Alegra O'Hare

Three years ago, when Alegra O’Hare took the reins of Adidas Originals, the seminal German brand’s line of casual sportswear, she did what most senior-level marketers would: she decided to change everything. At least, that was her plan. Early on, she was in a focus group and, on a whim, asked the moderator to ask a participant, “What pisses you off about brands?” The man responded, “I hate it when they get stuck in their own paradigm.”

- Kristina Monllos

“I listened to him,” O’Hare remembers, “and I was thinking, ‘I’m frickin’ stuck in my own paradigm.’”

It was then that the vp of global brand communications realized that changing everything just to leave your mark— instead of truly considering what was right for the brand— wasn’t going to achieve the growth she’d had in mind. “OK,” O’Hare told herself. “We’re starting over.”

That aha moment led O’Hare to create a strategy built around making sure Adidas Originals never gets stuck in its own paradigm. But what does that mean?