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adidas AG
Company typePublic
IndustrySportswear and Sports Goods
Founded1949[1]
HeadquartersGermany Herzogenaurach, Germany
Key people
Germany Adolf Dassler, Founder
Germany Herbert Hainer, Chairman/CEO Adidas Group
Germany Erich Stamminger, President/CEO Adidas AG
ProductsFootwear
Accessories
Sportswear
RevenueIncrease€10.084 billion (2006)
313,000,000 Euro (2023) Edit this on Wikidata
Increase€483 million (2006)
Total assets18,020,000,000 Euro (2023) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
59,030 (2023) Edit this on Wikidata
Websitewww.adidas.com

Adidas AG (ISIN: DE0005003404) 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. Dassler started producing shoes in the 1920s in Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, with the help of his brother, Rudolf Dassler, who later formed the other shoe company PUMA AG. It registered as adidas AG on 18 August 1949 (with lower-case lettering). 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 euro, or about 8.4 billion U.S. dollars. Adidas revenue for 2006 was listed at 10.084 billion euro, or about 13.625 billion U.S. dollars. Adidas perfumery and personal care products are manufactured by Coty, Inc. under license worldwide.

The Tapie affair

The history of the company as presented by its official web site is incomplete, perhaps because it is indirectly linked to financial scandals.

After a period of serious trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler in 1987, the company was bought in 1990 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 and was sent back with a few items to promote the company there.

A pair of Adidas soccer boots

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

File:Adidas logos small.png
From left to right: The classic trefoil, modern performance and sport style (fashion) logos used by Adidas.

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. [1]

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. [2]

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" [3], and it has been critically acclaimed. [4]

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).

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 Anglo-American 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. [5]

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 would turn 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 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 2005, 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

FIFA World Cup 1954

When West Germany won the 1954 FIFA World Cup, their footwear was supplied by Adidas. These shoes introduced a technological breakthrough: studs with screws. When the weather was good and the pitch was hard, the shoes were equipped with short studs; when it rained, longer studs were screwed on the bottom of the shoes. As the final game against the highly-favoured team from Hungary was played in heavy rain, this gave the German players a firmer hold on the slippery pitch. This anecdote was a plot device used in the successful German film, The Miracle of Bern, which was a movie version of the 1954 World Cup.

More recently, some players on the German national team who have contracts with rival sportswear companies (most notably Nike endorsers Jens Lehmann and Miroslav Klose) have complained about the clause on Adidas' contract with the national side requiring them to wear Adidas kit, including footwear. Lehmann cited foot pain from the boots that bothered him during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Several players threatened to boycott an international friendly against Sweden in protest against the rule. However, the German Football Association was able to reach a new agreement with Adidas in September 2006 to allow the players to wear their own brand of boots, and in the goalkeepers case, their own gloves.

The Adidas factory outlet in Herzogenaurach, Germany

Official FIFA World Cup supplier

Tournament Name of the match ball design
1970 Telstar Durlast
1974
1978 Tango
1982 Tango España
1986 Azteca México
1990 Etrusco Unico
1994 Questra
1998 Tricolore
2002 Fevernova
2006 Teamgeist

Official UEFA Supplier

Adidas also designs special balls for UEFA competitions. The company has supplied the ball for the UEFA European Championship ever since 1984, starting with the Tango Mundial, and also produces the Finale ball for use in the UEFA Champions League.

Team and player sponsorships

Adidas sponsors and provides kits, gear and accessories to several professional and collegiate teams all over the world.

Some football (soccer) teams with kits manufactured by Adidas

North America
South America


Europe
   
Africa

Asia

National

CONCACAF - North America, Central America & the Caribbean
CONMEBOL - South America
UEFA- Europe
CAF - Africa
AFC - Asia

University teams sponsored by Adidas

University of Houston

Other Adidas sponsorships

Adidas sponsor the Gumball 3000 car rally, organised by the global jet-set. Two British participants of the 2007 rally, driving a Porsche, were arrested and detained for their part in a reported 200km/h car crash on 3rd May that resulted in the death of two people.[7].

Adidas produce the kits of some of the biggest domestic and international football teams including Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Derby County, Bayern Munich, as well as the national teams of Mexico, Germany, France, Argentina, and Spain. They produce the balls used in the UEFA Champions League matches and FIFA World Cup tournaments since 1970, and also produced the kit for the Europe XI in the Celebration Match on 13 March 2007 versus Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The All Blacks Adidas rugby jersey

Adidas are the apparel sponsors for two clubs in the Australian Football League - the Adelaide Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club. The guernsey design for both of these clubs is rather technologically advanced for AFL clubs, with the material designed to reduce sweat. The guernseys do not feature the three-stripe design as such, although Adelaide's jumper design features three colors in repeated horizontal stripes, and Collingwood's design features three white verticle stripes on a black background.

The Australian cricket team is also sponsored by Adidas, as is each of the state teams in the local KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, Ford Ranger One Day Cup and Pura Cup Test competitions.

Adidas is also a sponsor of the New Zealand Rugby Union, including the All Blacks team and the teams who represent New Zealand in the Super 14: the Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes.

They also sponsor both the San Beda Red Lions and the Red Cubs, a collegiate team in the Philippines and their High School counterpart respectively. Ateneo de Manila University is fully sponsored by Adidas from the Blue Eagle Gym to all the varsity teams in the grade school and high school. The College of Saint Benilde Blazers is also among the recipients of the said Adidas Sponsorship.

In the United States, Adidas is an official sponsor for the Boston Marathon since 1988. The company also serves as the exclusive uniform supplier to the National Basketball Association and uniform and match ball supplier for Major League Soccer. They are also an official sponsor of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball.

Sachin Tendulkar is a Brand Ambassador for Adidas.

From 2001-2005, Adidas was the Official Sponsor for the Hoops In The Sun Summer League, based in New York City, primarily Orchard Beach in the Bronx. It would be the only street ball summer league that Adidas has been a sponsor for in New York City, as well as on the entire East Coast. Representatives of Adidas such as Tracy McGrady and Tim Thomas made appearances at the league during Adidas' sponsorship tenure.

Adidas also sponsors the U.S. Fencing Association, and makes some of the most popular fencing shoes (with the most popular Adidas fencing shoes being the Dartagnan II), in the market.

Adidas is also a sponsor of the St George-Illawarra Dragons Rugby League team in the NRL in Australia

Adidas also co-sponsors the UCI T-Mobile cycling team.

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) chosing 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 also offer customization programs such as Nike (NikeID), Reebok (Rbk Custom), Puma (Mongolian Shoe BBQ) and K-Swiss (my K-Swiss). These programs very often can be found online as they focus on design customization.

Former management

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, Lionel Messi, Djibril Cissé, Juan Román Riquelme, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Jermain Defoe, Oliver Kahn, Santiago Solari, Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben, Cha Du Ri, Shunsuke Nakamura, Lukas Podolski, Michael Ballack, Alessandro Nesta, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Raúl, Damien Duff, and Kaká. They also include past stars Franz Beckenbauer, Zico and Michel Platini. [8] 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. 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 2007 NBA All-Star Jam in Las Vegas Nevada featured a city-wide mobile marketing campaign, powered by www.movomobile.com [9], whereby participants could download ringtones and wallpapers from NBA teams. In addition, participants received notifications throughout the week, alerting them to parties, celebrity autograph sessions and new Adidas shoe arrivals.
  • Southern California rock group Sugar Ray primarily wore Adidas from at least 1995 to the summer of 2003 before switching to primarily Converse canvas.
  • Rap group The Beastie Boys are frequently seen wearing Adidas clothing and shoes, and Adidas themselves even issued the band with custom editions of the 35th Anniversary Superstars trainers. In addition, the Beastie Boys song 'The Sounds of Science', features the line "Rock my Adidas, never rock Fila."
  • The hip hop group Run-D.M.C. released a song entitled "My Adidas" on their 1986 album Raising Hell.
  • They are somewhat popular in hip hop fashion.
  • The nu metal band Korn released a song by the name of "A.D.I.D.A.S." in 1998 which stands for "All Day I Dream About Sex". Korn was sponsored by Adidas and Jonathan Davis, the lead singer, used to occasionally wear an Adidas tracksuit while performing.
  • Rapper Killer Mike released a song entitled "A.D.I.D.A.S" (featuring Big Boi & Sleepy Brown) on his debut album Monster released March 11 2003 on Sony Records.
  • In the video to his new single "Rudebox", singer Robbie Williams wears an Adidas jacket with the classical logo, maybe in reference to the "A.D.I.D.A.S. old school 'cos it's the best" line of the song.
  • The boatcrew of Steve Zissou in Wes Anderson's film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou all wear Adidas customized sneakers, which were based on the Adidas Rom. Despite repeated requests from the public, these have never been made available commercially.
  • Rapper Lady Sovereign released a song entitled "Hoodie" talking about the public trying to outlaw hoodies, and in the chorus of the song the she says "Fling on an Adidas hoodie, and just boogie-woogie with me", and in the "Adidas Hoodie" remix, she says "she likes, he likes, we like our three stripes", and the rest of the lyrics refer to Adidas. She also mentions the brand in "Drunk on Radiation" and in "Those were the days" when she mentions campus made by the brand. Lady Sovereign is an avid wearer of Adidas; it is the only kind of shoes that she wears. She also wears a lot of Adidas clothing, she even wore an Adidas tracksuit to her sister's wedding.
  • Scottish musician Edwyn Collins released a song entitled "Adidas World" which was critical of the look-alike sports fashion craze.
  • Noel Gallagher of Oasis has a collection of over 2,500 retro Adidas trainers including rare examples of the Adidas Gazelles.
  • The Jamaican Bobsled team in the film Cool Runnings are seen to be wearing Adidas uniforms and shoes
  • Cast of the Goal! trilogy will be wearing Adidas products including the "Munez +10" in the second movie.
  • In the song "Grade 9," on the 1993 album Gordon, the Barenaked Ladies sing of having "a blue-and-red Adidas bag and a humungous binder."
  • Jade Puget's favorite shoes are Adidas. He is from the california rock group AFI.

Articles

  1. ^ History @ Adidas-Group.com
  2. ^ History @ Adidas.com
  3. ^ Reebok History 2000-
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