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For other uses, see Adidas (disambiguation).

Adidas
Company typeAktiengesellschaft
FWB: ADS, OTCQX: ADDYY
IndustryApparel, accessories
Founded1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik
(registered in 1949)[1]
FounderAdolf Dassler
HeadquartersHerzogenaurach, Germany
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Igor Landau (Chairman)
Herbert Hainer (CEO)
ProductsFootwear, sportswear, sports equipment, toiletries
RevenueIncrease€14.49 billion (2013)[2]
Increase€1.202 billion (2013)[2]
Increase€787 million (2013)[2]
Total assetsIncrease€11.59 billion (2013)[2]
Total equityIncrease€5.489 billion (2013)[2]
Number of employees
50,728 (2013)[2]
Websitewww.adidas-group.com
An Adidas shop in Bonifacio Global City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Adidas AG (German pronunciation: [ˈadiˌdas]) is a German multinational corporation that designs and manufactures sports shoes, clothing and accessories. The company is based in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company (including Ashworth), Rockport, and 9.1% of FC Bayern Munich. Besides sports footwear, Adidas also produces other products such as bags, shirts, watches, eyewear and other sports and clothing-related goods. Adidas is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest in the world, after Nike.[3]

Adidas was founded in 1949 by Adolf Dassler, following a family feud at the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrikcompany between him and his older brother Rudolf.[4] Rudolf had earlier established Puma, which quickly became the business rival of Adidas. Both the Adidas and Puma companies still remain based in Herzogenaurach, Germany to this day.

The company's clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas's current official logo.[5][6] The company revenue for 2012 was listed at €14.88 billion.[2]

History

An Adidas Store

Early Days

Christoph Von Wilhelm Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, while his wife Pauline ran a small laundry in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, 20 km (12.4 mi) from the city of Nuremberg. After leaving school, their son, Rudolf "Rudi" Dassler, joined his father at the shoe factory. When he returned from fighting in World War I, Rudolf received a management position at a porcelain factory, and later in a leather wholesale business in Nuremberg.

Adolf "Adi" Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother's wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria after his return from World War I. In July 1924, his brother Rudolf returned to Herzogenaurach to join his younger brother's business, which became Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and prospered. The pair started the venture in their mother's laundry,[7]: 5  but, at the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment.[8]

By the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the world's first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the first sponsorship for an African American. Following Owens's haul of four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world's most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the brothers' desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all interested in their shoes. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II.[9]

World War II and company split

During the war, a growing rift between the pair reached breaking point after an Allied bomb attack in 1943, when Adi and his wife ran into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in: "The bastards are back again", Adi said, referring to the Allied war planes, but Rudolf was utterly convinced that his brother had been referring to him and his family.[10] After Rudolf was later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, which he was not, he felt certain that his brother had turned him in.[8]

The Dolbury factory, used for production of anti-tank weapons during the war, was nearly destroyed by US forces in April 1945, but was spared when Adi Dassler's wife, Käthe, convinced the GIs that the company and its employees were only interested in manufacturing sports shoes. American occupying forces subsequently became major buyers of the Dassler brothers' shoes.[11]

The brothers split up in 1947,[10] with Rudi forming a new firm that he called Ruda – from Rudolf Dassler, later rebranded Puma, and Adi forming a company formally registered as Adidas AG from Adi Dassler on 18 August 1949. Although it is a popular urban myth that the name is an acronym for All Day I Dream About Sports, that phrase is a backronym; in reality the name is actually a portmanteau formed from "Adi" (a nickname for Adolf) and "Das" (from "Dassler").[1]

Early years and rivalry with Puma

Puma and Adidas entered into a fierce and bitter business rivalry after the split. Indeed, the town of Herzogenaurach was divided on the issue, leading to the nickname "the town of bent necks"—people looked down to see which shoes strangers wore.[12] Even the town's two football clubs were divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club was supported by Adidas, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolf's footwear.[8] When handymen were called to Rudolf's home, they would deliberately wear Adidas shoes. Rudolf would tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of free Pumas.[8] Sadly, the two brothers were never reconciled and although both are now buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced apart as far as possible. [citation needed]

In 1948, the first football match after World War II, several members of the West German national football team wore Puma boots, including the scorer of West Germany's first post-war goal, Herbert Burdenski. Four years later, at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1500 metres runner Josy Barthel of Luxembourg won Puma's first Olympic gold in Helsinki, Finland.[citation needed]

The original trefoil Adidas logo until 1997, it is now used on Adidas Originals.

At the 1960 Summer Olympics Puma paid German sprinter Armin Hary to wear Pumas in the 100 meter sprint final. Hary had worn Adidas before and asked Adolf for payment, but Adidas rejected this request. The German won gold in Pumas, but then laced up Adidas for the medals ceremony, to the shock of the two Dassler brothers. Hary hoped to cash in from both, but Adi was so enraged he banned the Olympic champion.[9]

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 (now €243.9 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.[citation needed] He sent, 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, unable to pay the loan interest, Tapie 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. The state-owned bank had tried to get Tapie out of dire financial straits as a personal favour to Tapie, it is reported, because Tapie was 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). They also purposely bankrupted Tapie's company that owned Adidas, because only the company had the right to sue them.

Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company. He was also the president of Olympique de Marseille, a team Tapie had owned until 1993.[citation needed]

Tapie filed for personal bankruptcy in 1994. He was the object of several lawsuits, notably related to match fixing at the football club. During 1997, he served 6 months of an 18-month prison sentence in La Santé prison in Paris.

Post-Tapie era

An Adidas "Stan Smith" style shoe, with the company's distinctive three parallel bars

In 1994, combined with FIFA Youth Group, SOS Children's Villages became the main beneficiary.

In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group who specialized 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 clothing. Adidas withdrew the suit, and the two groups established guidelines as to what three-stripe designs would be considered uses of the Adidas trademark.

Adidas running shoe product demo for a running club in Boston

In 2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in a 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.[13]

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",[14] and it has been critically acclaimed.[15]

Also in 2005, on 3 May, 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 with partnership in January 2006[1] and meant that the company would have business sales closer to those of Nike in North America. The acquisition of Reebok would also allow Adidas to compete with Nike worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the world.[16]

Adidas has global corporate headquarters in Germany, and many other business locations around the world such as Portland OR, Hong Kong, Toronto, Taiwan, England, Japan, Australia, and Spain. Mainly sold in the U.S., Adidas makes lots of assets from these countries and is expanding to more overseas countries.

In 2005, Adidas introduced the Adidas 1, the first ever production shoe to use 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. On 25 November 2005, Adidas released a new version of the Adidas 1 with an increased range of cushioning, allowing the shoe to become softer or firmer, and a new motor with 153 percent more torque.[17]

On 11 April 2006, Adidas announced an 11-year deal to become the official NBA clothing 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) took over the previous Reebok deal that had been put in place in 2001 for 10 years.

On 3 November 2011, Adidas announced that it would acquire outdoor action sport performance brand Five Ten through a share purchase agreement. The total purchase price was $25 million USD in cash at closing.[18]

By the end of 2012, Adidas is reporting the highest revenues ever and Chief Executive Herbert Hainer expresses optimism for the year ahead.[19]

In January 2015, Adidas launched the footwear industry's first reservation mobile app. The Adidas Confirmed app allows consumers to get access to and reserve the brand's limited edition sneakers by leveraging geo targeting technology[20]

Products

Apparel

The first ever piece of apparel created by Adidas was the Franz Beckenbauer tracksuit.[21]

Running

Adidas currently manufactures several running shoes, including the Energy-boost, and the spring-blade trainers, among others.[needs update]

Association Football

Adidas sponsors Mats Hummels and many other players in association football

One of the main focuses of Adidas has always been football kit and the associated equipment. Adidas remains a major company in the supply of team kits for international association football teams and clubs, including Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United (starting in 2015-16) and A.C. Milan.

Adidas makes referee kits that are used in international competition and by many countries and leagues in the world. The company has been an innovator in the area of footwear for the sport, with notable examples including the 1979 release of the Copa Mundial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches. It holds the accolade of the best selling boot of all time. The soft-ground equivalent was named World Cup and it too remains on the market, timeless and iconic.

Adidas sponsored jersey of the Spain national football team

FIFA, the world governing body of football, commissioned specially designed footballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments to favour more attacking play. The balls supplied for the 2006 World Cup, the Teamgeist, were particular noteworthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer range goals. Goalkeepers were generally believed to be less comfortable with the design of the ball, claiming it was prone to move significantly and unpredictably in flight.[22]

Adidas also introduced another new ball for the 2010 World Cup. The Jabulani ball was designed and developed by Loughborough University in conjunction with Chelsea. It received much criticism from players, managers and pundits for being too hard to control.[23] The lighter and more aerodynamic ball led to many shots and passes being over hit. The Adidas Brazuca was the match ball of the 2014 World Cup.[24]

Adidas has numerous major kit deals with clubs worldwide, including Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea, A.C. Milan, Ajax, Feyenoord, Benfica, Lyon, Marseille, River Plate, Fluminense, Palmeiras and Flamengo. National teams sponsored include Germany, Spain, Russia, Japan, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Nigeria, Denmark, Wales, Paraguay, and Sweden.

Adidas has endorsed many players, including Lionel Messi, Kaká, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Luis Suárez, Arjen Robben, Xavi, Gareth Bale, Robin van Persie, Karim Benzema, Thomas Müller and James Rodríguez.[25][26][27]

Adidas is one of the official sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, and the Adidas Finale is the competition's official match ball.[28] As well as the aforementioned Adidas Predator boot, Adidas also manufacture the adiPure range of football boots. Adidas also provides clothing and equipment for all teams in Major League Soccer.

In April 2013, Adidas and Opta Sports announced the introduction of a new football player type - the Engine.[29] The Engine’ is the archetypical box-to-box footballer who covers every blade of grass, seeks goal scoring chances, tracks down his opponent and displays relentless energy from the first minute to the final whistle.

In July 2014, Adidas and Manchester United agreed a world record $1.29 billion kit deal over 10 years, starting from the 2015/2016 Premier League season. This is currently the most valuable kit deal in sports history, and replaced rival Nike as the club's equipment partner.[30]

Tennis

British Professional tennis player Andy Murray.

Adidas has been involved with tennis equipment since the mid 1960s and has historically sponsored many top tennis players, beginning with two of the most dominant male tennis players at the start of the professional era in the late 1960s, Stan Smith and Ilie Nastase. During the 1980s and 1990s, not only were they exclusive apparel and footwear sponsors of world number one men's tennis players Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg and ladies' world number one Steffi Graf but each player had their own, exclusive graphic styles designed for their use during play, which were in turn marketed to the general public. Ivan Lendl even spent the vast majority of his dominant career playing with several different models of Adidas tennis racquets, primarily using the legendary Adidas GTX-Pro and then later the Adidas GTX Pro-T. The company recently introduced a new line of tennis racquets. While the Feather is made for the "regular player", and the Response for the "club player", Adidas targets the "tournament player" with the 12.2 oz Barricade tour model.[31] Adidas sponsors the following professional players with mainly clothing and footwear: Ana Ivanovic, Andy Murray, Maria Kirilenko, Caroline Wozniacki, Justine Henin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Daniela Hantuchová, Alicia Molik, Fernando Verdasco, Marcos Baghdatis, Gilles Simon, Fernando González, Flavia Pennetta, Laura Robson, Kristina Mladenovic, Francesca Schiavone, Melanie Oudin, Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep and Sorana Cîrstea. Adidas tennis clothing contains the ClimaCool technology found in other athletic jerseys and shoes.[32]

In November 2009 World Number 4 Andy Murray was confirmed as Adidas's highest paid star with a 5-year contract reported to be worth $24.5m.[33]

Players sponsored by Adidas can take advantage of the Adidas Player Improvement Program, where the company provides coaches, fitness trainers and sports psychologists to players in order to further their careers. The program includes legendary coaches such as Darren Cahill and Sven Groeneveld.

In Cincinnati, at the ATP Tennis Tournament in Mason, they have also sponsored the ball-boy and ball-girl uniforms.

Golf

Adidas Golf is part of Adidas, a German-based sports clothing manufacturer and part of the Adidas Group, which consists of Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company, and Rockport. The Adidas Group is one of the global leaders in the sporting goods industry offering a wide range of products around the three core segments of Adidas, Reebok, and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf. Adidas Golf sells and manufactures Adidas-brand golf clothing, footwear, and accessories.

Company timeline

In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group who specialized in alpine 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. Salomon sold its controlling interest in TaylorMade and its other sports equipment companies to global giant Adidas AG.

In 1998, Adidas Golf USA moved its business operations from Tualatin, Oregon, to the Carlsbad, California headquarters of TaylorMade Golf, acquired by Adidas-Salomon. Adidas Golf USA had thirty employees to relocate. Carlsbad is also the headquarters of one of its primary competitors, Callaway Golf Company.

In 1999, TaylorMade and AdidasGolf USA, were merged into a new company—called TaylorMade-Adidas Golf—with world headquarters in Carlsbad. Mark King was named president of the company he had begun his career with in 1981 as a sales representative after a short stint as vice president of sales and marketing at Callaway Golf Ball Co. in 1998.

In November 2008, Ashworth (clothing) became a wholly owned subsidiary of TaylorMade-Adidas Golf, complementary to the synthetic performance fabrics of Adidas Golf.

Product

Adidas Golf sells clothing, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth. Men's equipment includes footwear, shirts, shorts, pants, outerwear, base layer and eyewear. Women's equipment includes footwear, shirts, shorts, skirts, pants, outerwear, base layers, and eyewear. Youth equipment includes both boys and girls footwear, clothing, and eyewear.

Cricket

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, batting with his personalized Adidas Bat.

Adidas began manufacturing cricket footwear in the mid 1970s, with their initial target market being Australia. Their shoes were a radical departure from traditional leather cricket boots which had remained basically unchanged for decades, being lighter and more flexible but also offering less toe protection, so that it became not uncommon to see batsmen who had been struck by the ball on the foot hopping around in pain. Having continued to manufacture cricket footwear for many years, in 2006 the company finally entered the field of bat manufacture in 2008 and currently their bat range includes the Pellara, Incurza, Libro and M-Blaster models.

In the 1990s, Adidas signed the superstar Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar and made shoes for him.[34] Tendulkar still wears Adidas shoes while playing matches. Since 2008, Adidas has sponsored the cricket bat used by Tendulkar. It created a new bat, 'Adidas MasterBlaster Elite', personalized for him.

In 2008, Adidas made a concerted move into English cricket market by sponsoring English batting star Kevin Pietersen after the cancellation of his lifetime deal with Woodworm, when they ran into financial difficulties.[35] The following year they signed up fellow England player Ian Bell, Pakistan opening batsman Salman Butt and Indian Player Ravindra Jadeja.

Currently the sponsored cricketers include Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo.

Adidas currently manufactures kit for the England cricket team. Adidas signed with Cricket South Africa in 2011 and the kit worn by South African Cricket Team during and after the Cricket World Cup 2011 will be manufactured by the German giant.[36] The Australia cricket team were previously sponsored by Adidas until late 2011.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adidas are the official apparel sponsor for the team Mumbai Indians.[37]

Basketball

Adidas has been a longtime basketball shoe manufacturer and is one of the leading basketball brands in the world. They are most famous for their late 1960s iconic Superstar and Pro Model shoes, affectionately known as "shelltoes" for their stylized hard rubber toe box.[citation needed] Fueled by, among others, coaches such as UCLA's John Wooden,[38] Adidas drew about even with Converse in basketball by the mid 1970s before both started to fall behind then-upstart Nike in the early 1980s.[39] Subsequently Adidas Superstar became very popular in the 1980s hip hop streetwear scene alongside Adidas's stripe-sided polyester suits.[citation needed]

Adidas is also the current outfitter of all 30 franchises in the National Basketball Association (replacing the Reebok brand after the merger) and sponsors numerous players past and present like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tracy McGrady, as well as Marcus Clark Dwight Howard, Chauncey Billups, Derrick Rose, Quincy Pondexter, Brandon Knight, Eric Gordon, Michael Beasley, Josh Smith, Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Tim Duncan, Jeremy Lin, Iman Shumpert, Jorwin George and John Wall. Adidas endorsed Kobe Bryant with the Adidas Equipment KB8 as his first signature shoe until July 2002.[40] The company also endorsed Kevin Garnett until he opted out of his contract in 2010.[41] Gilbert Arenas was an Adidas endorser until 2010.[42]

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.[43]

Jiu Jitsu

Clark Gracie endorses for Adidas BJJ (Jiu Jitsu). The three times world champion joined the Adidas team as the ambassador for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu line.

Rugby

All Blacks rugby jersey

Adidas makes rugby boots, balls and other rugby gear. They are the current kit and ball supplier to the New Zealand All Blacks, Irish Munster Rugby, the British and Irish Lions, the French National Team Les Bleus, the Italian national rugby team and the South African Stormers and Western Province rugby union teams among others. Adidas is also the New Zealand Rugby Union clothing sponsor and supplies clothing to all Super Rugby franchises, a selection of domestic teams and national referees. Adidas are also the official match ball supplier to the Heineken Cup. They are the jersey manufacturers of the Gold Coast Titans Rugby League club in the Australasian National Rugby League. Dual rugby and league international and former boxer Sonny Bill Williams is a global ambassador for Adidas.

Gymnastics

From 2000 to 2012, Adidas has provided men's and women's gymnastics wear for Team USA, through USA Gymnastics. USA Gymnastics and Adidas sponsorship concluded at the end of 2012. In 2006, Adidas gymnastics leotards for women and Adidas men's competition shirts, gymnastics pants and gymnastics shorts have been available in the USA, with seasonal leotards offered for Spring, Summer, Fall and Holidays. Adidas previous collaborated with GK Elite, since Spring 2013, Adidas gymnastics products have been available worldwide through Elegant Sports. USA Olympic team members McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber, Jake Dalton and Danell Leyva are all sponsored by Adidas gymnastics.

Skateboarding

Adidas Skateboarding produces shoes made specifically for skateboarding, including the redesign of previous models for skateboarding. The brand also releases signature models designed by team riders.[44]

Team

Professional
  • Mark Gonzales
  • Dennis Busenitz
  • Silas Baxter-Neal
  • Pete Eldridge
  • Benny Fairfax
  • Lucas Puig
  • Rodrigo Tx
  • Jake Donnelly
  • Nester Judkins[45]
  • Mark Suciu
Amateur
  • Krisjanis Kalvans
  • Lem Villemin
  • Vince Del Valle
  • Alec Majerus[45][46]

The "International" team consists of Chewy Cannon, Dennis Durrant, Klaus Bohms, Raul Navarro, Petr Horvat, Kevin Lowry, and Günes Özdogan.[45]

Baseball

Adidas has also provided baseball equipment and sponsors numerous players of Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.

From 1997 to 2008, Adidas sponsored New York Yankees.[47]

In Japan, Adidas is the official apparel sponsor for the teams Yomiuri Giants[48] and Waseda University.

Field hockey

Adidas has provided hockey equipment and sponsors numerous players of Germany, England, Netherlands, Australia, Spain and Belgium. They also sponsor Reading Hockey Club,[49] Beeston Hockey Club[50] and East Grinstead Hockey Club.[51]

Adidas Fresh Impact – Limited Edition

Accessories

Adidas also designs and makes slide-style sandals, watches, eyewear, bags, baseball caps, and socks. As well, Adidas has a branded range of male and female deodorants, perfumes, aftershave and lotions.

Adidas announced they will be launching a new $199 Fit Smart wristband in mid-August 2014. The wristband will pair with Adidas's miCoach app, which acts as a personal trainer.[52]

Sandals

Several classic Adilette pairs
Adilette

Adilette was the first ever pair of sandals made by Adidas, originally developed in 1963.[53] Adidas claims that a group of athletes approached Adi Dassler requesting a shoe be made for the locker room.

To this day, the resulting sandals are a best-seller.[53] Since the original navy blue and white Adilette sandals were created nearly fifty years ago, more varieties have been created in different colours (black, red, green, grey, orange, brown, yellow, pink, golden, silver). Most recently, Adidas has introduced a colour scheme that goes along with its Predator and adizero line; the scheme is dubbed warning (orange) and purple. Usually, the three stripes appear in the contrasting colour on the strap of the classic models. The most common adilette livery is in navy blue or black, mixed with white colours. Also the Woodilette and Trefoil models follow a similar design but without stripes on the strap.

The model provides a contoured orthopedic rubber sole with synthetic upper, and was designed as an après-sport slide, but the adilette were quickly used everywhere out of the sporting world. Opting for a wide, over the foot strap rather than the design of flip flops, the adilette sandals provide a fresh style and a different level of comfort for the wearer. The strap is also glued to the sides of the sandal, which directs tension to less stressful areas of the sandal, which gives the sandals more durability.

Santiossage

The Santiossage is a uni-sex slide-style sandal. The sandal has the trademarked three stripes on a velcro strap toward the front of the shoe. Santiossage comes in black, navy, or red. On the side of the shoe, toward the heel on either side, the manufacturer's name appears, as well as on a round emblem in the actual heel of the foot-bed. Notably, there are tiny clear massage nubs throughout the foot-bed for the purpose of massaging after-sport footaches, although the sandals are worn casually among non-athletes. Seen through these clear nubs are Adidas' three stripes.

Adissage
A pair of Adissage

Adissage is also a uni-sex slide-style sandal. Available in black, navy, light blue, black with pink, and other assorted colors, the sandal has the trademarked three stripes on a velcro strap toward the front of the shoe. On the side of the shoe, toward the heel on either side, the manufacturers name appears, as well as on a round emblem in the actual heel of the footbed. Like the Santiossage, there are tiny black massage nubs throughout the foot-bed for the purpose of massaging foot aches after sport, although popular as a casual sandal amongst non-athletes as well.

Other sandal brands
  • Lulouma
  • Commoda (by Stella McCartney)
  • Mungo
  • Woodilette
  • Harvella Thong (women's)
  • Raggmo Thong (men's)

Marketing

Chuck D in an Adidas sweatsuit

Adidas, like other sports brands, is believed to engender high consumer brand loyalty. Brand loyalty towards Adidas, Nike, Inc., Puma AG and several other sportswear brands was examined in a recent study.[54] The study found consumers did not exhibit unduly high loyalty towards such brands.

During the mid to late 1990s, Adidas divided the brand into three main groups with each a separate focus: Adidas Performance was designed to maintain their devotion to the athlete; Adidas Originals was designed to focus on the brand's earlier designs which remained a popular life-style icon; and Style Essentials, which dealt with the fashion market; the main group within this being Y-3 (which is a collaboration between Adidas and renowned Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto - the Y representing Yamamoto and the 3 representing the three stripes of Adidas).

"Adidas is all in" is the current global marketing strategy slogan for Adidas. The slogan aims to tie all brands and labels together, presenting a unified image to consumers interested in sports, fashion, street, music and pop culture. There appears to be connection with the phrase "all-in" meaning "exhausted" in some English speaking nations.

"Impossible is Nothing" was the previous 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".TBWA\Chiat\Day commissioned Zane Peach[55] to produce images for 2007 international ad campaign.

Game advertisement

The brand is featured in several games, including Commodore Amiga: Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge, Sony PlayStation: Adidas power soccer and Commodore 64, ZX spectrum, Amstrad CPC: Adidas Championship Football.

Sponsorship

Main article: List of Adidas sponsorships

Adicolor

Main article: Adicolor

Corporate information

Current executive board

  • CEO: Herbert Hainer
  • Chief Financial Officer: Robin J. Stalker
  • Global Brands: Eric Liedtke
  • Global Operations: Glenn S. Bennett
  • Global Sales: Roland Auschel

Former management

Financial information

Financial data in millions of euros[2]
Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Sales 10,084 10,299 10,799 10,381 11,990
EBITDA 1,078 1,165 1,280 780 1,159
Net income 483 551 642 245 567
Net debt 2,231 1,766 2,189 917 221

Criticism

Adidas's business practises/ethics and commitment to worker welfare have been scrutinised and often criticised.[56][57]

2011 All Blacks replica rugby jersey pricing controversy

Unhappy with the local price of the Adidas replica All Blacks jersey, New Zealand-based All Blacks fans have asked for price cuts and begun purchasing the jersey from overseas vendors after it was revealed that the local price of $NZ220 was more than twice the price offered on some websites.[58]

Adidas has responded by enforcing cross-border agreements to stop overseas retailers from selling to New Zealand residents. It has been labelled a public relations disaster by leading New Zealand PR firms and Consumer advocate groups. The largest New Zealand sportswear retailer Rebel Sport has stated it is angry and is considering selling the All Blacks Jerseys to the general public below cost. As of 9 August 2011, Rebel Sport has decided not to stock the Adidas Rugby Union jersey.[59]

2012 "shackle" sneakers

On 14 June 2012 Adidas posted on their Facebook page a picture of a pair of shoes containing shackles. The picture was of a planned shoe line that Adidas intended to release in August. The photo quickly caused controversy including that of Jesse Jackson who was quoted as saying "The attempt to commercialize and make popular more than 200 years of human degradation, where blacks were considered three-fifths human by our Constitution is offensive, appalling and insensitive".[60] Jackson threatened a boycott, and NBA commissioner David Stern was at one point reportedly contacted in hopes that he would intervene.[60] Shortly after the outcry the company canceled the product.[60]

Sweatshops and labour rights violations

Adidas has been criticized for operating sweatshops, particularly in Indonesia. Between 2006 and 2007, Adidas rejected many of its suppliers that supported unions for subcontractors with less reputable labour rights records.[61] By subcontracting work to different suppliers, it is more difficult for Adidas to ensure company labour standards are enforced. Workplace standards that Adidas' policy upholds include the freedom for workers to take part in collective bargaining and a non-retaliation policy towards workers who express concerns.[62] In practice, however, many of Adidas' suppliers have not upheld these standards. At the Panarub factory in Java, 33 workers were fired after striking for better pay in 2005.[63] PT Kizone is another Indonesian factory where Adidas has received criticism over treatment of workers. They produced products for Adidas as well as Nike and the Dallas Cowboys until they closed in January 2011. Laid off were 2,686 workers, who are owed $3 million in severance pay and benefits. Nike has contributed $1.5 million but Adidas has not acted. A campaign has been initiated by United Students Against Sweatshops calling for universities to cut contracts with Adidas.[64] On 16 July 2012, War on Want organised activists in London to replace Adidas price tags in sports stores with 34p ones,[65] a reference to the low hourly wage rate paid to the Indonesian workers who make Adidas goods.[66] The campaign group Labour Behind the Label claimed that the basic pay of Indonesian Adidas workers was only £10 a week. William Anderson, head of social and environmental affairs for the Asia Pacific region, posted an entry on the company blog in which he sought to justify the 34p an hour pay rate.[67]

In April 2014 one of the biggest strikes on mainland China took place at the Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Dongguan shoe factory, producing amongst others for Adidas.[68]

Environmental record

For years, Adidas purchased paper for its packaging from Asia Pulp & Paper, the third largest paper producer in the world, which was labeled as a "forest criminal" for destroying "precious habitat" in Indonesia’s rainforest.[69] In 2011, when Adidas cancelled its contract with Asia Pulp & Paper, Greenpeace Executive Director Phil Radford commended Adidas for efforts made towards forest protection, for "taking rainforest conservation seriously."[70]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Adidas Group History". adidas-group.com. Retrieved 7 May 2014. Cite error: The named reference "history" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Annual Report 2012". adidas. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Adidas, Deutsche Telekom, Infineon: German Equity Preview". Bloomberg L.P. 16 January 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  4. ^ "Adidas Group History". adidas-group.com. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  5. ^ Smit, Barbara (2007). Pitch Invasion, Adidas, Puma and the making of modern sport. Penguin. p. 44. ISBN 0-14-102368-6.
  6. ^ Chadwick, Simon; Arthur, Dave (2007). International cases in the business of sport. Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 438. ISBN 0-7506-8543-3.
  7. ^ Smit, Barbara (2009). Sneaker Wars. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-124658-6.
  8. ^ a b c d James, Kyle (3 July 2006). "The Town that Sibling Rivalry Built, and Divided". Deutsche Welle.
  9. ^ a b "How Adidas and PUMA were born". in.rediff.com. 8 November 2005. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  10. ^ a b Esterl, Mike (21 March 2008). 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 978-0-06-124657-9. Retrieved 26 September 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  11. ^ "Shoes and Nazi Bazookas: The Prehistory of Adidas and Puma". Der Spiegel. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  12. ^ Ramachandran, Arjun (18 September 2009). "Town divided by tale of two shoes". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  13. ^ Osborn, Andrew (10 July 2003). "Adidas told its three stripes don't constitute a trademark". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  14. ^ "Stella McCartney collection". Adidas.com. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  15. ^ Stella McCartney Biography at Internet Movie Database
  16. ^ "AOL.com". Aolsvc.news.aol.com. Retrieved 26 September 2010.[dead link‍]
  17. ^ Adidas 1 Is The Most Technically Advanced Running Shoe Popular Mechanics, 7 December 2004
  18. ^ "adidas Group to acquire outdoor specialist Five Ten". 3 November 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  19. ^ "Sports gear maker scores highest revenue ever in 2012". Dubai Chronicle. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  20. ^ Darren Heitner, Forbes. “[URL Adidas Launches Footwear Industry's First Reservation Mobile App].” February 3, 2015. February 3, 2015.
  21. ^ http://www.adidas-group.com/en/group/history/
  22. ^ Lewis, Michael (4 June 2010). "Official World Cup ball, Jabulani, getting the blame for soft goals - Robert Green - and missed ones". NY Daily News. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  23. ^ "Adidas Jabulani Review". SoccerCleats101.com. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  24. ^ "adidas Brazuca – Name of Official Match Ball decided by Brazilian fans". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  25. ^ Popilevych, Hanna (2 July 2014). "James Rodriguez the commercial star: Watch Colombian sensation's string of adverts". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  26. ^ "Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale shows off the lightest football boot ever made". The Mirror. Retrieved 4 June 2014
  27. ^ "The face of... Ten celebrities who have earned big bucks from endorsements". Independent. Retrieved 26 July 2014
  28. ^ "adidas Finale Munich". UEFA.com. Retrieved 21 August 2014
  29. ^ "Adidas and Opta Define the Engine". SoccerCleats101.com. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  30. ^ "Manchester United plc reaches agreement with adidas". ManUtd.com (Manchester United F.C.). Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  31. ^ Tennis-warehouse.com
  32. ^ "Adidas tennis". Adidas.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ "Andy Murray signs head-to-toe deal with Adidas". SportsProMedia. Archived from the original on 25 October 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ "'Brand Tendulkar will never lose value'". The Indian Express. India. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  35. ^ Pringle, Derek (16 October 2008). "Kevin Pietersen snaps up lucrative bat deal after the demise of Woodworm". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  36. ^ "Pure Proteas – Adidas South Africa". Adidas.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ "Pune Warriors sign uniform sponsorship deal with Adidas". The Economic Times. India. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  38. ^ Abraham Aamidor (2 March 2006). Chuck Taylor, All Star: The True Story of the Man behind the Most Famous Athletic Shoe in History. Indiana University Press. pp. 139 to 140. ISBN 0-253-34698-3.
  39. ^ Swoosh: The Unauthorized Story of Nike and the Men Who Played There. HarperBusiness. 1993. ISBN 0-88730-622-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  40. ^ "Kobe and Adidas part ways after six years". ESPN. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  41. ^ "Kevin Garnett to leave Adidas for Anta". nicekicks.com. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  42. ^ "Gilbert Arenas' Adidas Deal Up in Flames". Huffington Post. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  43. ^ "Level 2 Sports – Home". Adidasnationallacrosseclassic.com. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  44. ^ "Adidas Skateboarding | CCS Pro Signature Selects". CCS. CCS. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  45. ^ a b c "Team". adidas skateboarding. adidas. 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  46. ^ TWS (17 December 2013). "ADIDAS WELCOMES ALEC MAJERUS". TransWorld Skateboarding. GrindMedia. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  47. ^ Sandomir, Richard (3 March 1997). "Yankees and Adidas Agree On a Big Sponsorship Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  48. ^ "Adidas×Giants". AdidasGiants.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  49. ^ "Reading Hockey Club sponsored by Adidas". Reading Hockey Club. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  50. ^ "Beeston Hockey Club sponsored by Adidas". Beeston Hockey Club. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  51. ^ "E.G. Hockey Club sponsored by Adidas". East Grinstead Hockey Club. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  52. ^ , The Star Online. "[1]." 14 July 2014. 14 July 2014.
  53. ^ a b "60 years of Adidas" (PDF). Adidas Group. February 2010. p. 5.
  54. ^ Dawes, J. "Brand Loyalty in the UK Sportswear Market." International Journal of Market Research, Vol 51, No. 1 2009.
  55. ^ "Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art". Wolfecontemporary.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  56. ^ "Tyee – Homepage". Thetyee.ca. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  57. ^ "News & Views". Common Dreams. 8 March 2002. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  58. ^ Blechynden, Kent (8 August 2011). "Adidas stands by All Blacks jersey price". The Dominion Post. NZ. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  59. ^ Dickison, Michael (5 August 2011). "Adidas stands by All Blacks jersey price". The New Zealand Herald. NZ. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  60. ^ a b c Solomon, Jessie (19 June 2012). "Adidas cancels 'shackle' shoes after outcry". CNN. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  61. ^ "Adidas". Oxfam Australia. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  62. ^ "Our Workplace Standards". Adidas. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  63. ^ "Inside Adidas' Indonesian Factories". Oxfam Australia. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  64. ^ Greenhouse, Steven (24 September 2011). "Students Battle a Dallas Cowboys Unit Over College Apparel". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  65. ^ "Adidas rocked by price tag protest over workers' rights". War on Want. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  66. ^ "Adidas criticised for 'sweatshop' Olympic merchandise". Ekklesia. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  67. ^ Anderson, Bill (10 July 2012). "'Poverty Wages' in the sporting goods industry – What does this mean?". adidas Group blog. Adidas. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  68. ^ Yue Yuen strikers vow to continue until benefit contribution deficit paid in full, South China Morning Post, 2013-04-18.
  69. ^ "Paper Giant Pledges to Leave the Poor Rainforest Alone. Finally. Asia Pulp & Paper—the notorious destroyer of pristine tiger and orangutan habitat—says it's changing its ways". Mother Jones. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  70. ^ Phil Radford. "Hasbro Turns Over a New Leaf, Steps Up for Rainforests". Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 November 2013.

References

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