Adidas
 | |
| Company type | Limited |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sportswear and Sports Goods |
| Founded | 1924 (Registered in 1949)[1] |
| Headquarters |  Herzogenaurach, Germany |
Key people | Adolf Dassler (Founder) Herbert Hainer (CEO) Erich Stamminger (CEO, Adidas Brand) Henri Filho (Chairman of the supervisory board) Antonio Zea Director of Adidas USA |
| Products | Footwear Accessories Sportswear |
| Revenue |  €10.299 billion ($15.6 billion) (2007) |
313,000,000 Euro (2023)  | |
| €551 million (2007) | |
| Total assets | 18,020,000,000 Euro (2023) |
Number of employees | 27,000 (2006) |
| Website | www.adidas.com |
Adidas Ltd. AG (ISIN: DE0005003404) (pronounced [ah-DEE-dass] or [ah-dee-DAS]) is a major German sports apparel manufacturer and part of the Adidas Group, which consists of Reebok sportswear company, Taylormade golf company, and Rockport. Besides sneakers (tennis shoes), the company also produces other products such as bags, shirts and other sports and clothing related goods. The company is the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world[2].
The company's clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel stripes, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas's current official logo. The company revenue for 2006 was listed at €10.084 billion, or about US $13.625 billion and the 2007 figure was listed at €10.299 billion, or about $15.6 billion.
| Year | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 6 523 | 6 266 | 6 478 | 6 636 | 10 084 |
| EBITDA | 532 | 627 | 725 | 818 | 1 098 |
| Net Results | 208 | 260 | 314 | 382 | 483 |
| Net Debt | 1 498 | 946 | 594 | 551 | 2 231 |
- Source :'OpesC'
History
Beginnings
Adolf ("Adi") Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother's wash kitchen after his return from World War I. In 1924, his brother Rudolf Dassler joined the business which became Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and did well - selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II.
However the brothers did not get on well, and in 1948 they split up [3], with Rudi forming Puma, and Adi forming Adidas.
The company formally registered as adidas AG (with lower case lettering) on August 18 1949. The phrase All Day I Dream About Sports is used as a retronym for Adidas.[4]
The Tapie affair
After a period of 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, an expertise 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 as per the prevalent 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 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. During 1997, he served 6 months of an 18 month prison sentence in La Santé prison in Paris.
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 specialized in ski wear, and its official corporate name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG because 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. [5]
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. [6]
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" [1], and it has been critically acclaimed. [2]
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[7][8] 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. [3]
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-coloured 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 is Adidas.
Products
Running
Adidas currently manufactures several running shoes, including the adiStar Control 5, the adiStar Cushion 6, the Supernova Control 10, the Supernova Sequence, and the Supernova Cushion 7, among others. In addition, their performance apparel is widely used by runners.
Football (Soccer)
One of the main focuses of Adidas is football kit and associated equipment. Their football boots, team kits, and warm up suits are widely used by top professional club teams, such as Liverpool F.C., Newcastle United F.C., Chelsea F.C., Galatasaray, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Adidas remain a major player in the supply of team kits for international football teams. Current examples include France, Germany, Romania, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Japan, and Nigeria. The company has been an innovator in the area of footwear for the sport with notable examples including development of the Copa Mondial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches for almost forty years. The studded equivalent was named World Cup follow in celebration of the 1978 tournament won by Argentina one of the many nations it supplied at the time. Adidas became renowned for advancing the "Predator" boot design developed by ex-Liverpool and Australian international player Craig Johnston. This groundbreaking design featured a ribbed surface structure for the upper leather of the shoe, used to accent the movement of the ball when struck. Highly skilled players claimed they were able to curve the flight of the ball more easily when wearing this new contoured design. As the development and popularity of Football continued Adidas played a leading role in shaping the style of the play itself. In its pursuit of more exciting games, featuring spectacular shots and goals FIFA, the sports governing body, commissed specially designed footballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments to favour more attacking play. The balls supplied for the 2006 tournament in Germany were particular noteworthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer range goal strikes that were intended to increase the number of goals scores and increase spectator enjoyment. Goalkeepers were believed to be less comfortable with the design claiming it would move significantly and unpredictably in flight.
Top players past and present have been known for using Adidas footwear down the years, among the most famous are:- David Beckham (England) Franz Beckenbaur (Germany) Zico - (Brazil) Steven Gerrard (England) Michel Platini (France) Ruud Gullit (Holland) Alexi Lallas (U.S.A.)
Lacrosse
In 2007, Adidas announced the future production of lacrosse equipment, and will sponsor the Adidas National Lacrosse Classic in July 2008 for the top 600 high school underclassmen lacrosse players in the United States [4]
Mi Adidas
Mi Adidas is a mass customization program offering the option to customize a shoe model with the choice of different types of outsoles, cushioning, and other parameters.
Sponsorship
Adidas is the longstanding kit provider to the Germany national football team, a sponsorship that began in 1954 and is contracted to continue until at least 2018.
Adidas are very active at sponsoring top football clubs such as A.C. Milan, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayern Munich, Chelsea F.C., Liverpool F.C., Real Madrid, Fenerbahce Palmeiras. Adidas also sponsor every team's shirt in the MLS. Adidas also sponsors events such as The London Marathon.
For the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Adidas spent €70 million sponsoring the event amid criticisms.[9]
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
Slogan
"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".
adidas Originals
Refers to the line of casual clothes and new campaign launched by adidas around the beginning of 2008. 4 videos have been released to date, including "Original Games", which shows a group of guys and girls playing modified Olympic type games in the streets; "Handbags For Feet", which journeys through the streets of Berlin with a girl named Amelie taking interesting photos; "The Story of Adi Dassler", which tells the story of the man who started adidas and "Sounds of The City", which shows how DJ Theo Parish collects sounds for his music.
"adidas Originals invites today’s lifestyle consumers to Celebrate Originality through an exceptional brand campaign and a variety of product themes inspired by the rich sporting heritage of adidas and the global reach of the Trefoil." [10]
References
- ^ History @ Adidas-Group.com
- ^ "Adidas, Deutsche Telekom, Infineon: German Equity Preview". Bloomberg. 16th January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Review of "Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma and the Family Feud That Forever Changed the Business of Sport", Barbara Smit, March 2008, ISBN 9780061246579
- ^ Brunner, Conrad (2007-07-30). Great Brand Stories: Adidas All Day I Dream About Sport: The Story of the Adidas Brand. Cyan Books. p. 192. ISBN 1904879128.
- ^ Adidas lawsuit resolved @ ncaa.org
- ^ Adidas told its three stripes don't constitute a trademark @ guardian.co.uk
- ^ History @ Adidas.com
- ^ Reebok History 2000-
- ^ "Adidas Chief Criticizes Anti-China Protestors". Der Spiegel. 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
- ^ adidas press release