Adidas

Adidas was founded in 1948 by Adolf "Adi" Dassler, after division of the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik between him and his older brother Rudolf. Rudolf decided later Puma, who was an early rival Adidas. Registered in 1949, Adidas is currently based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, together with Puma.
The company's clothing and shoe designs typically have three parallel bars and the same motif is part of Adidas' current official logo. The "Three Stripes" was bought from Finnish Karhu Sports Sports Company 1951st [3] [4] The company's turnover for 2009 was listed at € 10.38 billion and the 2008 figure of € 10.80 billion.

Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik


A pair of Adidas Samba soccer coach.
Adolf "Adi" Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother's wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, after returning home from World War I. On July 1, 1924, joined his brother Rudolf "Rudi" Dassler business, which became Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and flourished. The couple started the company in their mother's laundry room, [5]: 5, but in those days were unreliable electricity supply in the city, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment [6].
By the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the world's first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded the American sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the first sponsorship for an African American. After Owen's haul of four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world's most famous athletes. Letters from around the world landed on the brothers' desks, and trainers from other teams who were all interested in their shoes. Business boomed and Dasslers sold 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II. [7]
Late in World War II, moved the shoe factory for production of the Panzerschreck anti-tank weapons. [8]
[Edit] Corporate Split
Both brothers joined the Nazi Party, but Rudolf was slightly closer to the party.During the war reached a growing rift between the couple a break point after an Allied bomb attack in 1943 when Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in: "The dirty bastards are back again," Adi said, referring to Allied fighter planes, but Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family. [9] After Rudolph later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, he was convinced that his brother had turned him in. [6]
The brothers split up in 1947, [10] with
Rudi form a new company he called Ruda - from Rudolf Dassler, later renamed Puma
and Adi forming a company formally registered as adidas AG Adi Dassler August 18, 1949. The abbreviation All day I dream about sports, although sometimes considered to be the origin of the adidas name, was applied retroactively, making it a backronym. The name is actually a portmanteau formed from "Adi" (a nickname for Adolf) and "Das" (from "Dassler"). [1]
[Edit] The Tapie affair


Bernard Tapie, a former French businessman who once owned Adidas but has since relinquished its control over the company because of debts

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After a period of trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler in 1987, the company was purchased 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, a knowledge that 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 salesman 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 rate, mission Tapie Crédit Lyonnais bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently converted the outstanding debt to equity in the company, which was unusual as the prevalent French banking practice. The state-owned bank had tried to get Tapie of serious financial difficulties as a personal favor to Tapie, reported that because Tapie was Minister of Urban Affairs (Ministre de la Ville) in the French government at that time.
In February 1993 Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a friend of Bernard Tapie for a much higher amount of money than what Tapie claims, 4.485 billion (€ 683.514 million) francs rather than 2.85 billion (€ 434,479,000). Tapie later sued the bank because he felt "spoiled" by the indirect sale. [Citation needed]
Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company. He was also chairman of the Olympique de Marseille, a team Tapie had owned until 1993. [Citation needed]
Tapie went into personal bankruptcy 1994th He was the subject of several lawsuits, notably related to match fixing in football club. In 1997, he was 6 months of an 18-month prison sentence in La Santé prison in Paris. In 2005 was awarded the French courts Tapie a € 135 million compensation (about 886 million francs).[Citation needed]
[Edit] Post-Tapie era


An Adidas casual shoe, with its distinctive three parallel bars
In 1994, combined with FIFA Youth Group, became the SOS Children's Villages, the main beneficiary.
In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group who specialized in ski wear, and its official name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG because with this acquisition Adidas also acquired the company Taylor Made Golf and Maxfli which allowed them to compete with Nike Golf.
In 1998, Adidas sued the NCAA over their rules limiting the size and number of commercial logos on team uniforms and apparel. Adidas pulled suit, and the two established guidelines as to what three-stripe designs would be considered use of the Adidas brand.
In 2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in a British court challenging Fitness World Trading using a two-stripe motif similar to Adidas' three stripes. The Court held that despite the simplicity of the brand was the fitness world are using infringing because the public could be a connection between that use and Adidas brand. [11]
In September 2004, launched the best English fashion designer Stella McCartney, a joint-venture line with Adidas, establishing a long term relationship with the company. This line is a sports performance collection for women called "Adidas by Stella McCartney", [12] and it has been critically acclaimed [13].
Also in 2005, 3 May, Adidas told the public that they sold their partner company Salomon Group for € 485 to Amer Sports of Finland. In August 2005, Adidas declared its intention to buy British rival Reebok for $ 3.8 billion (U.S. $). This takeover was completed with partnership in January 2006 [1] and meant that the company would have business sales closer to those of Nike in North America. The acquisition of Reebok will also allow Adidas to compete with Nike worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the world. [14]
Adidas has global headquarters in Germany and many other locations operating worldwide, such as Portland OR, Hong Kong, Toronto, Taiwan, England, Japan, Australia and Spain. Mainly sold in the U.S., Adidas makes lots of assets from these countries and is expanding to more overseas countries.
In 2005, Adidas introduced the Adidas 1, the first ever production shoe to use a microprocessor. Dubbed by the company "world's first intelligent shoe", it has a microprocessor can perform 5 million calculations per second that automatically adjusts the shoe's level of cushioning to suit its environment. The shoe requires a small, replaceable battery that lasts for about 100 hours to run. On 25 November 2005, Adidas released a new version of the Adidas one with an increased range of cushioning, making the shoe softer or firmer, and a new engine with 153 percent more torque. [Citation needed]
On 11 April 2006, the Adidas a 11-year contract to become the official NBA apparel provider. They will make NBA, NBDL, and WNBA shirts and products, and team-colored versions of "Superstar" basketball shoe. The deal (worth over $ 400 million) replaces the former 10-year Reebok deal that introduced in 2001.
[Edit] Products

[Edit] Running


A pair of Adidas Response Cushion 18 running trainers.
Adidas currently manufactures several running shoes, including adiSTAR Salvation 3, adiStar Ride 3 (replacement for the adiStar Cushion 6), the Supernova Sequence 4 (compensation for Supernova Control 10), and Supernova Glide 3, among others. Moreover, their performance apparel in much of the runners. Adidas also uses kangaroo leather to make their expensive shoes. [15] [16]
[Edit] Football (soccer)
One of the main focuses of Adidas is football kit and associated equipment. Adidas is still a large company in the supply of team kits for international football teams.
Adidas does the referee kits that are used in international competition and in many countries and leagues in the world. The company has been an innovator in the field of footwear for the sport, with notable examples including the development of the Copa Mundial molded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches for almost forty years. The studded equivalent was named World Cup in celebration of the 1978 tournament was won by Argentina, one of the nations delivered at the time. Some of the most famous football team is currently sponsored by Adidas. [Citation needed]
Adidas became known for promoting design Predator boot developed by ex-Liverpool and Australian international player Craig Johnston. This design featured a ribbed rubber structure for the upper leather of the shoe, which is used to emphasize the movement when the ball struck,. Skilled players claimed that they could escape curve ball easier when you wear the new curved design [citation needed] The Predator also features Craig Johnston invented Traxion sole.
FIFA, world governing body of football, commissioned specially designed footballs for use in their own World Cup tournaments to encourage more offensive play. The balls are supplied for the 2006 World Cup, Team Geist was particularly notable for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer strikes different goals that were intended to increase the number of goals. [Citation needed] Goalkeepers were believed to be less comfortable with the design and contended that it would move significantly and unpredictably in flight. [Citation needed]
Adidas also launched another new ball for the 2010 World Cup. The Jabulani ball has been designed and developed by Loughborugh University in conjunction with Chelsea FC. It received much criticism from players, managers and pundits for being too difficult to control. [Citation needed] The lighter and more aerodynamic ball led to many shots and can be over here. The Jabulani was widely blamed for the low number of long-range goals or even remotely accurate attempt in the opening stage of the tournament. [Citation needed]
In addition to the aforementioned Predator boot, Adidas also manufactures F50 and adiPure range of football boots.
Adidas also provides apparel and equipment for all teams in Major League Soccer.
[Edit] Tennis


Professional tennis player Andy Murray.
Adidas has sponsored tennis player and recently introduced a new line of tennis racquets. While Feather is made of the "regular players", and the answer of "club player", Adidas targets the "tournament player" with 12.2 oz Barricade tour model.[17] Adidas sponsors the following professional players with mainly clothes clothes and shoes: Ana Ivanovic, Andy Murray, Maria Kirilenko, Caroline Wozniacki, Justine Henin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Daniela Hantuchova, Alicia Molik, Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon, Fernando González , Flavia Pennetta Laura Robson, Melanie Oudin and Sorana Cirstea. Adidas tennis apparel includes ClimaCool other athletic shirts and shoes. [18]
In November 2009, World number four Andy Murray was confirmed that Adidas's highest paid star with a 5 year contract reported to be worth $ 24.5. [19]
Players sponsored by Adidas can benefit from Adidas Player Improvement Program, which the company provides coaches, trainers fitness and sports psychologists to the player to further his career. The program includes legendary trainer Darren Cahill and Sven Groeneveld.
In Cincinnati, on the ATP Tennis Tournament in Mason, they have also sponsored the ball-boy and ball girl uniforms.
[Edit] Golf
adidas Golf is part of Adidas, a German-based sportswear manufacturer and part of the Adidas Group, which consists of Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company, and Rockport. The adidas Group is one of the world's leading sporting goods industry offering a wide range of products around three core elements of Adidas, Reebok and TaylorMade-adidas Golf. adidas Golf sells and manufactures Adidas-brand golf apparel, shoes and accessories.
Company Timeline:
In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group who specializes in alpine ski clothes, and its official name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG because with this acquisition Adidas also acquired the company TaylorMade Golf and Maxfli which allowed them to compete with Nike Golf. Solomon sold his influence in the TaylorMade and other sports equipment business to global giant Adidas AG.
In 1998, Adidas Golf USA moved its operations from Tualatin, Oregon, to Carlsbad, California headquarters of TaylorMade Golf, were acquired by Adidas-Salomon.adidas Golf U.S. had 30 employees to move. Carlsbad is also the headquarters of one of its main competitors, Callaway Golf Company.
In 1999, TaylorMade and adidas Golf USA, merged into a new company called Taylor Made-adidas Golf, headquartered in Carlsbad. Mark King was elected president of the company he had started his career in 1981 as a salesman after a brief stint as vice president of sales and marketing at Callaway Golf Ball Co. 1998th
In November 2008, Ashworth (clothing), a wholly owned subsidiary of TaylorMade-adidas Golf, a complement to the synthetic performance fabrics of Adidas Golf.
Product:
Adidas Golf sells clothing, shoes and accessories for men, women and youth.Men's equipment includes shoes, shirts, shorts, pants, outerwear, underwear and glasses. Women's equipment includes shoes, shirts, shorts, skirts, pants, outerwear, base layers, and glasses. Youth equipment includes both boys and girls shoes, clothing and goggles.
[Edit] Cricket


Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, batting with his personal Adidas Bat.
In the 1990s, Adidas signed the world's iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar of India and made shoes for him. [20] Tendulkar continues to wear Adidas shoes when playing games. Since 2008, Adidas sponsored cricket bat used by Sachin Tendulkar. It created a new cricket bat, 'Adidas Master Blaster ", personal to him.
In 2008, adidas their move to the English cricket market by sponsoring English beats star Kevin Pietersen after the cancellation of his life dealing with Woodworm, when they ran into financial difficulties. [21] The following year they wrote the second England player Ian Bell, Pakistan opening batsman Salman Butt and Indian players Ravindra Jadeja. After making cricket shoes for many years, the company finally the BAT production in 2008 and their products are available in Incurza, Pellara and Libro ranges.
Adidas manufactures uniforms for the England cricket team. Adidas signed with Cricket South Africa in 2011 and the uniforms worn by the South African cricket team during and after the Cricket World Cup 2011 will be manufactured by the German giant. [22] They can also sponsor the South Korea national cricket team.
In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adidas is the official clothing sponsor of the Act, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors India. [23] [24]
[Edit] Basketball
Adidas has long been a manufacturer basketball shoe and is one of the leading basketball brands in the world. They are best known for their late 1960s iconic Superstar and Pro Model shoes, known as "shelltoes" for their stylized hard rubber toes. [Citation needed] These were very popular in the 1980s, hip hop streetwear scene with Adidas stripe-sided polyester suits. [Citation needed]
Adidas is also the current outfitter of all 30 franchises in the National Basketball Association (replacing Reebok brand after the merger), and sponsors many players past and present as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tracy McGrady, and Dwight Howard, Chauncey Billups, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Michael Beasley, Josh Smith and Tim Duncan. Adidas used to support Kobe Bryant with adidas equipment KB8 as the first signature shoe, but ended up supporting him in July 2002. The company also approved Kevin Garnett until he opted out of his contract in 2010, he is currently approves suppose. LeBron James had also Adidas in high school. Now he endorses Nike so far. Gilbert Arenas was an Adidas endorser until the now-infamous gun incident last season, he is currently the UN support.
[Edit] Lacrosse
In 2007, Adidas announced the future production of lacrosse equipment, and will sponsor the Adidas National Lacrosse Classic in July 2008 for the top 600 high school underclassmen lacrosse players in the U.S. [25].
[Edit] Rugby


All Blacks rugby shirt
Adidas makes rugby balls and rugby gear. They are current kit and ball supplier to the New Zealand All Blacks, Irish Munster Rugby, the Argentine Pumas, and the South African Stormers and Western Province rugby union team, among other things. Adidas is the official match ball supplier to the Heineken Cup.
[Edit] Gymnastics
Since 2000, adidas has men's and women's gymnastics apparel for Team USA by USA Gymnastics. In 2006, adidas gymnastics leotard for women and Adidas men's shirts comp, gym shorts and gym shorts existed in the United States, with the season's tights are offered for spring, summer, fall and holidays. From 2009, the adidas gymnastics have been available worldwide by GK Elite Sportswear. [26]
[Edit] Skateboarding
Adidas SB (Skateboarding) shoes are made specifically for skateboarding. Many of the shoes like Adidas previously done was redesigned for skateboarding.
Adidas Skateboarding has a skateboard team. The team consists of: Mark Gonzales, Dennis Busenitz, Tim O'Connor, Silas Baxter-Neal, Pete Eldridge, Benny Fairfax, Lucas Puig, Nestor Judkins, Lem Villemin, Vince Del Valle and Jake Brown.
[Edit] Baseball
Adidas has also provided baseball equipment, and sponsors many players in Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.
From 1997 to 2008, Adidas-sponsored New York Yankees. [27]
In Japan, Adidas is the official clothing sponsor of the law Yomiuri Giants [28] and Waseda University.
[Edit] Accessories
Adidas designs and makes sandals, watches, eyewear, bags, hats, and socks.


Adidas Fresh Impact - Limited Edition
Like, Adidas has a branded range of male and female deodorants, perfumes, aftershaves and lotions.
[Edit] Marketing

Adidas, as well as other sports brands are believed to cause high brand loyalty among consumers. Brand loyalty of adidas, Nike, Inc., Puma AG and several other brand sports clothing was examined in a recent study. [29] The study found consumers are not showing too much loyalty to such brands.
During the mid to late 1990s, Adidas divided the brand into three groups, each with a separate focus: Adidas Performance was designed to maintain their dedication to the athlete, Adidas Originals were designed to focus on fashion and lifestyle, and Style Essentials, with the largest group within this is the Y-3.
"Impossible is Nothing" is the current mainstream marketing slogan for Adidas. This campaign was developed by 180/TBWA based in Amsterdam, but also with significant work done by TBWA / Chiat / Day in San Francisco -. Especially for its basketball campaign "Believe in Five" TBWA \ Chiat \ Day commissioned Zane Peach [30] to produce images of the 2007 international ad campaign.
[Edit] Games advert
The brand is included in several games. Amiga | Commodore Amiga: Daley Thompson Olympic Challenge Sony Playstation: Adidas Power Soccer Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC: Adidas World Cup Football
[Edit] Sponsorship

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Main article: List of Adidas sponsorships
Adidas is a major domestic (in Germany) and international sports and sponsorship.In recent years the Group has increased its marketing and sponsorship budgets.[31] Adidas is a major sponsor and supplier to the National Basketball Association (NBA). The company recently unveiled a new NBA game jersey to be worn by all NBA players in the game, beginning with the 2010-2011 season.
Adidas is the main sponsor and kit supplier of the highly successful New Zealand's national rugby team the All Blacks. Adidas is also the kit supplier to the Los Pumas, the Eagles, the Irish professional rugby union team, Munster Rugby and the French professional rugby union's club, Stade Français.
Adidas also sponsors and produces clothing for rugby league club Gold Coast Titans in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) competition.
In cricket, the company is the main sponsors and kit sponsors of the successful Australian Cricket Team and the England cricket team. They are also the major sponsors of the Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag and English cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell. They are sponsors of the Indian Premier League team Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians.
Adidas is the longstanding kit provider to the Germany national football team, a sponsorship that began in 1954 and is contracted to continue until at least the 2018th Adidas also sponsors the Argentine, Japanese, Mexican, Scottish, Spanish and Colombian national team football, among others. [32]
Adidas is very active in sponsoring top football clubs, such as RSC Anderlecht, Wisla Krakow, Rapid Vienna, Real Madrid, Aberdeen FC, AC Milan, Dynamo Kyiv, Metalist, Partizan Belgrade, Chelsea, Palmeiras, Fluminense, Bayern Munich, Rosenborg BK West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City FC, Lyon, Marseille, AFC Ajax, Schalke 04, Galatasaray, Benfica, River Plate, Los Angeles Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, UANL Tigres, Panathinaikos, South Melbourne FC, IFK Gothenburg, Zamalek SC, Al-Ahly, Al-Hilal, Ahli Jeddah, Caracas, Universidad de Chile, Los Millonarios, Beitar Jerusalem FC, Albirex Niigata, Atlético Nacional and CD Guadalajara.
Adidas is the apparel partner of Collingwood Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League.
Adidas and Major League Soccer (MLS), an 8-year sponsorship agreement in August 2010 that will continue to make Adidas the official athletic sponsor and licensed product supplier for the league, and to work together to expand the development league MLS through 2018th [33]
Adidas also sponsors events such as the London Marathon and Adidas Sundown Marathon in Singapore. [34]
In the 1980s, Adidas sponsored the rap group Run-DMC, a breakthrough idea.
For the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China spent, Adidas € 70 million to sponsor the event, including criticism. [35]
Adidas also has marketing in NASCAR, sponsorship, big name drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.