:30)
• How to achieve more in your brand-building efforts. (18:94)
• Three elements that make brands inspirational. (22:59)

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Listen in iTunes or Google Play.