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Adidas:
famous sports brand latest to get bodypaint and human
statues
Adidas
ltd AG is a major German sports apparel manufacturer,
part of the Adidas Group, consisting of Reebok sportswear
company, Taylormade golf company, Maxfli golf balls,
and Adidas golf and is the second largest sportswear
manufacturer in the world. The company was named after
its founder, Adolf (Adi) Dassler, in 1948. Dassler
had been producing shoes starting in 1920 in Herzogenaurach,
near Nuremberg, with the help of his brother, Rudolf
Dassler, who later formed the other shoe company Puma.
The company registered as adidas AG (with lower-case
lettering) on 18 August 1949. The company's clothing
and shoe designs typically feature three parallel
stripes, and this same motif is incorporated into
Adidas's current official logo. The company revenue
for 2005 was listed at €6.6 billion, or about
US$8.4 billion. Adidas revenue for 2006 was listed
at €10.084 billion, or about $13.625 billion.
Adidas perfumery and personal care products are manufactured
by Coty, Inc. under license worldwide.
The
Tapie affair
After
a period of serious trouble following the death
of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler in 1987,
the company was bought in 1989 by French industrialist
Bernard Tapie, for 1.6 billion French francs (now
€243.918 million), which Tapie borrowed.
Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing
bankrupt companies, a business on which he built
his fortune.
Tapie
decided to move production offshore to Asia. He
also hired Madonna for promotion. He sent Walter
Head, from Christchurch, New Zealand, a shoe sales
representative, to Germany and met Adolf Dassler's
descendants (Amelia Randall Dassler and Bella
Beck Dassler) and was sent back with a few items
to promote the company there.
In
1992, Tapie was unable to pay the interest from
his loan. He mandated the Crédit Lyonnais
bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently
converted the outstanding debt owed into equity
of the enterprise, which was unusual for then-current
French banking practice. Apparently, the state-owned
bank had tried to get Tapie out of dire financial
straits as a personal favour to Tapie, reportedly
because Tapie was a minister of Urban Affairs
(ministre de la Ville) in the French government
at the time.
In
February 1993, Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas
to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a friend of Bernard Tapie
(and cousin of Julia Louis-Dreyfus from the Seinfeld
TV series), for a much higher amount of money
than what Tapie owed, 4.485 billion (€683.514
million) francs rather than 2.85 billion (€434.479
million). Tapie later sued the bank, because he
felt "spoiled" by the indirect sale.
Robert
Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company.
He is also the president of the Olympique de Marseille
football team, a team Tapie owned until 1993.
Tapie filed for personal bankruptcy in 1994. He
was the object of several lawsuits, notably related
to match fixing at the soccer club. He spent 6
months in La Santé prison in Paris in 1997
after being sentenced to 18.
In
2005, French courts awarded Tapie a €135
million compensation (about 886 million francs).
Post-Tapie era
In
1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group who
specialised in ski wear, and its official corporate
name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG. With this
acquisition Adidas also acquired the Taylormade
Golf company and Maxfli which allowed them to
compete with Nike Golf.
In
1998, Adidas sued the NCAA over their rules limiting
the size and number of commercial logos on team
uniforms and apparel. Adidas withdrew the suit,
and the two groups established guidelines as to
what three-stripe designs would be considered
uses of the Adidas trademark.
In
2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in British court
challenging Fitness World Trading's use of a two-stripe
motif similar to Adidas's three stripes. The court
ruled that despite the simplicity of the mark,
Fitness World's use was infringing because the
public could establish a link between that use
and Adidas's mark.
In
September 2004, top English fashion designer Stella
McCartney launched a joint-venture line with Adidas,
establishing a long-term partnership with the
corporation. This line is a sports performance
collection for women called "Adidas by Stella
McCartney", and it has been critically acclaimed.
Also
in 2005, on May 3, Adidas told the public that
they sold their partner company Salomon Group
for €485m to Amer Sports of Finland.
In
August 2005, Adidas declared its intention to
buy British rival Reebok for $3.8 billion (US).
This takeover was completed in January 2006[2][3]
and meant that the company will have business
sales closer to those of Nike in North America.
The acquisition of Reebok will also allow Adidas
to compete with Nike worldwide as the number two
athletic shoemaker in the world.
In
2005, Adidas introduced the Adidas 1, the first
ever production shoe to utilize a microprocessor.
Dubbed by the company "The World's First
Intelligent Shoe" it features a microprocessor
capable of performing 5 million calculations per
second that automatically adjusts the shoe's level
of cushioning to suit its environment. The shoe
requires a small, user replaceable battery that
lasts for approximately 100 hours of running.
It currently retails for $250 (USD). On November
25, 2005, Adidas released a new version of the
Adidas 1. There is an increased range of cushioning,
meaning the shoe can become even softer or firmer
and a new motor with 153 percent more torque.
On
April 11, 2006, Adidas announced an 11-year deal
to become the official NBA apparel provider. They
will make NBA, NBDL, and WNBA jerseys and products
as well as team-colored versions of the "Superstar"
basketball shoe. This deal (worth over $400 million)
takes the place of the previous 10-year Reebok
deal that was put in place in 2001. When Reebok
was acquired by Adidas, the NBA was allowed to
find a new apparel provider, which turned out
to be Adidas.
Production policies
According
to the Adidas website as of May 2007:
Facility
locations
"At
May 1st, 2007, we worked with more than 1080 factories
are operated by independent business partners
(excluding factories of our licensees)...67% of
our factories are located in Asia, 19% in the
Americas and 14% in Europe and Africa. 22% of
all these factories are in China."
Enforcement
guidelines
"In
2010, we issued the enforcement guidelines to
our suppliers. The guidelines cover the principles
of enforcement of the "Workplace Standards",
and those sanctions or remedies we will apply
where the supply chain code of conduct is breached...We
strongly believe in a partnership approach, and
where a supplier is performing poorly in terms
of "Workplace Standards" compliance
we will work closely with them to find solutions.
However, where we find ongoing and serious non-compliances
and a lack of commitment on the part of management
to address the issues, we will when appropriate,
issue a formal warning letter...On any given issue,
three warning letters will usually result in an
immediate recommendation to terminate. In very
serious cases, a single letter will be issued
advising our suppliers that SEA is recommending
to our Sourcing department that the business relationship
be terminated. Our Legal department would then
follow-up with a formal notification of the end
of the business relationship.
In
total, in 2005, 10 warning letters were issued,
all to suppliers in Asia. This is 19 fewer than
in 2004."
Environmental
requirements
"Business
partners must make progressive improvement in
environmental performance in their own operations
and require the same of their partners, suppliers
and subcontractors. This includes: integrating
principles of sustainability into business decisions;
responsible use of natural resources; adoption
of cleaner production and pollution prevention
measures; and designing and developing products,
materials and technologies according to the principles
of sustainability."
Sponsorship
Adidas sponsorships
Adidas
is very active at sponsoring events, clubs and
athletes.
It
was announced on 20th September 2007 that Adidas
will be the sportswear sponsor of the London 2012
Olympic Games, in a deal worth an estimated $200
million
Mi Adidas
Mi
Adidas is the customization program of the sporting
goods manufacturer Adidas using the concept of
mass customization. Adidas offers various shoes
of different sport categories in this customization
program. The customizable footwear models are
defined by Adidas. The option to customize a shoe
model is always an additional option of an existing
shoe model, the customer is not able to fully
create a new shoe but instead has the choice of
(for example) choosing between different types
of outsoles or different softness of cushioning
for a running shoe. The shoe model can be adjusted
in different length and width for both left and
right foot, in different technologies and in design.
The customization for the length and width is
based on a static (length and width) and dynamic
(impact on foot when hitting the ground) measurement.
These measurements require specific measurement
devices that only can be found in particular retail
stores so far. Other sporting good manufacturers,
such as Converse (Converse One), Nike (NikeID),
Reebok (Rbk Custom), Puma (Mongolian Shoe BBQ)
and K-Swiss (my K-Swiss), also offer customization
programs. These programs very often can be found
online as they focus on design customization.
Lacrosse
In
2007, Adidas announced, through advertising, the
future production of lacrosse equipment to include
shafts, heads and possibly protective gear.
Former management
* CEO (1993-2001): Robert Louis-Dreyfus.
Current executive board
* CEO Adidas-group: Herbert Hainer
* Finance Adidas-group: Robin J. Stalker
* CEO Adidas brand: Erich Stamminger
* Global Operations Adidas-group: Glenn S. Bennett
"Impossible
is Nothing"
"Impossible
is Nothing" is the current mainstream marketing
slogan for Adidas. This campaign was developed
by 180\TBWA based in Amsterdam but also with significant
work being done by TBWA\Chiat\Day in San Francisco
- particularly for its basketball campaign "Believe
In Five".
TV commercials
Adidas's
worldwide line of commercials showcase events
that are truly impossible, such as José
+ 10 with two boys in a run down lot gathering
many world football stars to play a pick-up game.
These stars include present players like Steven
Gerrard, Djibril Cissé, Juan Román
Riquelme, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Jermain
Defoe, Oliver Kahn, Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben,
Cha Du Ri, Andrés Guardado, Shunsuke Nakamura,
Lukas Podolski, Sean Lam, Michael Ballack, Alessandro
Nesta, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jozy Altidore,
Raúl, Damien Duff, and Kaká. They
also include past stars Franz Beckenbauer and
Michel Platini. [6] However the commercials do
not only focus on soccer: for example, other TV
ads feature long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie
and NBA Superstars Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett,
Tracy McGrady, Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas
and a few Rugby Union players, like Jonny Wilkinson,
Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Jonah Lomu and
Daniel Carter. Commercials in Australia also feature
swimmer Ian Thorpe. Also many other sporting commercials
such as for golf; including Sergio Garcia and
Natalie Gulbis. All are representative of Adidas's
involvement in sports. Former football referee,
Pierluigi Collina has also appeared in adverts
for Adidas, most notably during the 2002 World
Cup.
The
great cricketing maestro Sachin Tendulkar is also
the ambassador for this brand.
References
1. ^ History @ Adidas-Group.com
2. ^ History @ Adidas.com
3. ^ Reebok History 2000-
(Credit:
Wikipedia)
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