Adidas

Adidas AG
Company type	Public
Industry	Textile
Founded	1949
Headquarters	Herzogenaurach, Germany
Key people	Adolf Dassler, founder; Herbert Hainer, CEO adidas-Group; Robin Stalker, CFO
Products	Footwear; Accessories
Revenue	€6.636 billion (2005)
Operating income	669,000,000 Euro (2022)
Net income	€383 million (2005)
Number of employees	59,030 (2023)

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer, part of the Adidas Group, which is the second largest sportswear manufacturer worldwide. The company was named after its founder, Adolf (Adi) Dassler, who started producing shoes in the 1920s in Herzogenaurach near Nuremberg with the help of his brother Rudolf Dassler who later formed rival shoe company PUMA AG. It registered as Adidas AG on 18 August 1949 (with lower-case lettering: "adidas"). The company's clothing and shoe designs typically include three parallel stripes of the same color, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas's official logos. The company revenue for 2005 was listed at 6.6 billion euros, or about 8.4 billion U.S. dollars.

Adidas perfumery and personal care products are manufactured by Coty, Inc. under license worldwide.

Corporate history

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 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.

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 football 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, and its corporate name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG. With this acquisition adidas acquired 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 €485 mn 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 August 2005 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. The higher intelligence level 1.1 makes the Adidas 1 better, stronger and faster. 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.

Criticism

In April 2006, Adidas came under fire from Asian groups for releasing a limited edition Y1-HUF shoe that contained a typical early 1900s Asian caricature. Adidas responded by labeling the criticisms as a misinterpretation, and declined to pull the line of shoes. The artist, Barry McGee, is half Chinese and had drawn the caricature intending it as a younger self portrait. McGee thought it would be cool to have a picture of himself on a shoe.

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, players on the German national football team with contracts with rival sportswear companies (most notably Nike endorsers Jens Lehmann and Miroslav Klose, among others) have complained about the clause on Adidas' contract with the national side requiring them to wear their kit, including footwear, which 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 of 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

Since the 1970 FIFA World Cup with the football Telstar, Adidas has been the FIFA official match ball supplier for every FIFA World Cup and designs the official match ball for every edition of the event.

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

Football teams with kits supplied by Adidas

Club

Africa

Asia

National

CONCACAF - North America, Central America & the Caribbean

CONMEBOL - South America

UEFA- Europe

CAF - Africa

AFC - Asia

University American Football teams sponsored by Adidas

Other Adidas sponsorships

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

They also sponsor the San Beda Red Lions, A collegiate team in the Philippines, as well as the St. Benilde Blazers and their junior team, the La Salle Green Hills Greenies. 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 Collingwood Magpies of the Australian Football Leauge have traditionally worn black and white stripes, and with Adidas sponsoring the team, the jerseys still have the Adidas three-stripe on the kit.

They also sponsor the Australian Cricket Team.

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 Benett

"Impossible is nothing"

"Impossible is nothing" is the current mainstream marketing slogan for Adidas.

TV commercials

Adidas's worldwide line of commercials showcase events that are truly impossible, such as José + 10 with two boys in a rundown 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, Shunsuke Nakamura, Lukas Podolski, Michael Ballack, Alessandro Nesta, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Raúl, and Kaká. They also include past stars Franz Beckenbauer, Zico and Michel Platini. [8] However the commercials do not only focus on football: for example, other TV ads feature long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie and NBA Superstars Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Chauncey Billups, John Coxmann and Gilbert Arenas among other athletes.

The background music of the second part is "Eanie Meanie" by Jim Noir.

Popular culture

The hip hop group Run-D.M.C. released a song entitled "My Adidas" on their 1986 album Raising Hell.
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.
Singer Robbie Williams has a line in his new single "Rudebox" which says: "A.D.I.D.A.S. Old school 'cos it's the best". In the video he's wearing an Adidas jacket with the classical logo, maybe in reference to the "old school 'cos it's the best" line of the song.
Wes Anderson movie The Life Aquatic featured Adidas customized sneakers.

External links

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