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Case Study
adidas
Every day, brands face increasing risks on social media from impersonation, copyright violations, executive identity theft, and gray market sales. At the same time, consumers are constantly exposed to fake accounts, misleading offers, and fraudulent links - undermining trust and creating confusion in the digital marketplace.
With social media now the world’s number one marketing channel and the place where global attention is held, protecting brand identity online is more critical than ever.
As a global brand with 75 years of history and over 100 million followers, adidas saw an opportunity to lead the way in strengthening digital brand protection. By partnering with Handles.org, adidas took a proactive approach to securing its social media presence, ensuring a safer, more authentic experience for its consumers.
Handles.org, founded by executives with deep expertise in social media security, offers the first platform-verified defense system tailored for modern brand protection. Through a comprehensive audit, infringement resolution, and governance implementation, adidas reinforced its leadership in digital trust - streamlining operations, enhancing security, and delivering a more reliable experience for fans and customers worldwide.
This case study explores how adidas set a new industry benchmark for safeguarding social identity, demonstrating the power of strategic brand protection in today’s digital-first world.
Key Results
9,000+ social accounts removed in phase 1, with a further 50,000 removals expected across 2025.
100+ million followers protected
Ranked in top 5 companies for removing infringing items via Meta’s Brand Rights Protection since phase 1 start.
250+ licensed handles identified and aligned under the single management suite to provide full oversight.
10M+ variants searches of adidas related wordmarks.
The Scope
With over 250 social media accounts across multiple regions, product lines, partnerships, and campaigns, adidas operates a vast and complex digital ecosystem. Maintaining security, consistency and governance across this network is a challenge - one that requires constant oversight and adaptation. To take control and protect its brand identity, Handles.org and adidas looked at four key pillars:
Impersonation Detection
Discovering imposters to ensure adidas' consumers are protected.
Brand Safety
Identifying threats to the brand and consumer, and future-proofing security across social media.
Core Brands & IP
Protected Sub-Brands
@adidas
@adidasoriginals
@adidasterrex
Category Handles
@adidasfootball
@adidasrunning
@adidastennis
Localisation
Handles
@adidasuk
@adidasthailand
@adidas.turkey
Governance
Helping a wide scope of official accounts to remain visible for consumers and align with global brand objectives.
Official Account Alignment
Achieving brand-continuity in handle naming conventions for existing and upcoming official accounts and content.
The Handles.org Approach
Handles.org deployed an intelligence-driven audit to give adidas a 360° view of its social media ecosystem. We mapped all licensed handles, uncovered threats from impersonators, and analyzed existing security protocols. This deep dive provided adidas with the critical insights needed to fortify its brand presence, streamline governance, and implement next-gen optimization strategies.
To streamline, secure, and future-proof adidas’ social media ecosystem, Handles.org leveraged big data analytics to uncover patterns in fake account naming conventions - empowering adidas to proactively block and mitigate impersonation threats before they surfaced.
Armed with these insights, we established and enforced AI-driven policies for account creation, naming conventions, and ongoing management. Profile photos and usernames were standardized to align with adidas’ global branding strategy, high-risk naming structures were flagged and avoided, and account verification was secured at scale. Governance protocols ensured licensees adhered to company guidelines, creating a resilient, compliant, and brand-aligned social presence that set a new industry benchmark for digital brand security.
To amplify adidas’ reach in social search, we applied social search optimization (SSO) strategies. This included enhancing existing profiles, strategically creating new accounts to capture high-value search terms, and developing data-driven tactics to ensure adidas stayed top-of-mind and top-of-search across platforms. Our AI-powered insights transformed adidas’ social presence into a smarter, more discoverable, and highly competitive digital force.
The Solution in Action
Handles.org worked hand-in-hand with adidas’ internal teams and social platform (eg: Meta), ensuring seamless implementation of the solutions without disrupting day-to-day operations.
1
Conducted a detailed review of the accounts in adidas’ Meta Business Portfolio to identify gaps and risks.
2
Removed imposter accounts and reclaimed key handles to protect brand integrity.
3
Standardized usernames and profile details across all accounts.
4
Development of tailored governance protocols for social media accounts.
5
Optimized profiles and implemented strategies to enhance social search visibility.
Metrics & Outcomes
Enhanced brand protection and reputation
Streamlined account management processes.
Greater compliance and alignment across regional & licensee accounts.
Regular audits uncover hidden risks and opportunities for improvement.
Clear policies and training improve consistency across global teams.
Targeting social search terms helps brands stay competitive.
''Social media lets adidas connect worldwide, but fake accounts undermine our voice. The Handles team crushes that risk by wiping out fakes and safeguarding the authenticity of our official channels''
Chris Watt
adidas
The Future
Implementing governance policies, conducting thorough audits, and optimizing practices are just the beginning for a global brand. To maintain a strong and secure social presence, it is crucial to sustain this momentum by consistently enforcing established policies, continuously auditing and addressing their social media presence, and optimizing fortified brand accounts for peak performance. We’ve helped adidas create a standardised environment for social media management, and will continue to support them by:
Periodic auditing to ensure governance compliance and infringement detection remains at peak levels.
Continuously adapting governance policies to create a baseline level of standard practice for how licensed social media accounts are created and run.
Adapting our solutionset to cover emerging and new social platforms that adidas decide to implement within their social strategy.
Handles.org empowered adidas to take full control of their social media identity. We are helping to deliver a secure, streamlined experience for their customers, and develop a scalable, risk-free environment for adidas’ continued social media operations.
Every brand faces unique challenges, and we have yet to encounter one that has complete control over its social ecosystem. Through a comprehensive auditing, governance enforcement and discoverability optimization, Handles.org will uncover vulnerabilities, eliminate threats, and implement a future-proof strategy.
We ensure your brand remains protected, optimized, and ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
