Research project on Adidas

CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY

Research project on
ADIDAS

Submitted by : Rajkamal Rana

UID : 17BCM1219

Course/Sec. : B.com/3c

Submitted to : Ms. Divya mam

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Research project on Adidas

DECLARATION

The researcher hereby declare that this project report titled Adidas submitted to the university
school of business ,Chandigarh University is a record of original work done by the students
of B. com 3 Semester under the guidance of Ms. Divya mam

Date :24 October , 2018

Signature:

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Research project on Adidas

Certificate

This is to certify that the project titled “Adidas ’’ is the bonafide work carried out by the
students of B.com (3 Semester) during the academic year (2018) , in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Commerce and that the project has
not formed the basis for the award previously of any other degree ,diploma fellowship or any
other similar title.

Place: Chandigarh University (Ms. Divya)

Date :24 October 2018

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Research project on Adidas

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have taken efforts in this project .However, it would not have been possible without the kind
support and help of many individuals. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them

I am highly indebted to my teacher for their guidance and constant supervision as well as for
providing necessary information regarding the project & also for their support in completing
the project

I would like to express my gratitude towards my friends& members of Chandigarh University

for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in completion of this project.
My thanks and appreciations also go to my friends in developing the project and people who
have willingly helped me out with their abilities

B.com 3 Semester

University school of business

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Research project on Adidas

Table of Contents

S.NO Topic Page. No

1.Front page ……………………………………………..1

2.Decleration……………………………………………..2

3. Certificate…………………………................................3

4.Acknowledgement………………………………………….4

5. Introduction on Adidas……………………………………..7

6.Company/Brand history and Evaluation……………………………8-13

7.Product Evaluation on Adidas ………………………………..14-20

8.Consumer Evaluationon Adidas……………………………….21-27

9.Marketing Mix Of Adidas…………………………………….29-31

10.SWOT Analysis Of Adidas…………………………………….32-34

11.Nike vs Reebok vs Adidas……………………………………35-37

12.ADIDAS:-

a) Comparative Analysis

b)Coparate level Analysis

c)Busines level Analysis

d)Analysis

e)Recommendations ……………………………………………38-47

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Research project on Adidas

13.29 Facts about Adidas…………………………………………48-51

14. All about CEO of Adidas company …………………………………51-57

14.Conclusion………………………………………………….58

15.Questionnaire………………………………………………..59

16..Bibliography…………………………………………………60

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Research project on Adidas

INTRODUCTION

Adidas AG (German pronunciation: [ˈadiˌdas] (stylized as ɑdidɑs since 1949) is

a multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, that
designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear
manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike. It is the holding
company for the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, Taylor
Made golf company (including Ashworth), Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology
company, and 8.33% of Bayern Munich, the football club. Adidas' revenue for 2016 was
listed at €19.29 billion.

The company was started by Adolf Dasslerin his mother's house; he was joined by his elder
brother Rudolf in 1924 under the name Dazzler Brothers Shoe Factory. Dazzler assisted in
the development of spiked running shoes (spikes) for multiple athletic events. To enhance the
quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from a previous model of heavy metal
spikes to utilizing canvas and rubber. Dazzler persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his
handmade spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1949, following a breakdown in the
relationship between the brothers, Adolf created Adidas, and Rudolf established Puma, which
became Adidas' business rival.

Adidas' logo is three stripes, which is used on the company's clothing and shoe designs as a
marketing aid. The branding, which Adidas bought in 1952 from Finnish sports
company Karhu Sports, became so successful that Dassler described Adidas as "The three
stripes company".The brand name is uncapitalized and is stylized with a lower case "a".

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Research project on Adidas

Consumer/Brand,History&Evaluation

Sculpture of Dassler in the AdiDassler Stadium, Herzogenaurach,

Germany

Adidas was founded by Adolf "Adi" Dassler who made sports shoes in his
mother's scullery or laundry room in Herzogenaurach, Germany after his return from World
War I. In July 1924, his older brother Rudolf joined the business, which became Dassler
Brothers Shoe Factory (Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik). The electricity supply in
Herzogenaurach was unreliable, so the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a
stationary bicycle to run their equipment.

Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes (spikes) for multiple athletic
events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from a previous
model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. In 1936, Dassler persuaded
U.S. sprinterJesse Owens to use his hand made spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Following Owens' four gold medals, the name and reputation of Dassler shoes became known

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Research project on Adidas

to the world's sportsmen and their trainers. Business was successful and the Dasslers were
selling 200,000 pairs of shoes every year before World War II.

The Dolbury factory, used for production of anti-tank weapons during the Second World
War, was nearly destroyed in 1945 by US forces, but was spared when Dassler's wife,
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.

Split and rivalry with Puma

The brothers split up in 1947 after relations between them had broken down, with Rudolf
forming a new firm that he called Ruda – from Rudolf Dassler, later rebranded Puma, and
Dassler 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"; the name is a portmanteau formed from
"Adi" (a nickname for Adolf) and "Das" (from "Dassler").

Puma SE 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. Even the town's
two football clubs were divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club was supported by Adidas,
while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolf's footwear.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. The two brothers were never reconciled and
although both are now buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced as far apart as possible.

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 Burden ski. Four years later, at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1500
metres runner JosyBarthel of Luxembourg won Puma's first Olympic gold in Helsinki,
Finland.

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Research project on Adidas

The original trefoil Adidas logo until 1998, 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.

3-Stripe logo
In 1952, following the 1952 Summer Olympics, Adidas acquired its signature 3-stripe logo
from the Finnish athletic footwear brand Karhu Sports, for two bottles of whiskey and the
equivalent of 1600 euros.

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.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

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Research project on Adidas

is reported, because Tapie was Minister of Urban Affairs (ministre de la Ville) in the French
government at the time.

Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a friend of Bernard Tapie, became the new CEO of the company in
1994. He was also the president of Olympique de Marseille, a team Tapie had 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. During 1997, he served 6 months of an
18-month prison sentence in La Santé prison in Paris. In February 2000, Crédit Lyonnais sold
Adidas to Louis-Dreyfus 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.

Post-Tapie era

An Adidas 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 team 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.

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Research project on Adidas

As CEO of Adidas, Louis-Dreyfus quadrupled revenue to 5.84 billion euros ($7.5 billion)
from 1993 through 2000. In 2000, he announced he would resign the following year, due to
illness.

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.

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",and it has
been critically acclaimed.

Also, on 3 May 2005, 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 Reebok for $3.8 billion (US$). This takeover was completed with partnership in January
2006and 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.

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.

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.

On 11 April 2006, Adidas announced an 11-year deal to become the official NBA clothing
provider. The company has been making 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.

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Research project on Adidas

In 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.

By the end of 2012, Adidas was reporting their highest revenues ever and Chief Executive
Herbert Hainer expressed optimism for the year ahead.

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 using geo targeting technology

On 24 March 2015, Adidas and McDonald's unveiled the 2015 McDonald's All-American
uniforms. For the third year in a row, players will be wearing short-sleeved jerseys, made
with the same lightweight and breathable material as the ones used in the NBA.

In August 2015, Adidas acquired fitness technology firm Runtastic for approximately $240
million.

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Research project on Adidas

PRODUCTS EVALUATION

Apparel

Adidas sells a range of clothing items, varying from men's and women's t-
shirts, jackets, hoodies, pants and leggings.

The first Adidas item of apparel was the Franz Beckenbauer tracksuit created in 1967.Adidas
AG is the largest manufacturer of sports bras in Europe, and the second largest manufacturer
in the world.

Sportswear
Association football

Autographed jersey of the Spain national football teamthat was manufactured by Adidas for
the 2014 FIFA World Cup

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Research project on Adidas

One of the main focuses of Adidas has always been football kits, and the associated
equipment. Adidas remains a major company in the global supply of team kits for
international association football teams and clubs.

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.

Since 1970, FIFA, the world governing body of football, has commissioned specially
designedfootballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments. The Adidas Telstar was the first
ball commissioned for the World Cup in 1970. The balls supplied for the 2006 World Cup,
the "Teamgeist", were particularly 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.Adidas introduced the Jabulani for the 2010 World Cup. The ball was
designed and developed by Loughborough University in conjunction with Bayern Munich.
The Adidas Brazuca was the match ball of the 2014 World Cup, the first Adidas is one of the
official sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, and the Adidas Finale is the competition's
official match ball. Along with the aforementioned Adidas Predator boot, Adidas
manufactures the adiPure range of football boots. Adidas named an official match ball of
the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament the Adidas Beau Jeu which translates to "The Beautiful
Game" in English. Adidas provides clothing and equipment for all teams in Major League
Soccer.World Cup ball named by the fans.

Baseball

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

Adidas Baseball hardgoods are licensed to Dick's Sporting Goods.

From 1997 to 2008, Adidas sponsored New York Yankees.

Basketball

Adidas' Superstar and Pro Model shoes, affectionately known as "shelltoes" for their stylized
hard rubber toe box, were fueled by, among others, coaches such as UCLA's John

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Research project on Adidas

Wooden. 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. Subsequently, Adidas Superstar
became very popular in the 1980s hip hopstreetwear scene alongside Adidas's stripe-sided
polyester suits.

From 2006 to 2017, Adidas was the outfitter of all 30 franchises in the National Basketball
Association, replacing the Reebok brand after Adidas' acquisition of Reebok. Adidas was
replaced by Nike as the official outfitter of the league after the 2016–17 season.

Golf

Adidas Golf manufactures golf clothing, footwear, and accessories. Men's and women's
equipment includes footwear, shirts, shorts, pants, outerwear (wind suits), base layer and
eyewear.

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 United States, 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.

Lacrosse

In 2007, Adidas announced its entering to the lacrosse equipment, also sponsoring the Adidas
National Lacrosse Classic in July 2008 for the top 600 high school underclassmen players in
the United States. The company made their self into their own brand such as "Adidas
Lacrosse", getting several scholarships, Bucknell (men and women), Bryant (men), Delaware
(men and women), New Jersey Institute of Technology (men), and D3 powerhouse
Lynchburg (men and women in fall of 2016 with soft good only)". Materials that adidas
provided were jerseys, shorts, shoes, shafts, heads, gloves, and protective pieces.

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Research project on Adidas

Products manufactured for the sport are sticks, gloves, protective gear and boots.

Running

Adidas currently manufactures several running and lifestyle shoes, including the Energy-
boost, and the spring-blade trainers. The brand has built a strong runners' network within big
European capitals, such as Paris' "Boost Energy League". In 2016 the 3rd season launched. In
Paris, the Boost Energy League gathers 11 teams representing different districts of Paris.

Adidas launched two new color ways of the NMD R1 and one new color way of the NMD
XR1 in September 2016. adidas EQT is a style of sneakers from adidas. It originated in the
early 90s and relaunched in 2017. The latest adidas EQT line released in a “Turo Red” Pack
on January 26, 2017, and included models such as the adidas EQT Support 93/17, EQT
Support ADV, and EQT Support Ultra. adidas.com is one of the few online retailers.

Adidas running shoe demo in Boston

In November 2016, Adidas teased a sneaker made from ocean plastic. The shoe is created
from a fabric called "Biosteel". The shoe is called the "Adidas FuturecraftBiofabric." The
material used is 15% lighter than conventional silk fibers, and is 100% biodegradable. The
shoe only begin to dissolve when it is put in contact with a high concentration of the
digestion enzyme proteinase, which occurs naturally. Once this happens, the shoes can
decompose within 36 hours. The shoe was never released.

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.

Tennis

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Research project on Adidas

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 IlieNastase.
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.

Cricket

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, batting with his personalized Adidas Cricket 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. From 2008 till his retirement, Adidas had sponsored the cricket bat used by
Tendulkar. It created a new bat, 'Adidas MasterBlaster Elite', personalized for him.

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Research project on Adidas

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. The following year they signed up fellow England
player Ian Bell, Pakistan opening batsman Salman Butt and Indian Player RavindraJadeja.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adidas sponsored the team Mumbai Indians from 2008
to 2014 and Delhi Daredevils from 2008 to 2013. They were the official sponsors of Pune
Warriors India in 2011 and 2012, however the team was banned from IPL due to payment
issues. In 2015 Season, Adidas sponsored Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Kabaddi
Adidas entered Kabaddi which is still a non-Olympic sport but highly popular in the Indian
subcontinent and Asian countries. In 2014, with the launch of Pro Kabaddi League a city
based franchise league in India, kabaddi took the region with storm. In 2015, they tied up
with Mumbai-based franchise U Mumba.

"The association of kabaddi with adidas is a clear exemplification of the growth of the sport
over the last two years," shared U Sports CEO, Supratik Sen.

Accessories

Adidas also designs and makes slide-style sandals, mobile accessories, 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 would 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 .

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

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Research project on Adidas

To this day, the resulting sandals are a best-seller. 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.

Adissages

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.

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Research project on Adidas

Consumer Behavior of Adidas

Overview

Understanding shopper behavior is extremely vital for firms UN Agency attempt to build any
variety of profits. Customer’s product and repair preferences are perpetually dynamic, to
promote customers effectively you need to study and perceive these wishes so as to achieve a
well outlined market. Adidas appearance way into customers and specialize in sure things
like needs, desires, comfort level, and also the input cycle which has the five senses sight,
smell, taste, touch, and hearing.

Remember once Adidas launched the originals and customers went crazy hard-to-please for
the all white low A-one then to stay then interested Adidas free the originals during a form of
colors and designs that helped Adidas develop a reputation for itself.
Consumer needs and wish don’t seem to be the sole factors that Adidas considers. Culture
and values are taken in thought by Adidas. Cultural backgrounds influence the buyer
method} process as a result of customers of a definite background tends to possess similar
wants and identical consumption patterns. It’s Adidas’ job to adapt to the assorted
encompassing and to ever evolving and dynamic wants of shopper. Not solely attracting
customers in their birth place of European country, Adidas conjointly generates customer’s
interest within the China, Russia and Mexico.

Adidas Flexibility Makes Consumer Proud

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Research project on Adidas

The goal for Adidas cluster is to guide the equipment business with brands designed upon a
passion for sports and a sporting manner. Impressed by our heritage, we all know that a
profound understanding of the buyer and client is important to achieving this goal. To
anticipate and reply to their wants, we tend to unceasingly try to form a culture of innovation,
difficult ourselves to interrupt with convention and embrace amendment. Diversity is big in
today’s market, not solely various customers however various wants and desires all the way
down to the littlest details.

Consumer buying behaviour in the sport industry

Sports and games have become one of the most essential elements of human life as it
contributes to both the physical as well as mental fitness. Now day’s people are trying to get
involved in any sports activities to build their team spirit, mental strength, constructive use of
time, confidence and decision making. This in turn has created a rise for the sports goods
industries like Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Puma. These industries are now competing against
each other to become world leaders in sports industry with the help of newly innovative
branding techniques and marketing strategies to attract more customers.

Brand allows consumers to filter out the countless generic items and gives them a reason to
buy the product. Brand is essentially the sum of all experiences related to the product,
service, and companies that make and deliver the product. Branding is a very powerful
component in business as it can make or break business interests, it can destroy corporate
image or it can build public trust and credibility. It all depends on how it creates an impact on
the consumer’s perception.

Brand perceptions are shaped by functional experiences (i.e. design, comfort, quality, price,
reliability, ease of use) as well as emotional experiences (i.e. social status, make me feel
better, improve my performance, make my life/job more gratifying or easier) the customer
associates with the product and company. Once a customer likes your brand he/she will
definitely come back for repeated services or products. The qualities of the product or
services are ensured through the customers minds from the brand image. Brand recognition is
acquired when a brand is widely known in the marketplace. The ability of creating and
retaining a brand is called brand management.

With the demand in the market for sports goods, various prominent brands are trying their
best to satisfy the customers with the help of innovative techniques which causes impact on

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Research project on Adidas

the perception of the consumers to change their brands. This changes the buying behaviour of
the consumers which is a process they use to make purchase decisions as well as the use and
disposal of the purchased goods and services.

Background of the study

We would be considering a few important sports brands companies like Nike, Adidas,
Reebok and Puma in detail which will help us to do a comparative study on the impact of
brand perception including consumer buying behaviour in India and Singapore.

Nike

Nike is one of the most important publicly traded sportswear and an equipment supplier with
its base located in the United States and its headquarters is near Beaverton, Oregon, The
company was founded in the year 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight as Blue Ribbon
Sports and it officially became Nike, Inc. in 1978. Now it is the world’s leading supplier
of athletic shoes and apparel with revenue in excess of $19.2 billion USD in the year 2009
with more than 30,000 people employed worldwide. NIKE, Inc.’s wholly-owned affiliates
with Cole Haan, Converse, Inc., Hurley International, LLC, NIKE Golf, and Umbro, Ltd.
Nike produce a wide range of sports equipment like shoes, apparels, etc. for a wide range of
sports including track & field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, football, basketball and cricket.
Nike has more than 700 shops around the world and has offices located in 45 countries
outside the United States. Most of the factories are located in Asia, including Indonesia,
China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, and Malaysia. Nike’s
marketing strategy is an important component of the company’s success. Nike is positioned
as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and expensive products. Nike treasures its
customers with a marketing strategy which centres on a brand image which is attained by its
distinctive Tick logo and the advertising slogan: “Just do it”. Nike promotes its products by
sponsorship agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams.
(Nikebiz)

For Nike performance and reliability of shoes, apparel, new product development, price,
product identity through marketing and promotion, and customer support and service are
important aspects of competition in the athletic shoes and apparel. They make contracts with
prominent and influential athletes, coaches, teams, colleges and sports leagues to endorse

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Research project on Adidas

their brands and use our products to help them market their products (10-k annual report-
Nike, 2010).

Adidas Group

Adidas a major German-based sports footwear and sports apparel manufacturer was found in
1924 and has its headquarters in herzogenaurach, Germany. The Adidas Group consists of
the Reebok, Taylor Made-adidas golf company, and Rockport. Their mission is to be the
global leader in the sports goods industry with sports brands built on a passion for sports and
a sporting lifestyle. The company is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the
second biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world after Nike. The company’s clothing and
shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, The company revenue for 2009 was listed
at €10.38 billion.

Adidas believes in engender high consumer brand loyalty and consumer focused, therefore
they continuously improve the quality, comfort, look and image of the products to
consumer’s expectation so that they provide them with the highest value. They are more into
innovation and design to help athletes achieve peak performance with every product they
bring to the market. Adidas has divided the brand into three main groups with separate focus
on Adidas Performance was designed to maintain their devotion to the athlete, Adidas
Originals was designed to focus on fashion and life-style and Style Essentials. “Impossible is
Nothing” is the current mainstream marketing slogan for Adidas. Their main focus is on
football, running, training, basketball and outdoor. They focus on the investment on the
highest potential markets and have a distinct channel approach.(Adidas Group, Annual
Report 2010)

Reebok, a subsidiary of Adidas is a well know global sports brand which is inspired by its
roots in sports and fitness was found in 1895, England and has its headquarters in canton,US.
They are committed to develop innovative products which will satisfy both women’s fitness
and men’s sport category and revive its heritage by providing them with the opportunity, the
products and the inspiration to have fun staying in shape. It has a close collaboration with the
athletes’ training needs. It focuses on creating adaptable products that help athletes prepare
for their sport irrespective of the discipline. Reebok sponsor lot of events and players from
various sports as a part of their marketing. The brand is committed to designing products and
marketing programs that reflect creativity in some form which has the desire to change

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Research project on Adidas

constantly. Reebok creates products and marketing programs that reflect the brand’s
unlimited creative potential. Reebok has its own path of greatness with is authenticity and
courage.

Puma

Puma is one of the world’s leading sport lifestyle companies that designs and develops
footwear, apparel and accessories. The company was founded in 1948 has its headquarters in
Herzogenaurach, Germany. Its products are distributed in more than 120 countries and have
more than 9000 employees worldwide. PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion. The price
of the PUMA share stood at € 231.84 at the end of the year 2009 and increased by 65.2%
year-on-year, which resulted in a market capitalization of approx. € 3.5 billion. Puma is
committed to working in ways that contribute to the world by supporting
Creativity, Sustainability and Peace. Their vision is to stay true to the principles of being Fair,
Honest, Positive and Creative in decisions made and actions taken. Puma strengthens their
Sport lifestyle brand through unique events and marketing campaigns. Puma’s vision and
principles are put into practice through the programs: puma.safe which focuses on
environmental and social standards, puma.peace which focuses on supporting peace
initiatives worldwide and puma.creative which focuses on supporting artists and creative
organizations. Puma invests very high on product design and development so that they ensure
that the unique PUMA design and targeted diversification of the entire product range comply
with the general brand strategy. As per Puma competitive advantages can only be derived by
those who can recognize these trends at an early stage. (Puma- Annual Report,2009)

Review of Significant Literature

De Chernatony and McDonald (1992) define a brand as “an identifiable product, service,
person or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique
added values which match their needs most closely”. There have been two basic values
identified by de Chernatony (1999) that contribute towards the brand premium. Brand
perception is consumers’ ability to identify the brand under different conditions, as reflected
by their brand recognition or recall performance (Kotler & Lane, 2006). Brand recall refers to
consumer’s ability to retrieve the brand from the memory (Keller, 1993). According to the
improvement of measurement for brand equity, consumer-based brand equity was described
for four dimensions; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality,and brand loyalty

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Research project on Adidas

(Pappu, et al, 2005). Brand awareness was defined as the consumers’ ability to identify or
recognize the brand (Rossiter and Percy, 1987). It refers to the strength of a brand presence in
consumer’s minds. Brand awareness has several levels starting from the less recognition of
the brand to dominance (Aaker, 1991). Brands today play a number of important roles that
improve consumers’ lives and enhance the financial value of firms (Kotler & Lane, 2006).
Brand awareness and brand perceived quality as the significant factors to create and maintain
brand equity. There are positive relationship among brand awareness, perceive quality and
brand equity (Aker, 1996, Buzzell& Gate, 1987).

Schiffinan and Kanuk (2004) define Consumer Behaviour as the behaviour that customers
display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services
that they expect will satisfy their needs. Consumer buying behaviour incorporates the acts of
individuals directly involved in obtaining, using and disposing of economic goods and
services including the decision process that precede and determine these acts (Huctings
1995). Lamb, Hair and McDartiel (1992) note that consumer behaviour is a study of the
processes the consumer uses to make purchase decisions as well as the use and disposal of the
purchased goods and services. It also includes the analysis of factors that influ ences purchase
decisions and goods usage. Santon,Etzel and Walker (1994) states that consumers are
complex in nature and keep changing constantly. In short, the understanding of the buying
behaviour of existing and potential customers is imperative for marketers (Lancaster 1998).
When the consumer is viewed in the proper perspective, the outcomes could be quite positive
for the manufacturer. Lamb,Hair and McDaniel (1992),claim that the knowledge of consumer
behaviour reduces uncertainty when creating the marketing mix.

Mahatoo (1985) defines consumer behavior decision making process consisting of a number
of steps that begin before the purchase and reaches beyond the buying act. He suggests that
marketers have to go beyond the various influences on buyers and develop an understanding
of how consumers actually make their buying decisions .The ability to create a good service
and to persuade the market to buy this offering instead of its competitors offering depends
upon the insight into the consumer purchase decision on the understanding of how the target
customers arrive at their purchase decisions.

Objective of the study / Problem Statement

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Research project on Adidas

For a sports industry building a powerful brand is all about creating the strongest positive
perception in the minds of your customers. The primary objective would be to study and
compare how consumers are influenced by the impact of brand perception which involves the
consumer buying behaviour in sports industry within India and Singapore. The study will
help us analyse the knowledge of sports brands for consumers in India as well as Singapore
and the different perceptions that consumers have on the sports brands and find out the
reasons behind such a perception. We will also be finding out which sports brands the
consumers are aware of and how do they streamline their decision to buy a particular brand
by considering factors like price, quality, reliability, availability, design, innovation and
comfort. It will also help us to analyse the buying behaviour of the customers a nd check
whether brand perception has any impact on the buying behaviour of the customers which
choosing their sports brands. We will be able to find whether pricing of a product and annual
income of the consumers has any influence on the buying behaviour in both India and
Singapore. Finally a comparative study between the two countries India and Singapore with
the help of all the above analysis will allow us to understand the difference in the brand
perception and buying behaviour of the consumers in each country along with its reasons.

The study proposes research into the attitudes of young male and female consumers towards
shoes and apparels of different popular sports brands like Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Puma
within the two countries India and Singapore. It is important to understand how customers
perceive and select brands in specific product categories and market segments. An in depth
study on the impact of advertisements in newspapers/ Televisions and the different
promotions on their products will be analysed as it is also essential to know what is important
to customers when making a brand decision, where customers get information about products
and services, and what customers think about your brand.

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Research project on Adidas

Research Questions

Q:-1 Is there a relationship between brand awareness and overall brand preference for sports
brand consumers in India and Singapore?

Q:-2 Does brand perception influence the buying behaviour of consumers with regard to
purchase of sports shoes and apparels?

Q:-3 Does pricing affect the buying behaviour of the consumers in India and Singapore?

Q:-4 Does the annual income of consumers influence their buying behaviour of sports brands
in India and Singapore?

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Research project on Adidas

Marketing mix of Adidas

One of the top brands in the sports and footwear market, Adidas has seen its share of ups and
downs. The company started in 1936 and is one of the oldest footwear brands of the world.
However, even though the company has old origins, its heart is young. Adidas faced stiff
competition in the 1980s from Nike but soon overcame the competition by targeting
youngsters as well as sports oriented people.

Products in the marketing mix of Adidas

The Adidas group has 4 main subsidiary’s. The first is its own brand name – Adidas, which is
present in clothes as well as footwear. The second is Reebok which has overtaken Adidas and
is one of the leading subsidiary’s in the Adidas group. The 3rd is Rockpot which specializes
in outdoor footwear, apparel’s and accessories and 4th is Taylor made which is focused on
golfing clothes, equipment etc. Out of all the above subsidiary’s, Reebok is the strongest
followed by Adidas.

Adidas has various products. The major product of Adidas is off course their footwear.
Coming in various design and style, Adidas footwear is robust and athletic. The secondary
product of Adidas is apparel’s and accessories. Apparel’s like T -Shirts, jackets, sweatshirts,
shorts etc are in great demand. Where Reebok is stronger in footwear, Adidas is stronger in
apparel’s.

The aim of Adidas is to give the best footwear to their customers which has the combination
of technology and design. These products are not need based. In fact, the shoes are bought
by customers to satisfy their wants and desires. Similarly, the apparel’s are targeted towards

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Research project on Adidas

comfort during heavy activity. However, although the main target is sports, the apparel’s are
frequently used as a style statement by youngsters.

Pricing in the marketing mix of Adidas

Adidas, because of its style, design and promotions uses skimming prices as well
as competitive pricing. For run of the mill products, Adidas uses competitive pricing keeping
in mind competitors like Nike, Reebok and Puma. But for products which are newly
introduced in the market and are uniquely designed, Adidas uses skimming price.

Apparel’s of Adidas constantly use skimming price and are higher priced due to brand equity
of Adidas in the apparel’s market. The target customer for Adidas is the upper middle class as
well as high end customers. Adidas never uses penetrative pricingbecause that will affect the
brand equity of Adidas. In fact, the higher price point helps in the price quality approach and
psychologically, customers think that a higher price will mean better quality as well. Thus,
Adidas rarely drops its prices.

Place in the marketing mix of Adidas

The major way in which Adidas is sold is through retail outlets. Adidas has its own exclusive
stores in which the material is provided directly from the company. On the other hand, many
multi brand showrooms will also have Adidas apparel’s and footwear on display. These multi
brand showrooms get the products from a distributor. The third and last mode of distribution
is online. The products are sold through online medium via fashion stores lie myntra.com as
well as the online website of Adidas. Thus the distribution channel of Adidas is as follows

1) Manufacturing > Adidas outlets > End customer

2) Manufacturing > Distributor > Multi brand showrooms
3) Manufacturing > Online fashion websites / Adidas website > End customer

Due to the excellent brand equity of Adidas, the operating margins are fairly high thereby
keeping the distribution channel motivated. A happy distribution channelmeans better
promotion for the company.

Promotions in the marketing mix of Adidas

Adidas markets through various marketing vehicles but the majority of marketing
is concentrated on television and product placements. The creative team of Adidas is known

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Research project on Adidas

to pump adrenaline in their customers through ads which are well made, very creative and
filled with energy. These ads attract the customers towards the brand by sending the right
marketing message to the customer.

The tagline of Adidas “Impossible is nothing” is in itself a very powerful statement for the
brand.

After television, product placement is the second line of promotion for Adidas. The
popularity of the brand is because it ties up with the top players across the world such as
Lionel messi, Ronaldinho, Sachintendulkar and various others.

At the same time, Adidas also sponsors teams and some of the top teams include Real
Madrid, France, Great Britain (in football), England and South Africa (in cricket) and several
others. Here is a list of all the sponsorships done by Adidas.

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Research project on Adidas

Adidas SWOT analysis – SWOT analysis of Adidas

Adidas is one of the strongest sports brand in the world. Known most prominently for its
range of Shoes, the brand is also a manufacturer for clothing and accessories. Here is
the SWOT analysis of Adidas.

Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Adidas

1. Legacy & heritage: With decades of heritage & legacy, Adidas has travelled a long
way to establish itself as a youthful brand. The brand was started in 1949 and has
travelled a long way since then.
2. Diversified portfolio: Company has multiple product portfolio’s with varied range of
footwear & accessories under brand name Adidas (premium segment) & Reebok (mid
range).
3. Strong financial position: With its 2400 store globally accounting $4.3billions, the
company is in strong financial position.
4. Distribution network: By selling it from online stores to company owned stores to
supermarket stores, Adidas has an effective distribution system for their products
available through different channels.
5. Branding by creating touch points with the community: Celebrity endorsements &
sponsoring major sports organizations such as FIFA, UEFA, NBA & Olympics has
increased the awareness of Adidas in the market & hence it has increased the highly
targeted customer base as well.
6. Collaborations & memberships: Strong relationship within the sustainability area
with organizations such as International Labour organization, International Finance
Corporation has given the company an edge over competitors so that they can have
a sustainable business.

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Research project on Adidas

Weakness in the SWOT analysis of Adidas

1. Premium price range: High price range due to innovative technology & Production
methods have made the brand affordable to limited customers only, especially in
developing countries.
2. Outsourced manufacturing: Adidas has 93% of production outsourced to 3rd party
manufacturers (largely to Asia) to avail of low labour cost & easy availability of
resources. They are running a risk of over dependency on outsourcing especially in
Asian markets. Also, the overall quality of products perceived by the consumers of
developed economies is a major concern as far as brand is concerned.
3. Limited product line: Adidas along with the recently acquired Reebok brands, has got
only 2 brands under their group although they have got deep assortments within these
brands. Thus, there is more scope for product line expansion.

Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of Adidas

1. Changing Lifestyle: With the saturation of developed economies, changing taste &
preferences, education & changing lifestyle of developing economies, there is a
steep rise in the demand of premium goods & services.
2. Market development: Entering into new markets will be the only way to succeed
in the future because developed economies are already having high competition.
3. Expansion in product line: Expanding its product line will open a new set of
opportunities while at the same time it can differentiate itself from the competitors
by following this strategy.
4. Increasing demand of premium products: If we only consider the Indian market
then there is a growth rate of 33% in demand of premium products. This tells us the
future business opportunity & expanding market size of developing economies.
5. Backward integration: This will be smart strategy if followed by Adidas as it will
help Adidas to secure their patent rights & also integrate their R&D with the
operational team in order to work in open system.

Threats in the SWOT analysis of Adidas

1. Competition: Although Adidas is a global brand but it is facing fierce competition

from other brands like Nike which is No.1 brand and Adidas being in 2 nd Position in

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Research project on Adidas

this premium segment. Besides this, there is regular competition from local players,
substitutes and market penetrators.
2. Supplier Dominancy: Due to majority of its production being outsourced; Suppliers
have more bargaining power then the company.
3. Government Regulations: With its 35% products manufactured in China & 93% of
production happening in Asia, Import regulations, duty & tariffs plays a critical role in
the pricing and success of the company.

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Research project on Adidas

Nike Vs. Reebok Vs. Adidas

The shoe and athletic apparel market is dominated by three major companies. Nike, Reebok
and Adidas feature premium athletic apparel designed to enhance the performance of athletes
in all the major sports. The companies battle each year for consumers and market share, as
well as spend millions in research and development to better their products.

Pro Level

Nike, Reebok and Adidas offer athletic apparel to professional athletics. All three companies
are involved in shoe wars for the services of professional basketball players, which provide
marketability and exposure to massive audiences. Basketball shoes comprise a significant
percentage of market share, and these companies will spare no expense to sign the latest and
greatest basketball star. The companies also supply pro football and baseball players with
gear, along with a burgeoning golf division for Nike and Adidas.

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Research project on Adidas

NIKE

Nike is recognized internationally as a leading manufacturer of innovative footwear and

performance enhancing apparel. Phil Knight, Nike's founder and CEO, has been especially
supportive of his alma mater, the University of Oregon. The Knights and Nike have initiated
several philanthropic initiatives to enhance the services, equipment and apparel provided to
Oregon student-athletes. This, in turn, has given Nike even greater visibility and exposure
among high level athletes. Oregon's equipment is cutting edge, and its athletic teams
constantly employ trend-setting designs and features.

ADIDAS

Adidas has long been considered an international brand but has made significant strides in the
U.S. Their golf apparel division has enhanced its offerings, and now produces clothing, shoes
and accessories for many touring professionals. This has seen a great trickle-down effect into
the amateur game. Adidas has also signed major endorsement contracts with many U.S.
colleges, including the University of Michigan and the University of Notre Dame, to play and
promote the company's apparel.

REEBOK

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Research project on Adidas

Reebok has struggled at different times with Nike and Adidas beginning to differentiate
themselves, but the company has made a push by focusing on its professional basketball,
football and hockey equipment. Reebok hockey has several innovations that bolster its usage
rate in the National Hockey League and minor pro leagues, while Reebok football is on a
similar upswing. The NBA appeals to most sneaker consumers, and Reebok has made a push
in this area as well, with several shoes endorsed by the top level players.

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Research project on Adidas

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ADIDAS

The Adidas brand equity model in terms of endorsements focuses more on the larger events,
sports teams and sub brands unlike its competitors who try to focus on being seen in the
media and getting people to see them. The Brand Awareness of Adidas focuses, again, on
larger pictures. The focus on the national teams, Olympics and others larger championships
people focus in on. The TV and media focus in on stars such as Mohammad Ali to try and get
the message across that Adidas comes from a heritage of innovation technology. Its
competitors focus on larger stars and make them a brand like Michael Jordan and Tiger
Woods. Instead of portraying a message about the company they just put an athlete
somewhere where consumers are able to view instead of showing a product on billboards can
see them. The Brand association for Adidas is “Trendy, modern and cool.” The competing
companies make their brand as more of a lifestyle.

Corporate level strategies:

The corporation wants to put ads out there that will show the history of the company to try
and enlarge the brand in the United States. I think this could be a good thing for the company
to try and grow in the US, it will show people what the brand was originally all about. On the
other hand however, you have to consider that Ads are expensive and who is to say that those
type of ads will draw the consumer in. Nike doesn’t do this with their advertising and they are
arguably the most successful sports wear company. Another Strategy at the corporate level
was implementing the phrase “Impossible is nothing.” I think this phrase really helped them,
its something that almost every Adidas consumer knows about and as they are working out or
wearing the gear they begin to think and act as the phrase says. I think this was the goal for
them and it was accomplished. They tie in the historical aspect to the brand and we begin to
remember things like Mohammad Ali’s fight with George foreman. We think about this and
how he was never supposed to win and put it into a commercial and we draw in a lot of
consumers. However again, those types of situations come few and far between. When we
think about Nike “just do it.” There are far more situations where consumers can relate. Just
going out and doing a workout draws a consumer in more then creating a moment that rarely
goes down in history.

Business level strategies:

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Research project on Adidas

The business level strategies are to implement technology into the company just as other
large competing companies do. Nike has something you put in your shoes and it will tell you
calories burned, distance ran, and heart rate all by just putting on the shoe and running. They
have a bracelet that just touches your skin and lets you know if your goal for the day was met.
Adidas’ new strategy is to try to come out with a new futuristic type shoe to get the public to
view them as the new and on top. They need to catch up when it comes to the technology part
and I think this is a good idea. They want this shoe to be so successful that the consumer’s
wont mind paying 250 dollars for a product because of the new and improved things it can
do. This type of product will gain a lot of popularity with professional athletes and when
consumers see these pros wearing the stuff they will want to do the same.
Analysis:
I think the company has done well coming up with the things they are trying to do

differently. I definitely think they need to keep their same style but make it newer. I know the
company wants to stick to their historical roots, I mean they were the original footwear
company but they have to realize that sticking to habits wont help the company succeed in the
long run. I definitely agree with trying a new innovation with this technology-based shoe.
This will definitely draw attention. Ads are another huge thing that I seem to keep running
across. They need to change the message they are trying to get across or add something more
to the message because advertising seems to be what they lack most. I think sticking to big
events is huge but US is going to be a huge gain in revenue if they can start to really compete
with Nike.

Recommendations:
My biggest recommendation would be to enlarge the advertising budget and put out more
billboards, commercials, athletes that people want to see. The consumer is going to buy want
appeals to them and right now things Nike are doing are gaining the customers eye. Not only
would I say better advertisement I would say better advertisement in the US specifically
because it seems as though they have the attention of Europe. The company should open
more stores that customers can go to besides a major factory a well. A lot of revenue Nike
gains is from the local retail stores. Other than these things I really love the brand, to me it’s
the original and the more comfortable of all brand but the only thing is Nike just looks better
to my eye.
Comparative Analysis of Nike and Adidas

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Research project on Adidas

Adidas is the second largest company who manufactures sporting goods all over the world. It
was established in 1920.The Original founders of Adidas were two brothers Rudolph and
AdiDassler .The companys first manufacture were slippers and after that they decided to
make sport shoes which went so successful that it led them to open their own shoe making
factory in 1926. Then it didnt look back and today it is one of the most successful company in
sporting goods.

Nike was initially started in 1962 as a blue ribbon sports. The founders of Nike were Bill
Bower man and Phil Knight. Nike from its modest start grown as a sporting leader in sporting
goods. It is also now recognised as world s leading manufacturer, designer, marketer and
distributor.

Market and Literature Review of Adidas and Nike

Market Share and Sales

In 2009, the Market shares of Adidas was 22% of the worldwide athletic footwear while on
the other end the market shares of Nike was about 33 % .

In 2009 the sales percentage of Adidas reported decline in profits. In last quarter of the 2009
its sales percentage was declined by 5 % which was because of their increase in marketing
costs. While in 2010 the financial report shows that there is 15 % increase in their sale
because of 2010 FIFA World Cup. On the other end the sales of Nike in the fourth quarter of
2009 was decreased down by 7 %. While the first quarter of 2010 shows 53 % increase in net
income.

Target Audience

In case of target audience both Adidas and Nike have different target audience globally. The
main target audience of Adidas are between 12-34 years consumers specially involved in
sports. There are various sports which are targeted by Adidas that includes gym regulars,
NBA players, Football etc and also the youth who believes in living a sporty life style.

While Nike on the other end has very specific target audience .It focuses mainly on males and
females, who are between 18 35 years old. As Adidas, Nike also focuses on football players
under its target audience.

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Research project on Adidas

Product: Adidas

The products of Adidas are divided in to 3 Categories

Adidas Performance Sports shoes, perfumes, eye wear

Adidas Original Superstar Sneakers, Vintage Clothing, Adicolor Trainers

Adidas Style Caps , Bags , Belts , Hand Gloves Etc

Nike

Nike Products Sports Shoes , Sunglasses,

Trainers,BodyCare,Sneakers, Hoodies , Clothes ,Caps , Bags , Perfumes etc

Price :

Adidas

There are various Pricing strategies which are followed by Adidas according to its product.
But generally it uses Market skimming strategy, that is the price of the product depends upon
its colour, look etc for example: white colour shoes of Adidas is more expensive than other
colour shoes.

Nike

As compared to Adidas , the price of products of Nike are high. It adopts different and
Competetive pricing startegy than Adidas, it is based on the basis of premium segment as
target customers . Nike as brand has high premium , so the price of its products is high than
adidas.

Place/ Distribution

Adidas

The most basic distribution strategy adopted by Adidas is to concentrate resources at the
place where most profitable customer segment is available. So for this purpose it opened its

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Research project on Adidas

shops all around the world. It also focuses on offering total customer service at the place
where customer goes to buy its products. In addition to shop, Adidas also gives online buying
service.

Nike

Nike on the other end had a strategy of exploring the current and developing new market, so
its shops are in nearly 200 Countries. Like Adidas, it sells the products to independent
distributors, licenses and subsidiaries. Same as Adidas, it also sells its products online.

Positioning

Adidas

Adidas has its own unique brand positioning in the mind of customers. For instance one of
the images of Adidas is those who want to wear light shoe should go for Adidas, rather than
going for other brands. Other positioning of Adidas in customers mind is basketball shoes ,
this is because generally basketball players wears it because of its unique design and light
weight.

NIKE

Nike on the other end has image of an innovative company who focuses making new
innovations and designing new style shoes. As Nike s one of the main target audience are
football players its key positioning in customers mind is to provide competitive edge; help
athlete to perform well. Recently in order to improve its brand positioning , it made a deal
with NFL by paying 1 billion dollar (approximately) , Nike will produce all the on-field
apparels , it will also produce game uniforms and other side line personal apparel and fan
gear.

Research Method Used and Its Limitation

In order to carry out research there were two main methods used Primary and Secondary
Research methods.

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Research project on Adidas

To assemble primary data a questionnaire was designed which compares both athletic brand
Adidas and Nike.

Sample Size.

30

While to gather secondary data internet, magazines, annual reports of the company, articles
were used.

Manual Method is used to get output information after analysing data.

Time Schedule

Total estimated time used to complete this report will be 9 week.

Limitations of Primary Data Collection Method

1. The first disadvantage of carrying primary research was difference in response. Each
individual has its own view. So it was difficult to generalise the information.

2. It was time consuming, costly as it takes lots of time to find a respondent who can fill
questionnaire.

Limitations of Secondary Data Collection Method

1. It was difficult to find data from company s website as sometimes they might not say their
weakness.

2. The person who wrote secondary data might be biased.

3. The sample used by a secondary person might be small.

Analysis and Discussion

Key findings of Marketing Strategies Adopted By Nike and Adidas after analysing Secondary
data ;

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Adidas

There are various promotional strategies adopted by Adidas which includes television,
internet, billboards and magazines.

Television Advertisement

Analysis of TV ad

Adidas uses different media vehicles which can pop up its advertisement on television; it uses
various sports channels like Star Sports, ESPN. The recent Adidas original Ad has celebrities
like David beck ham, Agnes den, they used Informative Advertising because the objective of
the ad was to create awareness about the launch of its new star wars collection which includes
cool, funky clothes and shoes for youth, so in order to attract them they used Musical Appeal
to stir up the feeling of buying. It used Peripheral Cues because it might have thought people
would not be able to process information that their new collection is very cool and stylish,
and so they used fashionable celebrities like Beckham and Agnes to influence target audience
attitude positively. According to me the message of ad was if one wants look modish and
funky as David Beckham and Agnes then should go for this new collection of Adidas.

Adidas uses internet in many ways to reach its target audience, it created its own website
(adida.com) exclusive digital content where one can get all information about the company
including company back ground, products, sales, new launches etc. Other than this recently
adidas used windows messenger game platform in order to promote its Predator and f50 boots
to the age group of 15-24 years old males. Which was most effective advertisement strategy
as it helped the compnay to increase 14 % brand ratings by gamers.Additionally popup ads
can also be found on yahoo , espn home pages etc . According to me , the objective of using
internet marketing was to attract the younsters who spends more time online than watching
TV.

Outdoor advertisement

The organisation uses various groundbreaking outdoor advertisement such as billboard

soccers, expansive wall scrappers , topiary styled billboards etc. Recently in japan adidas
came with unique outdoor adverisement concept where two footballers were hung wearing

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Research project on Adidas

hearness and have to play football for 10 mintues. The objective was to grab the attention of
the people towards the billboard and adidas was successful in doing that as shown in figure ,
traffice around that froze for about 70 mintues.

Other extremely effective concept of outdoor advertisement was made in germany in 2006
during fifa world cup , a huge arc like structure with Oliver Khan s image was putted across
the road , the objective of this concept was to grab attention of the vehicles passing by road
and it was successful in doing this

Sponsership And Events

In addition to these it sponserdsoccerex football festival for 2010 football and has confirmed
four year sponsership deal with it . The objective of the deal must be to promote its products
in foot ball after successfully promoting it in NBA games .Aditionallyadidas have agreed to
make eight year sponsership with major league soccer the objective of adidas is in to promote
its products as well as to increase growth of the league and insvesment for youth
development .

Adidas also uses various sales promotion startegies in order to increase its sales, one of the
recent sales promotion strategies is adidas coupons and coupons code in which
adidasdistributes coupons through dealtaker.com in which if a customers code matches with
the adidas code , discount up to 30% or more than that will be given by company on various
types shoes. In addition to these it also cuts down the prices of product during special
festivals and events in order to increase its sales or to finish the old stock .

Other than this , adidas also uses various maganizes and newspapers in order to promote its
products .

Nike

Nike uses different promotional strategies. It promotes its products by adopting endorsement
focus scheme, creating a prevailing media existence, establishing flagship stores and use of
magazines, billboards, mobile etc

TV Advertisement

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Research project on Adidas

For TV ads Nike uses various sports channels to promote its products by various celebrities
like Ronald no, Renaldo, and Roberto Carlos. It mainly shows its ad during football games.
Recent ad was a sort Comparative Advertisement because as the title describes Nike: My
better is than your better, in this ad it shows all sports games like basket ball , baseball,
Running etc and try to deliver a message that Nike products are best in every game whether it
is basket ball , base ball , jumping . In order to grab attention and to stir up Emotional appeal
it used Fantasy and surrealism because certain images shown create fantasy. While to stir up
Rational appeal it indirectly compared it s products with other products, the ad might be
effective as it shows and considers its products superior in every game as compared to other
companys products.

Internet

Nike uses various online methods in order to promote its products. It has established its own
website, where customers can get lots of information about the products and company. It also
uses yahoo to promote its products, according to me the objective of using yahoo and other
popup ads is to make youngsters who often goes online, aware about the brand

Billboards and Magazines

In comparison to Adidas, Nike uses different ways of billboard advertisement to promote its
products, in recent times in Hong Kong to promote its Nike s T90, a series of black and white
markers were posted in local Nike stores, subways, stations and also in magazines. These
markers were a kind of 3D Window Display, and to watch it, customer need to text the key
word displayed on the marker and has to download the Nike application. After the software is
downloaded, if one points the camera on the markers, one can see virtual 3d Nike T90 boots.
These types of billboard s were specially launched for the target market of Hong Kong who is
found of latest technology. Other than this Nike uses ESPN magazines to promote its product.

Conclusion

– Based on above analysis following Conclusion can be made ;

Both Nike and Adidas are following almost same types of promotional Strategies up to some
extent, both benchmarks each other, both uses internet , billboards , magazines , TV

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Research project on Adidas

advertisement to promote their products the only differences is that they both are using
different celebrities to promote their products and they also follow different endorsement
strategies ,Adidas focuses on sponsoring a team and various events, while Nike bulls its eye
on various stars of football, basket ball, golf etc.

The other difference is their advertising message; they both use same scoop and scale but try
to communicate with different messages. While the target audience of both the brands are
same as well as the brand building strategy adopted by both the company seems to be same.

So both companies are investing more and more in their promotional strategies, to attract
more customers and at last to expand their growth.

29 facts about Adidas

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Research project on Adidas

Adidas, the German footwear maker, celebrated its 65 th anniversary in 2014. After close to 70
years into the game, the brand is as relevant as ever with the addition of influential taste
makers such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams to their stable.

While it is still in direct competition its arch-rival Nike, Adidas has managed to garner much
attention to the brand with new and improved designs from world renowned designer Jeremy
Scott, and the introduction of new ground-breaking technology such as their Ultra Boost line
of products. In this article, we’re going to explore 30 facts about Adidas that every self-
professed sneaker head should know.

1. The ‘Stan Smith’, Adidas’s most iconic sneaker, was originally intended to be named
after Robert Haillet, the iconic French tennis star, and not Stanley Smith.
2. There was a park in Boston that was known as “Adidas Park” by locals where nothing
but Adidas brand sneakers was allowed. As a matter of fact, anyone who dared go to the
park wearing Nikes or Puma ran the risk of getting their shoes snatched and hung on the
park’s “tree of shame” where countless pairs of off brand sneakers could be found.
3. Adidas nearly avoided bankruptcy in the 90’s after the brand had made admittedly poor
strategic decisions.
4. While the brand is often associated with Hip Hop, it is also known for its innovations in
the world of basketball as well. As a matter of fact, the Adidas Superstar was the first
basketball shoe with a low top silhouette featuring an all leather upper portion.
5. The Trefoil logo the brand is known for also had a meaning besides the look. The logo
was first introduced in the Munich Olympics in 1972.
6. The brand wasn’t originally known as Adidas, which is a portmanteau of the founder’s
named AdiDassler, but was started under the name GebrüderDasslerSchuhfabrik in
1924.

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Research project on Adidas

7. Designer Jeremy Scott, who now has a full line of Adidas sneakers bearing his name,
began his collaboration with the brand many years prior when Adidas produced a
version of its Forum Hi sneaker with the designer’s face on it.
8. While Adidas’s current collection features sneakers for nearly every sports, the first pair
of Adidas were track spikes made especially for track and field.
9. The iconic rap group Run DMC received their endorsement deal after they performed in
New York’s Madison Square Garden. While performing their hit “My Adidas” the
group told attendees to take one of their Adidas shoe and hold it in the air. An Adidas
exec that was in attendance was so impressed that they offered the group a $1 million
endorsement deal on the spot.
10. The brand’s EQT line of sneakers were originally supposed to serve as a status symbol,
similar to how Jordan sneakers are viewed nowadays.
11. Adidas was the first to introduce a microchip into the design of their sneakers. The
Adidas Micropacer featured a computer display that allowed athletes to check the
amount of calories they burned and their pace among other things.
12. The brand’s stripes, which is probably the most easily recognizable aspect of the brand,
was originally placed on the sneakers for stability reasons, not design.
13. Nike tried to stop Adidas from releasing their own woven upper sneakers, which are a
huge trend right now. While the brand was originally successful, a judge eventually
reversed the decision in favor of Adidas.
14. Music executive Russell Simmons came up with the idea for the song “my Adidas”
while high on PCP. Apparently, Simmons ran up to the group after smoking the
substance and blurted something about rapping about their sneakers. The rest was
history.
15. AdiDassler, the creator of the brand, originally had no intention of selling sneakers. As a
matter of fact, he completed an apprenticeship as a baker before he started selling track
shoes.
16. Adidas wasn’t known as Adidas until the late 1940’s. The name Adidas came about
after Dassler and his brother had a dispute. Dassler decided to stick with the name
Adidas and made the brand official in 1949.
17. Adidas sued Payless ShoeSource in 2008 for releasing a pair of sneakers featuring 4
stripes instead of 3. They eventually settled for the sum of $305 million.
18. Adidas offered legendary BMX riders Ryan Nyquist and Dave Mirra their own signature
sneakers to increase its popularity amongst BMX riders.

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Research project on Adidas

19. Adidas is the parent company of Taylor Made, Rockport and Reebok.
20. Michael Jordan, the world renowned basketball player and 6 times NBA champion,
almost went with Adidas before he signed his deal with the Nike shoe brand.
21. Jesse Owens wore a pair of Adidas when he won the gold in the 1936 Summer
Olympics in Munich. Interestingly enough, the games were to serve as a display of
Aryan superiority for Hitler’s fascistic regime. Instead, Jesse Owens gave him a
proverbial slap in the face by winning 4 gold medals wearing German manufactured
shoes.
22. The ‘Adidas Superstar’, which was originally intended for basketball, became hugely
popular with skateboarders in the early 90s.
23. The original Adidas Superstars weren’t originally made in Germany, but in France.
They were also the only line in the series to feature a golden Trefoil on the sneaker’s
tongue.
24. Adidas created its ‘Adilette’ line of sandals specifically to protect soccer players from
diseases that can be contracted in communal showers.
25. The collaboration between Matt Bonner, the San Antonio Spurs’ redheaded power
forward, and Adidas first started after Bonner complained publicly on Twitter about
rival sneaker brand New Balance not sending him product anymore.
26. Adidas’s Tubular line of sneaker was actually inspired by car tires and the “tubular
snake” originally was created to emulate tires and their threading.
27. A pair of Adidas “jeans” sneakers was introduced, but interestingly enough, they didn’t
feature any denim. Instead, they were just a pair of blue colored suede sneakers with a
rubber sole.
28. Adidas is currently the number one brand in the soccer world with over $2.7 billion in
football revenue in 2014.
29. Horst Dassler, AdiDassler’s son, is the one who originally approached gold medallist
Mark Spitz to wear his shoes. Since Mark Spitz training gear was too baggy to showcase
the shoes, he decided to hold them in his hands to give the shoe more visibility.

After many years of playing second best to Nike, Adidas is slowly, but surely getting its
groove back by regaining the youth market in the United States and the world. The brand is
currently known for its innovative design and seems to be going back to its glory days in the
1980s.

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One thing is for sure, is that Adidas as a brand will never stop evolving and we can look
forward to many new ground-breaking models hitting the shelves in the near future.

ALL ABOUT CEO OF ADIDAS COMPANY

Adolf Dassler
Adolf "Adi" Dassler (3 November 1900 – 6 September 1978) was a German cobbler, inventor
and entrepreneur who founded the German sportswear company Adidas, and the younger

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Research project on Adidas

brother of Rudolf Dassler founder of Puma. Dassler was an innovator in athletic shoe design
and one of the early promoters who obtained endorsements from athletes to drive sale of his
products. As a result of his concepts, AdiDassler built the largest manufacturer of sportswear
and equipment. At the time of his death Adidas had 17 factories and annual sales of one
billion marks.

Life
Early life and family
AdiDassler was born in the Franconian town of Herzogenaurach, a small town about 20 km
outside Nuremberg, on 3 November 1900, the third son and youngest of four children of
Christoph and Paulina Dassler. His siblings were Fritz (born 1892), Marie (born 1894) and
Rudolf (born 1898) Christoph had been the last in a line of Dassler weavers and dyers. With
the collapse of the local textile industry owing to competition from industrial producers
Christoph left his ancestors' trade, began learning the intricate stitching skills needed to
become a cobbler and obtained employment at a local factory, eventually specializing in
making felt slippers. (Many others in Herzogenaurach had turned to shoemaking at the same
time; by 1922, the town boasted 112 shoemakers out of a population of 3,500. ]) Paulina set
up a laundry in the back of the house where daughter Marie also worked, and the three boys
were used to deliver clean wash throughout the town, becoming known as the "laundry boys."

In 1913 Adi completed his formal education and was apprenticed to a baker. Entirely
uninterested in becoming a baker, Adi spent much of his free time in athletic endeavors. With
his childhood friend, Fritz Zehlein, son of a local blacksmith engaged in a variety of sporting
events in track and field as well as soccer, boxing, ice-hockey, skiing and ski jumping. Adi
frequently fashioned his own equipment such as javelins from sticks and discus from
stones. Soon after August 1914 Adi's brothers were conscripted by the German Army. Adi
completed his apprenticeship but decided against becoming a baker. Instead he began to learn
stitching from his father. He also began about how changes in shoe design could improve
athletic performance. He was beginning to conclude that specialized shoes for each sport
might produce significant results. It was an idea that would guide his later career and
profoundly affect sport and the business surrounding it.

Before his 18th birthday Adi was conscripted in June 1918 in the last days of the war. He
remained in the army for over a year until October 1919. When Adi returned, he found that

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the economic devastation of the war caused their mother to give up the laundry business.
Adidecided to pursue his concepts of innovative athletic footwear design and use the laundry
shed to begin a small shoe production business.

Beginning of The Brothers Dassler Shoe Factory

Adi supported himself while attempting to start up his business by repairing shoes in
town. Facing the realities of post-war Germany where there was no reliable supply for
material for production or credit to obtain factory equipment or supplies, he began by
scavenging army debris in the war-torn countryside: Army helmets and bread pouches
supplied leather for soles; parachutes could supply silk for slippers. Dassler became quite
adept at jury-rigging available devices to help mechanize production in the absence of
electricity. Using belts, for example, he rigged a leather milling machine to a mounted,
stationary bicycle powered by the firm's first employee. The business would be driven by
Adi's vision of specialized sport designs. He produced one of the earliest spiked shoes, with
spikes forged by the smithy of the family of his friend Fritz Zehlein. He constantly
experimented with various materials (such as shark skin and kangaroo leather) to create
strong but lightweight shoes. Years later his widow, Kathe Dessler said: "Developing shoes
was his hobby, not his job. He did it very scientifically."

After the war Rudolf had determined on becoming a policeman. But after he completed his
training, he joined Adi's firm on July 1, 1923. In 1923 brother Rudolf joined Adi in the
business and with the support of the Zehlein smithy producing spikes, Adi was able to
register GebrüderDassler, Sportschuhfabrik, Herzogeraunach (Dassler Brothers Sports Shoe
Factory, Herzogeraunach) on July 1, 1924. By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather
Fußballschuhe with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes.

Two factors paved the way for the transformation of the business from a small regional
factory to the international shoe distributor it would become. First was the interest showed by
former Olympian and then coach of the German Olympic track-and-field team, Josef Waitzer.
On learning of the plant and the experiments of Adi, Waitzer travelled from Munich to
Herzogerauchnach to see for himself. A long friendship developed between the two, based on
interest in improving athletic performance with improved footwear, and Waitzer became
something of a consultant to the company. The relationship would prove extremely valuable
in giving Adi access to the athletes (German and foreign) at the 1936 Berlin Olympics As
early as the 1928 Amsterdam games, however, the Dasslers' footwear was being used in

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international competitions. Lina Radke, for example, the German middle distance runner who
won gold in 1928 wore Dassler track shoes. Likewise, a German gold medal runner wore
Dassler shoes at the 1932 Los Angeles games.The second key factor for the shoe firm in the
early 1930s was the role sport played in the racial-nationalist philosophy of Hitler. With the
rise of the Nazi Party, athletic teamwork was prioritized. The Dassler brothers did not fail to
see how their economic interest would benefit from politics; all three Dassler brother joined
the Nazi Party on May 1, 1933—three months after Hitler was appointed Chancellor. Rudolf
was said to be most ardent believer of the three. But it was Adi who decided that becoming a
coach of and supplier to clubs in the Hitler Youth movement was essential to expanded
production, and he joined in 1935. (In his denazification proceedings after the war, Adi
pointed out that he confined himself to coaching and avoided political rallies. He also
testified that he was involved in clubs of other political affiliations, such as the a liberal
gymnastic club, Herzogenaurach's conservative KHC soccer club and a workers' sports club
named "Union.") Both Adi and Rudolf were members of the National Socialist Motor Corps,
and in their correspondence both used the complementary closing, "Heil Hitler."

The pre-war years

In the early 1930s AdiDassler enrolled in the Schuhfachschule (the Footwear Technical
College) in Pirmasens. One of the instructors was Franz Martz, a master producer of lasts.
Dassler became a frequent house guest of Martz, who permitted Dassler's attentions to his
fifteen-year-old daughter, Käthe Martz. On March 17, 1934, the two wed. Unlike Rudolf's
wife Friedl (née Strasser), Käthe was somewhat self-assertive and suspicious of brusque ways
of Franconians. She would have frequent run-ins with Adi's parents and Rudolf and his wife,
all of whom lived in the same house. Years later, in a letter to Puma's American distributor,
Rudolf explained the rift with his brother as solely to be blamed on Käthe, who he claimed
"tried to interfere in business matters …"; he claimed that the brothers' relations were "ideal"
until 1933. Käthe would give birth to their son Horst in March 1936, their first daughter Inge
in June 1938 and their second daughter Karin in 1941. Two more daughters were born after
the war: Brigit in May 1946and Sigrid in 1953.

Founding Adidas
After the war, the Dassler firm found itself with some of the same problems that it faced at
the beginning. A world war had decimated the German economy and supplies for the shoe
factory was hard to come by. In addition, the firm had to convert back from weapons to shoe
production. This time, however, the American occupying authorities were interested in

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Research project on Adidas

reviving economic activity, so they gave the firm active encouragement. American officer
had commandeered the Dassler house for their residence on April 16, 1945, and thus Adi had
close contact with officials who gave him access to unneeded war materiel for production.
Until a source of leather became available Adi made use of the rubber from fuel tanks and
rafts and canvas from tents to make shoes. Adi was thus able to produce shoes, except for the
months in 1946 while under the classification of Belasteter he was able to manage the
business (from July 1946 to February 1947 under the supervision of a trustee) until the
separation from his brother in 1948.

The Adidas registered logo with the three stripes

During the negotiations to separate the firm, Rudolf and Adi allowed the employees to
determine which resulting firm they would work for. Because Rudolf had mainly concerned
himself with sales and administration, most of the sales staff opted to join Rudolf at the
WürtzburgerStrasse factory. The rest, including almost all the technicians and those involved
in product development and production, remained with Adi. Adi thus ended up with nearly
two-thirds of the employees. To partially fill the void left by the departure of the
administrative personnel Käther and her sister Marianne Martz joined the firm and acted in a
variety of capacities.

Meanwhile, Adi was concerned in designing a distinctive look for his shoes, at least partially
so that it would be possible to show which athletes used his footwear. He fell upon the idea of
coloring the straps used for reinforcement on the sides of the shoes a different color than the
shoes themselves. He experimented with different numbers of straps and ultimately decided
on three. The "three stripes" became a distinctive mark of Adidas shoes. In March 1949
Dassler registered the three stripe logo as the company's trademark. As for the company's
name, the plan was to use a contraction of Adi's nickname and last name (much as Rudolf
originally contemplated by naming his firm "Ruda" before deciding on "Puma"), but "Addas"
was rejected on the ground that it was used by a children's shoe manufacturer. Accordingly,

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in his August 18, 1949 company registration, Adi added a handwritten "i" between Ad- and -
das to maintain the contraction (AdiDassler). As a result, the company became known
as Adolf DassleradidasSchuhfabrik.

Adidas' breakthrough: The modern football shoe

Like the Dasslers, Sepp Herberger joined the Nazi Party in 1933. In 1936 after Germany's
humiliating quarter final defeat by Norway at the Berlin Games, the Nazi sports authorities
appointed him to coach the national football team. Herberger began an association with the
Dassler firm having been cultivated by Rudolf Dassler. After the breakup Herberger sided
with the Puma firm, until Rudolf once again felt his authority challenged and insulted him.
Herberger switched his allegiance to Adidas. The nature of the dispute is unknown; some
thought it involved the payments owed if the German team wore Puma shoes.

In many respects the fit was better with Adi, who was quiet, willing to learn the needs of
soccer players and more innovative than his brother. Herberger's drive to make Germany a
dominant force in international football predated the war. He learned of 18 year old Fritz
Walter in 1938 and began grooming him for the team. When war came Herberger was able to
keep Walter out of the army. After the war, Herberger was deemed a Mitlaufer and the post-
war German authorities continued him as the coach of the national team.Adi soon became a
regular part of the entourage of the national team, who sat beside Herberger and adjusted
players' shoes mid-game.

One of the six sculptures in the Walk of Ideas Berlin to celebrate the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
This one celebrates "The Modern Football Boot" invented by Adolf Dassler.

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Research project on Adidas

West Germany (established in May 1949) was not eligible for the 1950 World Cup (the first
after the war), and so all preparations were made with a view toward the 1954 matches in
Bern, Switzerland. By that time Adidas's football boots were considerably lighter than the
ones made before the war based on English designs. At the World Cup Adi had a secret
weapon, which he revealed when West Germany made the finals against the overwhelmingly
favored Hungarian team, which not was undefeated since May 1950 but also had defeated
West Germany in the 8–3 in group play. Despite this defeat, West Germany made the knock-
out rounds by twice defeating Turkey handily. The team defeated Yugoslavia and Austria to
reach the final (a remarkable achievement), where the hope of many German fans was simply
that the team "avoid another humiliating defeat" at the hands of the Hungarians. The day of
the final began with light rain, which brightened the prospects of the West German team who
called it "Fritz Walter-Wetter" because the team's best player excelled in muddy
conditions.Dassler informed Herberger before the match of his latest innovation—"screw in
studs." Unlike the traditional boot which had fixed leather spikesstuds, Dassler's shoe allowed
spikes of various lengths to be affixed depending on the state of the pitch. As the playing
field at Wankdorf Stadium drastically deteriorated, Herberger famously announced, "Adi,
screw them on."The longer spikes improved the footing of West German players compared to
the Hungarians whose mud-caked boots where also much heavier. The West Germans staged
a come from behind upset, winning 3-2, in what became known as the "Miracle in Bern."
Herberger publicly praised Dassler as a key contributor to the win, and Adidas's fame rose
both in West Germany, where the win was considered key post-war event in restoring
German self-esteem and abroad where in the first televised World Cup final the viewers were
introduced to "the ultimate breakthrough."

In 1973, Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler founded Arena, a producer of swimming
equipment. After Adolf Dassler's death from heart failure in 1978, Horst and his wife Käthe
took over the management. Käthe died on December 31, 1984, and Horst died on April 11,
1987.

Adidas was transformed into a private limited company in 1989, but remained family
property until its IPO in 1995. The last of the family members who worked for Adidas was
Frank Dassler (the grandson of Rudolf), head of the legal department since 2004, who
resigned in January 2018.

In 2006, a sculpture of Dassler was unveiled in the AdiDassler Stadium in Herzogenaurach. It

was created by the artist Josef Tabachnyk.

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Research project on Adidas

Conclusion

It seems that conducting a survey is a very good choice to allow consumers to evaluate what
they wanted and what they are unsatisfied with. However, the drawbacks such as few willing
respondents and not able to fully voice out their opinions. This is not much of a problem as
survey questions are not very specific. But, conducting a survey is able to give us some idea
of what consumers are really thinking about Adidas products. In the future, survey questions
will be made to allow the consumers to give more accurate and specific answers to the
Adidas brand. This method, when done continuously, will create an idea that Adidas can use
to fully meet customer`s satisfaction and increase sales, thus profits increase.
The idea that Adidas is tailored for the active, trendy and comfortable lifestyle of both
teenagers and adults are conclusive. Just like their competitor, Nike, Adidas provides
excellent satisfactions to consumers up to a certain extent because there are still some who
would choose Nike over Adidas. Adidas now with the purchase of Reebok, has a larger
consumer base and this in turn, will definitely increase profits for the company. In terms of
price, Adidas shoes are not too much of a luxury product as some purchased it before would
repeat the decision to purchase again. Even with small discounts offered. Competition is stiff
in the sport shoe industry as many major companies are actively producing new shoes that are

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meeting consumer satisfactions. Adidas is also very vigilant and is actively improving itself
to improve its products and satify the consumers. In its involvement in the Boston
Bombings, Adidas is selling the Boston stands as one shirts for US$26.20, available at
Adidas.com (Dailynews, 2013). The proceeds are to be donated to One Fund Boston to aid
the victims of the bombings. As a major sponsor of the marathon, Adidas has done more than
its fair share of responsibility to help the victims of such a tragedy.

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OUESTIONNAIRE

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Research project on Adidas

1. Is Adidas ready to concede it will forevermore be second fiddle to Nike?

2. How did Adidas lose its No. 2 position in the United States to Under Armour?

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3.Does Adidas's corporate strategy, including recent acquisitions and restructuring, stay true
to its brand while positioning itself to improve shareholder value and challenge Nike as the
leader of the global sporting goods industry?

4.What enabled Adidas to be the Market Leader in the past?

5.How did Adidas lose the lead to Nike?

6.How Did adidas Lose US Market Share to Nike?

7.What has the Adidas brand represented in the past and what does it represent today?

8.Does the recognition Adidas get through its affiliation with the world cup,increase the
likelihood of consumer purchase ?

9.Does the price of Adidas apparel compared to other competitors influence consumer’s
decision to buy premium over generic brands?

10.Does their strong tie to the FIFA World cup affect their market retail sales and consumer
outreach?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

adidas Group. "adidas - Products." Welcome to adidas. adidas Group, n.d. Web. 26 Mar.
2018.

adidas Group. "adidas Annual Report 09." Adidas Group 1.1 (2009): 28. adidas Group
Annual Report. Web. 26 Mar. 20017.

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Research project on Adidas

adidas Group. "adidas Group 2011 Outlook." Adidas Group 1.1 (2011): n. pag. adidas Group
2011 Outlook. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

adidas Group. "adidas Group History." Adidas Group 1.1 (2009): n. pag. Adidas Group. Web.
26 Mar. 2011.

adidas Group. "Home - Reebok." Home - Reebok. adidas Group, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2011.

adidas Group. "Materials." adidas Group. adidas Group, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2011.
<www.adidas-group.com/en/sustainability/Environment/products/materials/default.aspx>.

adidas Group. "Supply Chain." adidas Group. adidas Group, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

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Research project on Adidas

THANK YOU

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