Marketing Strategy – Adidas

At Adidas “impossible is nothing”. Their mission to be the best sports company in the world along with their ability to embrace breakthrough technologies and deliver superior innovative products is a testament to that fact. This paper will focus on how Adidas is leading the disruption in the field of sports apparel and will continue doing so in the years to come. “Creating the new” is the motto of their new strategic business plan until 2020. Adidas believes that through sports they have the power to change and impact lives. To achieve this Adidas has successfully orchestrated the process of automating shoe manufacturing by establishing Speedfactories. Innovation is the essence of the company which has been demonstrated by the creation of concept sneakers like the Futurecraft 4D. Their phenomenal study and understanding of the current market and strategic technology trends can be substantiated from their collaboration with Silicon Valley based 3D printing startup, Carbon. Adidas is so deeply committed to innovation to provide their customers a fulfilling experience that they are light years ahead of their competitors. They have been successful in leveraging AI, data analytics, big data and machine learning to add value to their products. This establishes the fact as to why Adidas features in the smartest 50 companies list of 2017. Their proclivity towards innovation and consumer centric products directly aligns with Vijay Govindarajan’s 3 box principle thus

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).

As such it is important to organize the marketing functions by customer groups. This would permit Adidas focus marketing efforts particularly on the needs of each group. Though Adidas’ main customers are Athletes, teens and Young adults’, it still caters for the needs of older adults, Children and coaches, therefore catering to a broad customer base. These differentiation would be in two main categories; Male and Female and further differentiated into shoe (footwear), clothing and accessories.

Nike has attained a leading role in almost every one of the upcoming world wide sporting events, such as the 2012 Olympics, the 2012 Soccer Euro Cup, the NFL Superbowl, the 2014 Soccer World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Therefore the time is now for Nike to embed their customers and the fans of these major sporting events in the experience through their new technology.

The name Adidas derives from the creator’s name, Adi (Adolf) Das (Dassler). Contrary to Nike’s origins in running and track and field, Adidas claim to fame came through its soccer cleats, which were the first to feature removable studs. Adidas first major victory was when the German Soccer team won its first World Cup in 1954 while wearing Adidas soccer cleats. Thus, Adidas for a long time was considered to be the premier brand for soccer equipment, and only later in 1957 did they begin to develop shoes for track and field, and then later its signature three stripe athletic

Adidas have an objective of being the world’s best sports brand which shows great ambitions. They have maintained a great image therefore they have a lot of popularity and brand recognition. Adidas have a strong market

Nike displayed a strategy against Adidas which is extremely controversial that could be considered unethical. The strategies employed by Nike are highly aggressive and is immensely centered on profits. Adidas claimed all rights to the World Cup and spent oodles of money on those rights. Ethically Nike should have accepted the fact that Adidas owns the rights to the World Cup and await an opportunity to buy the rights. The actions made by Nike are unethical to consumers as well as their relationship with Adidas. Nike needs to continue promoting themselves for the World Cup but continue to respect the rights Adidas has officially claimed.

Sports like football and other games like Basketball, Golf, Tennis, Cricket, Rugby, Skateboarding, and Gymnastics have barely gone without Adidas’s involvement. One of the main focuses of Adidas is football kit and its associated equipment.

Today, Adidas is a company that has a very large network of sales of sports clothes. There are many retail stores, manufacturing companies located in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Germany. Every year the company will earn huge profits. All data show that the company is reliable in the world.

Adidas was registered as a company Germany, 1949. They are a multinational corporation now that produces sports clothing, casual clothing, sports gear, and accessories. Adidas are a holding company which means that they own other companies. The companies that are under Adidas groups are Reebok Sportswear Company, Taylor Made-Adidas Golf Company, Rockport Company, and CCM-Hockey. Each of these Companies under Adidas Company produces different or some similar materials for sale. Reebok creates footwear, apparel, and accessories. Taylor Made creates golf Equipment like metal woods, irons putters, golf balls, footwear, apparel and accessories. Rockport creates Dress, casual and outdoor footwear, apparel and accessories. And CCM-Hockey makes Hockey equipment and appeal.

In this report I will analyse how Adidas is influenced by its contemporary business environment. Furthermore, I will portray how Adidas if influenced further by several other factors including social, economic, technological,political and legal factors throughout the company. Adidas is a

Adidas’ story is much like the athletes it represents: it comes from humble efforts to global greatness. “We started in a wash room and conquered the world”, the company says in the history portion of their website. The adidas Group is an athletic footwear and apparel German multinational, founded in 1949 by Adolf “Adi” Dassler. Its headquarters is situated where it all started, in the small town of Herzogenaurach in Germany. Rachel Chambers, author of the article “A Feud Between Two Brothers Leads to the Three Stripes”, says that During World War I, sports-loving Adi started making shoes out of his mother’s laundry room with a bicycle-powered fabric trimmer (2010).

The Adidas Company was behind and helped such influential athletes as Jesse Owens and Muhammad Ali as they broke countless records. The heart of the Adidas product line is athletic shoes and this trend shows no signs of changing but the three-stripe logo appears on apparel and other jock accoutrements. Bankruptcy once had Adidas on the ropes, so to speak, but it made a comeback by shifting production to Asia and beefing up its marketing. Being the number two maker of sporting goods worldwide, just behind Nike, it has inked deals with football and basketball athletes, as well as the New York Yankees. The firm won sponsorship rights to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. It now seems that in every sports related segment Adidas has a new

In addition to the programs mentions above, adidas Group also has created programs and goals to address climate change (caused by carbon emissions), as well as chemical usage reduction. For example, adidas Group was a founding member of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Initiative in 2011. The initiative is aimed at changing the current industry practices when dealing with proper chemical management. In becoming part of the initiative, the goal of phasing out PFCs (perflourinated chemicals) by 2017, was also taken on by adidas Group.

The footwear comes in various designs and styles, Adidas’ footwear is athletic and strong. Adidas’ secondary item is clothing and accessories for any sport, items like T-Shirts, jackets and shorts that are in great demand. Adidas is strong in footwear and is strong at producing clothing and accessories. The aim of Adidas is to end the desires of consumers by offering them shoes with a combination of great design and highly advanced technology. The main target is sports and the clothing and accessories is frequently brought by consumers.