A new home page design that expresses the premium quality of the adidas brand went live last week on the company’s U.S. e-commerce site, shopadidas.com.

The clean, distinctively adidas design introduces a series of rotating banners that reflect the company’s current marketing campaigns. The rotating banners automatically refresh the look of the home page, while giving consumers multiple pathways to select products based on gender, brand, sport and product type.

Shopadidas.com also features links for popular searches and top visited locations, as well as three sub-banners that subtly highlight distinct product collections and sub-brands. Other features include a view into the shopadidas Twitter feed, and a simplified site map that makes accessing content easier for the consumer, while improving the site’s visibility in search results.

Isobar’s redesign team worked within a very short timeframe to develop the new design, which accomplishes adidas’ business need of making their products easier and more intuitive for the consumer to access than ever before.

The Boston Bruins have partnered with the full-service digital marketing agency and Aegis Media group company, Isobar North America to launch the interactive Facebook game “Bruins Face Off.”

The interactive game allows Bruins fans to compete against their Facebook friends and fellow fans around the world by predicting the statistical output of their favorite players based on points, hits and shots on goal during each game of the playoffs. To play “Bruins Face Off,” fans can visit the Bruins Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NHLBruins beginning Wednesday, April 14.

“Bruins Face Off gives us the opportunity to leverage the popularity of Facebook and provide a new experience to our loyal fans just as playoff excitement kicks in,” Boston Bruins SVP of Sales and Marketing, Amy Latimer said. “Our goal is to create greater engagement between fans and the Bruins brand, and our investment in social media platforms has this potential.”

A number of prizes will be awarded to participants throughout the Bruins playoff run. Bruins fans will have the opportunity to win a variety of autographed Bruins memorabilia as well as a chance to win a suite at the 2010-‘11 Bruins home game at the TD Garden for the winner and 17 Facebook friends.

“One of the primary goals in creating Bruins Face Off was to build on fan excitement and give them a special way to get even more engaged with the team during this incredibly exciting playoff timeframe,” said Daren Trousdell, EVP of Sales and Marketing at Isobar North America. “This is the time of the year that fans live for and the team wanted to give all their fans - not just those lucky enough to have tickets - another way to be part of the game-time action.”

Isobar also created a successful interactive Facebook application for the Boston Celtics at the start of the NBA season called “3-Point Play.”

The 2010 Boston Bruins Playoffs are delivered by AT&T. Fans interested in learning more about Boston Bruins players, or ticket options, should visit the team website at www.bostonbruins.com or call 617-624-BEAR.

by Ann Curtin

On Monday, adidas and Isobar unveiled a series of exciting new enhancements to adidas miCoach, the interactive training service that delivers audible coaching while you run. Already one of the most advanced and personal applications on the Web today, miCoach.com incorporates new features and functionality that help runners better manage their training programs, and reflects adidas commitment to listening to the needs of consumers and creating a better experience for their miCoach users.

Key enhancements to miCoach.com include:
• A robust Routes management tool that enables users to create and edit routes, add ratings and notes to existing routes, and add, move or delete route points.
• New community tools that provide a forum where runners can share training tips with other runners, get tips and tricks on using miCoach, see upcoming events, access miCoach-related videos and get updates on the latest gear.
• Custom workout capabilities that enable runners to build their own custom workouts from scratch.
• A new Achievements section that recognizes key personal milestones, records and overall workout stats, such as fastest mile run, most calories burned, and more.
• Updated Reminder functionality that enable users to choose when they want to be reminded of workouts and when they’ve been inactive.

The enhanced site also provides adidas with sophisticated content management capabilities that enable each market to showcase featured products, as well as localized content, pricing and store locations to meet the needs of individual markets.