Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Adidas shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Adidas offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Adidas at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Adidas? Wrong! If the Adidas is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Adidas then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Adidas? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Adidas and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Adidas wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Adidas then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Adidas site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Adidas, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Adidas, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
{{Infobox_Company]| company_logo = | company_type =
Public company| foundation = 1949 History @ Adidas-Group.com| slogan = Weltmarke mit den 3 Streifen (
German language for
The brand with the 3 stripes', Impossible is nothing| location =
Herzogenaurach, Germany, Founder
[Herbert Hainer, Chairman/CEO Adidas Group
Erich Stamminger, President/CEO Adidas AG] and
Sports equipment| products =
FootwearAccessoriesSportswear () is a major [Germany 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 Dassler, in 1948. Dassler had been producing shoes starting in 1920 in
Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, with the help of his brother, Rudolf Dassler, who later formed the other shoe company
Puma AG. The company registered as
adidas AG (with lower-case lettering) on
18 August 1949. 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.
Financial Data
{| class="wikitable" border="3"|+
Financial data in millions of euro! Year! 2002! 2003! 2004! 2005! 2006|-----| [Sales| 532| 627| 725| 818| 1 098
|-----| [Net Results| 1 498| 946| 594| -551| 2 231
|}
:::::
Source :' OpesC'
The Tapie affair
The history of the
corporation as presented by its official website is incomplete,
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
1000000000 (number) France
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 offshoring to Asia. He also hired Madonna (entertainer) for promotion. He sent Walter Head, 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, 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 Stock 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 Political 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
soccer 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
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
National Collegiate Athletic Association 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.
In 2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in
United Kingdom 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.
In September 2004, top
England 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" , and it has been critically acclaimed.
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 (
United States dollar). This takeover was completed in January 2006 History @ Adidas.com Reebok History 2000- 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, Inc. worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the world.
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). 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
National Basketball Association 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 turned 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 are 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:
Cleats 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 Germany national soccer team who have contracts with rival sportswear companies (most notably Nike, Inc. 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 Swedish Football Association 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.
, Germany
Official FIFA World Cup supplier
{| class="wikitable"!Tournament!Name of the match ball design|-|1970|rowspan="2"|
Telstar (ball)|-|1974|-|1978|
Tango (ball)|-|1982|
Tango España|-|1990|[Etrusco Unico (ball)|-|1994|[Questra|-|2002|[Fevernova|}
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) 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, the most notable perhaps being the German national football team national football team, the association running back to at least the West German World Cup winning team of 1954.
Football (soccer) teams with kits manufactured by Adidas
Africa
Asia
Europe
{||valign="top"|
|width="39"| |valign="top"|
|width="39"| |valign="top"|
|}
North America
South America
National
CONCACAF - North America, Central America & the Caribbean
CONMEBOL - South America
UEFA- Europe
Confederation of African Football - Africa
Asian Football Confederation - Asia
Players
{||valign="top"|
Tennis Players
Male Players:
Female Players:
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..
Adidas produce the kits of some of the biggest domestic and international football teams including Real Madrid C.F., AC Milan,
Chelsea F.C., Liverpool F.C., 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.
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 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 (Super rugby franchise),
Chiefs (Super rugby franchise),
Crusaders (rugby),
Highlanders (Super rugby franchise) and
Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise). Adidas also sponsors the Argentine Rugby Union, outfitting
Argentina national rugby union team, that country's national team.
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 (basketball) 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.
Adidas will be a sponsor for
Dale Earnhardt Jr in 2008 for the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.
It was announced on 20th September 2007 that Adidas will be the sportswear sponsor of the
London 2012 Olympic Games, in a deal worth an estimated $200 million
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) choosing 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, such as
Converse (Converse One), Nike, Inc. (NikeID),
Reebok (Rbk Custom),
Puma AG (Mongolian Shoe BBQ) and
K-Swiss (my K-Swiss), also offer customization programs. These programs very often can be found online as they focus on design customization.
Lacrosse
In 2007, Adidas announced through advertising, the future production of lacrosse equipment to include shafts, heads and possibly protective gear.
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 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
advertising showcase events that are truly impossible, such as José + 10 with two boys in a run down lot gathering many world
Football (soccer) stars to play a pick-up game. These stars include present players like Steven Gerrard, Djibril Cissé,
Juan Román Riquelme,
Zinedine Zidane,
David Beckham, Jermain Defoe,
Oliver Kahn,
Frank Lampard,
Arjen Robben, Cha Du Ri,Andrés Guardado, Shunsuke Nakamura, Lukas Podolski,
Michael Ballack,
Alessandro Nesta, Bastian Schweinsteiger,Raúl González, Damien Duff, and
Kaká. They also include past stars Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini. However the commercials do not only focus on soccer: for example, other TV ads feature
Long-distance running Haile Gebrselassie and
National Basketball Association 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.
Popular culture
- Famous guitarist Slash from Rock 'n Roll band Guns N' Roses used Adidas Phantom shoes for most of the band's 2 year long Use Your Illusion Tour.
- The 2007 NBA All-Star Jam in Las Vegas Nevada featured a city-wide mobile marketing campaign, powered by www.movomobile.com , 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."
- Jay Kay, lead singer of the acid jazz / funk group Jamiroquai, is known for his love of Adidas apparel and shoes, particularly from the Adidas Originals brand.
- The hip hop group Run-D.M.C. released a song entitled "My Adidas" on their 1986 album Raising Hell. They also had their own range of Adidas clothing, the Ultrastar trainer (a variation on the classic Superstar design) being created for them.
- 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 their 1996 album Life Is Peachy, which stands for "All Day I Dream About Sex". Korn was sponsored by Adidas, and Jonathan Davis, the lead singer, constantly wore normal and customized Adidas tracksuits 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 (Killer Mike album) released March 11 2003 on Sony Records.
- In the video to his single "Rudebox", singer Robbie Williams wears an Adidas jacket with the classical logo, and raps "rock the three stripes/not the Asics".
- 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
- The cast of the Goal (film) trilogy wore 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 humongous binder."
- Jade Puget (from Rock music band AFI (band))'s favorite shoes are Adidas.
- In the movie Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), the two main characters, Jesse (Ashton Kutcher) and Chester (Sean William Scott) sport red and blue matching track suits and shirts. Kutcher also wore Adidas on That '70s Show.
- Juggy D, a British Asian singer, wears Adidas branded clothing in his music videos.
- In Boston Adidas is worn as a right of passage to the urban natives. They have adopted the motto "three for the stripes" and heavily wear Adidas' Shelltoes as a fashion staple. It is most popular in Boston neighbourhoods such as, Dorchester,Mattapan,Fields Corner, and Codman Square.
See also
Adidas skateboarding
References
External links
- Adidas Group
- Adidas
- Official MySpace
- Adidas Supply Chain Code of Conduct
- Official Adidas Store
- Y-3
- designs of World Championship match balls
- History of Adidas
Articles
- Academic article
- NBA Pact
- Adidas introduces the Intelligent Basketball shoe
{{Infobox_Company]| company_logo = | company_type = Public company| foundation = 1949 History @ Adidas-Group.com| slogan = Weltmarke mit den 3 Streifen (
German language for
The brand with the 3 stripes', Impossible is nothing| location =
Herzogenaurach, Germany, Founder
[Herbert Hainer, Chairman/CEO Adidas Group
Erich Stamminger, President/CEO Adidas AG] and Sports equipment| products = Footwear
Accessories
Sportswear () is a major [Germany 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 Dassler, in 1948. Dassler had been producing
shoes starting in 1920 in Herzogenaurach, near
Nuremberg, with the help of his brother,
Rudolf Dassler, who later formed the other shoe company Puma AG. The company registered as
adidas AG (with lower-case lettering) on
18 August 1949. 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.
Financial Data
{| class="wikitable" border="3"|+
Financial data in millions of euro! Year! 2002! 2003! 2004! 2005! 2006|-----| [Sales| 532| 627| 725| 818| 1 098
|-----| [Net Results| 1 498| 946| 594| -551| 2 231
|}
:::::
Source :' OpesC'
The Tapie affair
The history of the corporation as presented by its official website is incomplete,
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
1000000000 (number) France
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 offshoring to
Asia. He also hired
Madonna (entertainer) for promotion. He sent Walter Head, 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, 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
Stock 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
Political 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 soccer 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
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
National Collegiate Athletic Association 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.
In 2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in
United Kingdom 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.
In September 2004, top England
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" , and it has been critically acclaimed.
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 (United States dollar). This takeover was completed in January 2006 History @ Adidas.com Reebok History 2000- 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, Inc. worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the world.
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). 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 National Basketball Association 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 turned 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 are 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:
Cleats 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
Germany national soccer team who have contracts with rival sportswear companies (most notably Nike, Inc. 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 Swedish Football Association 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.
, Germany
Official FIFA World Cup supplier
{| class="wikitable"!Tournament!Name of the match ball design|-|1970|rowspan="2"|Telstar (ball)|-|1974|-|1978|
Tango (ball)|-|1982|Tango España|-|1990|[Etrusco Unico (ball)|-|1994|[Questra|-|2002|[Fevernova|}
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) 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, the most notable perhaps being the German national football team national football team, the association running back to at least the West German World Cup winning team of 1954.
Football (soccer) teams with kits manufactured by Adidas
Africa
Asia
Europe
{||valign="top"|
|width="39"| |valign="top"|
|width="39"| |valign="top"|
|}
North America
South America
National
CONCACAF - North America, Central America & the Caribbean
CONMEBOL - South America
- Argentina national football team
- Paraguay national football team
- Venezuela national football team
UEFA- Europe
Confederation of African Football - Africa
Asian Football Confederation - Asia
Players
{||valign="top"|
Tennis Players
Male Players:
Female Players:
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..
Adidas produce the kits of some of the biggest domestic and international football teams including
Real Madrid C.F.,
AC Milan,
Chelsea F.C.,
Liverpool F.C., 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.
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 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 (Super rugby franchise), Chiefs (Super rugby franchise), Crusaders (rugby), Highlanders (Super rugby franchise) and Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise). Adidas also sponsors the
Argentine Rugby Union, outfitting
Argentina national rugby union team, that country's national team.
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 (basketball) 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
AustraliaAdidas also co-sponsors the UCI T-Mobile cycling team.
Adidas will be a sponsor for Dale Earnhardt Jr in 2008 for the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.
It was announced on 20th September 2007 that Adidas will be the sportswear sponsor of the
London 2012 Olympic Games, in a deal worth an estimated $200 million
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) choosing 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, such as
Converse (Converse One), Nike, Inc. (NikeID),
Reebok (Rbk Custom), Puma AG (Mongolian Shoe BBQ) and
K-Swiss (my K-Swiss), also offer customization programs. These programs very often can be found online as they focus on design customization.
Lacrosse
In 2007, Adidas announced through advertising, the future production of lacrosse equipment to include shafts, heads and possibly protective gear.
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 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 advertising showcase events that are truly impossible, such as José + 10 with two boys in a run down lot gathering many world
Football (soccer) stars to play a pick-up game. These stars include present players like
Steven Gerrard, Djibril Cissé,
Juan Román Riquelme,
Zinedine Zidane,
David Beckham,
Jermain Defoe, Oliver Kahn, Frank Lampard,
Arjen Robben,
Cha Du Ri,
Andrés Guardado,
Shunsuke Nakamura,
Lukas Podolski,
Michael Ballack, Alessandro Nesta, Bastian Schweinsteiger,
Raúl González,
Damien Duff, and Kaká. They also include past stars
Franz Beckenbauer and
Michel Platini. However the commercials do not only focus on soccer: for example, other TV ads feature Long-distance running
Haile Gebrselassie and
National Basketball Association 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.
Popular culture
- Famous guitarist Slash from Rock 'n Roll band Guns N' Roses used Adidas Phantom shoes for most of the band's 2 year long Use Your Illusion Tour.
- The 2007 NBA All-Star Jam in Las Vegas Nevada featured a city-wide mobile marketing campaign, powered by www.movomobile.com , 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."
- Jay Kay, lead singer of the acid jazz / funk group Jamiroquai, is known for his love of Adidas apparel and shoes, particularly from the Adidas Originals brand.
- The hip hop group Run-D.M.C. released a song entitled "My Adidas" on their 1986 album Raising Hell. They also had their own range of Adidas clothing, the Ultrastar trainer (a variation on the classic Superstar design) being created for them.
- 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 their 1996 album Life Is Peachy, which stands for "All Day I Dream About Sex". Korn was sponsored by Adidas, and Jonathan Davis, the lead singer, constantly wore normal and customized Adidas tracksuits 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 (Killer Mike album) released March 11 2003 on Sony Records.
- In the video to his single "Rudebox", singer Robbie Williams wears an Adidas jacket with the classical logo, and raps "rock the three stripes/not the Asics".
- 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
- The cast of the Goal (film) trilogy wore 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 humongous binder."
- Jade Puget (from Rock music band AFI (band))'s favorite shoes are Adidas.
- In the movie Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), the two main characters, Jesse (Ashton Kutcher) and Chester (Sean William Scott) sport red and blue matching track suits and shirts. Kutcher also wore Adidas on That '70s Show.
- Juggy D, a British Asian singer, wears Adidas branded clothing in his music videos.
- In Boston Adidas is worn as a right of passage to the urban natives. They have adopted the motto "three for the stripes" and heavily wear Adidas' Shelltoes as a fashion staple. It is most popular in Boston neighbourhoods such as, Dorchester,Mattapan,Fields Corner, and Codman Square.
See also
Adidas skateboarding
References
External links
- Adidas Group
- Adidas
- Official MySpace
- Adidas Supply Chain Code of Conduct
- Official Adidas Store
- Y-3
- designs of World Championship match balls
- History of Adidas
Articles
- Academic article
- NBA Pact
- Adidas introduces the Intelligent Basketball shoe
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Adidas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adidas Ltd. AG (ISIN: DE0005003404) (pronounced ['ɑdɪ-dɑs], often pronounced /ə-'di:-dəs/ in English) is a major German sports apparel manufacturer and part of the Adidas ...
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