Adidas Essay

Adidas is a well-known sports company that manufactures shoes, sportswear and accessories. Adolf Dassler in Germany established the company in 1949. Adidas was started in a washroom and over the years triumphed the world. Recently Adidas has been going through a lot of turbulence. In the year 2014 the company stocks went down staggeringly. Adidas recently closed down close to 200 stores in Russia due to deteriorating economy. Nike has been giving Adidas a stiff competition. Adidas definitely need better planning and better leadership to give its competitors a healthy competition.

Adidas was founded in Germany in 1920.it became an important supplier of footwear after Second World War. Later, it expanded its footwear line to include fringe sports. While Nike is the global leader in athletic shoe market, Adidas is nothing more than the second place in that market because it started its business in the field of soccer shoe market. So, Adidas could not handle the whole athletic shoe market. Later on, Adidas wanted to expand its capability on the shoe market. In order to satisfy the market’s need in depth, Adidas also went for the basketball market.

Nike became very successful and became the #1 Sports brand in the world. However, Nike could not slack off as their competitors might surpass them. For years, Adidas was Nike’s biggest competitor. However, recent studies show as of 2015, Under Armour has become the second biggest Sports brand in the world. Under Armour revenue was reported to be about $17,000 in 1996 (year the company was founded). Now, Under Armour has reported to be making a little over $2 billion a year while their biggest competitor, Adidas, has dropped quite a bit and making a little under $2 billion a year. Though, both companies seem to be doing well, neither is close to Nike’s revenue a year. Nike is making over $11 million a year; Nike’s Jordan brand has reported to be making a little over $2 billion a year alone. Nike will always be the #1 Sports brand in the U.S. and in the world. The company will continue to grow with not only their Jordan brand, but with more and more star athletes the company

For men and women, the company offers variety of products such as shirts and tops such as short sleeves, sleeveless and tanks, graphic t-shirts, long sleeves, and hoodies and sweatshirts; underwear; warm-ups and jackets; bottom such as shorts, pants, leggings, and tights; outwear for men; and sports bra for women. For boys and girls, the company offers shirts, tops, and bottoms. It footwear line includes footwear for sports such as training, running, and basketball footwear, and hunting boots. The accessories line consists of backpacks and bags, headwear, gloves, socks, sunglasses, equipment, protective gear, and mouth guards for all age. At the end of 2013, the company generated 77.4% of its revenue from apparel, 13.1% from footwear, and 9.5% from accessories. So the broad product offering have been proven to be the company’s strength as it aids UA in supplying to different markets and it reduces the risks of being dependent on single segment for

Adidas is a sportswear manufacturing company started by Adolf Dassler. Adidas group has incorporated brands including Adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade-Adidas and Rockport. The wings of the company are widespread and have assimiliated other productions including handbags, shirts, spectacles, watches, balls, and sportswear. Adidas is being the largest company that sells footwear in the European market and have achieved a momentous market share at the global platform. Adidas has achieved phenomenal sale and have reached the pinnacle of success on the global scale with other international footwear companies (McDonald & Milne, 1999).

Founded in 1996 by University of Maryland graduate Kevin Plank, Under Armour has become the leading supplier of the athletic performance apparel industry. Under Armour began with simple idea to create a t-shirt that would enhance athletic performance by regulating body temperature and removing perspiration

1. Nike, Inc. is one of the most successful multinational companies in the world of sports. The company is enrolled with services, sales of footwear and sports equipment, design and marketing. The headquarters are near Beaverton, Oregon. According to Sage(June 26, 2008),´´ it is one of the world´s largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel and major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of 24.1 billion US dollars in its fiscal year 2012 (ending May 31, 2012)´´. In 2014, the brand alone was valued 19 billion US dollars, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses (Ozanian, July 10, 2014). It was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman, a track-and-field coach at the University of Oregon, and his former student Phil Knight (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2015).

-Nike is the number 1 distributor of althletic footwear bringing in 20 Billion in 2011

The company I have researched about is NIKE, Inc. Nike is a well renowned Company based in Beaverton, Oregon, U.S.A. Its mission statement is to inspire and innovate every athlete all over the world. " If you have a body, you are an athlete" ( Farfan, 2016.). Nike is involve in the manufacturing of sportswear and making of shoes throughout the globe. For example; Hurley International ( sport apparel for surfing), and Converse ( shoes apparel) ( Feminism, 2010.).

Adidas general approach is to be a sustainable company. Adidas Group is one of the global leaders within the sporting goods industry. Adidas offering a broad range of products around the core brands such as adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade, Rockport and Reebok-CCM Hockey. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany. From the assesment, adidas Group’s sustainability strategy is rooted in the Group’s values which are performance, passion, integrity and diversity. Furthermore, the adidas Group is selected to join the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), which is positively welcomed by investors who integrate sustainability considerations into their portfolios.

Reebok (Adidas) – Reebok which is owned by Adidas Group has struggled to maintain it foothold in the U.S. athletic shoe market Reebok. Recently Reebok has begun marketing itself as a fitness brand, and the brand’s sales were up 5% in 2014

Adidas was founded by Adi Dassler on August 18, 1949 in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Adidas has been in business longer than Nike, they have had their logo since the inception; thus, the three stripes on the side of their shoes. In Spring of 2015, they came out with their new strategic business plan called, “Creating the New”. The focus was on Cities, Speed, and Open Source. According to Herbert Hainer, the CEO at that time stated, “The company is working every day to inspire and enable people to harness the power of sport in their lives (Adidas Group, n.d.). Adidas current competitive strategy is not the same as Nike’s competitive strategy. In October 2016, Kasper Rorsted became Adidas’ current CEO. He believes health and fitness will continue to become a lifestyle not a fad. Furthermore, he wants to expound the three clear strategic choices: Speed, Cities, and Open Source.” They are more focused on the broad target market, a low-cost provider strategy. In March 2017, he updated the focus for Adidas to include “Corporate Culture, Digital, One Adidas, North America and Portfolio.” (Adidas Group, n.d.).

1. What is adidas’ position in the athletic shoe market? How does the brand seem to be doing in this market? Position: the position of adidas has transferred from “leading supplier of soccer footwear worldwide” to “leading sport brand”. Adidas was founded in Germany in 1920. In 1995, it became a public company as well as the leading supplier of soccer footwear due to its great performance of footwear sales. In 1998, adidas began to move into the U.S. market. Adidas doubled its U.S. market share within only one year, so it hoped to continue to make big move in following years. In its way to U.S. market, adidas confront with the

Adidas Group, as one of the world’s retail leaders in sportswear, has as primary target the sports participants, including high performance athletes, as well as non-athletes who are inspired by those at the highest level of their sport, and those that really love sports as part of their lives.

Even though Adidas is sponsoring top athletes like tennis player Anna Kournikova, the soccer player Zidedine Zidane and L.A Lakers’ basketball player Kobe Bryant, the focus