1. Understanding Customer and Value Creation
Assignment No.2
-
Submitted by:
ShubhamSinghal
80303120053

2. UCVC Assignment 2- Adidas | ShubhamSinghal (80303120053) 2
Adidas
Overview of the Group:
For over 80 years the Adidas Group has been part of the world of sports on every level,
delivering state-of-the-art sports footwear, apparel and accessories. Today, the Adidas Group
is a global leader in the sporting goods industry and offers a broad portfolio of products.
Products from the Adidas Group are available in virtually every country of the world.The
guiding principle of Adidas Sport Performance is to make athletes better by making them
faster, stronger, smarter, cooler and natural.
History:
Adidas was formed by German sports apparel by the founder Adolf (Adi) Dassler during the
1920’s. While Dassler was in his mother’s wash room he decided to begin an athletic shoe.
After he made the shoe he had help from his brother and twelve other people to produce
around 50 handmade athletic shoes per day for running and training. The company Adidas
thus was found in Herzogenaurach, Germany. The family company split in 1948. After the
split, AdiDassler founded Adidas and his brother Rudolph founded Puma. The three-stripe
logo was designed in 1941 by AdiDassler and he registered it as a trademark for Adidas after
the split. The strength of Adidas was its product innovation. AdiDassler registered more than
seven hundred patents. Summary of the Adidas Group's history:
1949- The foundation: 18 August - Adidas is registered as a company, named after its
founder: 'Adi' from Adolf and 'Das' from Dassler.
1950s- The 'Miracle of Bern': 1954 - The 'Miracle of Bern' Germany battle Hungary
with a competitive advantage. They are wearing Adidas soccer boots which for the
first time feature removable studs.
1960s- Higher: Driven by a desire to help all athletes committed to performance,
Adidas manufactures equipment for what some consider "fringe sports".
Unconventional high jumper Dick Fosbury launches himself up and over in Adidas
footwear.
1970s- The "Adidas" team wins Crowning moment: Franz Beckenbauer, the "Kaiser",
raising the World Cup in victory salute. Germany had just beaten Holland 2-1 in the
1974 final.
1980s- The transition after AdiDassler's death, Adi's wife Kathe, his son Horst, and
his daughters carry on the business.
1990s- With a new management- Under the CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus, Adidas is
moving from being a manufacturing and sales based company to a marketing
company.

3. UCVC Assignment 2- Adidas | ShubhamSinghal (80303120053) 3
1995- Adidas goes public- Flotation of the company on the Frankfurt and Paris Stock
Exchange.
1996- A splendid year- The "three-stripes company" equips 6,000 Olympic athletes
from 33 countries. Adidas athletes win 220 medals, including 70 gold. Apparel sales
increase 50%.
1997- Adidas-Salomon AG- Adidas AG acquires the Salomon Group with the brands
Salomon, TaylorMade, Mavic and Bonfire in December 1997. The new company is
named Adidas-Salomon AG.
1999- The new brands- The integration of the new brands is gaining momentum. The
new TaylorMadeFireSole clubs boost sales. Salomon in-line skates take off with high
double-digit growth during the first half of 1999.
2000- New management- Following personnel changes, the new management initiates
an ambitious Growth and Efficiency Program. Major sports events such as the
European Soccer Championship EURO 2000 and the Olympic Summer Games,
where swimmer Ian Thorpe takes three gold medals, contribute to the company’s
success.
2005- Sale of Salomon- The Salomon Group (including Salomon, Mavic, Bonfire,
Cliché and Arc’Teryx) is being sold to Amer Sports in October 2005. The new Adidas
Group is focusing even more on its core strength in the athletic footwear and apparel
market as well as the growing golf category. The legal name of the company will
change to “Adidas AG” in May/June 2006.
2006- Adidas-Salomon AG acquires Reebok- The closing of the Reebok transaction
on January 31, 2006 marks a new chapter in the history of the Adidas Group. By
combining two of the most respected and well-known brands in the worldwide
sporting goods industry, the new Group will benefit from a more competitive
worldwide platform, well-defined and complementary brand identities, a wider range
of products, and a stronger presence across teams, athletes, events and leagues.
2010- Adidas Group presents strategic business plan- In November 2010, the Group
unveiled its 2015 strategic business plan named "Route 2015". This plan is the most
comprehensive the Adidas Group has ever prepared, incorporating all brands, sales
channels and Group functions globally.
2011- Adidas Group acquires Five Ten- On 3, November 2011, the Adidas Group
announced the acquisition of the outdoor specialist Five Ten. Five Ten is a leading
brand in the technical outdoor market and within the outdoor action sport community.
The brand represents an excellent addition to the Adidas Outdoor portfolio and allows
the Adidas Group to expand into complementary market segments.
Make up:
The Adidas Group includes the brands like: Adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade - Adidas
Golf, Rockport and CCM-Hockey.
Adidas:
 Adidas Sport Performance: The guiding principle of Adidas Sport
Performance is "Play to Win". Inspired by the motivation of founder
AdiDassler, sport performance brings passion for great products to athletes in
all sports, allowing them to be faster, stronger, smarter, cooler and natural.
The main focus of Adidas Sport Performance is on five key categories:
football, basketball, running, training and outdoor.

4. UCVC Assignment 2- Adidas | ShubhamSinghal (80303120053) 4
 Adidas Sport Style houses two groups. The Originals Group is the authentic,
iconic sportswear label for the street and its message is Celebrate Originality.
The Fashion Group is defined as the future of Sportswear and includes the
labels Y-3, Porsche Design Sport, Adidas SLVR and Adidas NEO. Though
these four labels Adidas brings authentic sportswear to the full spectrum of
lifestyle consumers.
Reebok is a global sports brand that's committed to empowering consumers to be "Fit
for Life".
Reebok-CCM Hockey: is one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers and
marketers of ice hockey equipment and apparel with two of the world’s most
recognised ice hockey brand names: Reebok Hockey and CCM.
Rockport: Building on four decades of engineering expertise and a commitment to
innovation, Rockport designs and markets dresses, casual and outdoor leather
footwear that uses performance technology to make style comfortable for the
metropolitan consumer.
Latest Financial Highlights:
2009* 2010*
Percentage growth
(2009-2010) 2011*
Percentage growth
(2010-2011)
Assets 8875 10618 19.6 11380 7.2
Turnove
r 10381 11990 15.5 13344 11.3
PBT 358 806 125 927 15.0
PAT 245 568 131.4 670 18.0
*Note: All figures are in millions €
Product Mix:
The product mix of Adidas is huge and can be mentioned in the various categories (sports)
they belong to as follows:
Running: Running shoes, socks.
Football: Football kit, football, shoes.
Tennis: Athletic jersey and shoes with Clima cool technology. Racquets, Racquet bag,
bands.
Basketball: Basketball, shoes, clothing.
Cricket: Bats, balls, shoes, helmets, gloves.

5. UCVC Assignment 2- Adidas | ShubhamSinghal (80303120053) 5
Golf: Golf bags, Hats, Belts, Gloves, On Course Accessories, Travel Gear, Umbrellas,
Socks, Eyewear.
Boxing: Gloves, Punching bags
Hockey
Martial Arts: Gloves, Judo uniform, Karate Uniform
Taekwondo: Electronic Body protector, Helmet
Table Tennis: TT Table, Racquet, ball
Skateboarding
Training: Bags, Armpocket, Gloves, ropes, mats
Footwear
Eyewear
Watches
miCoach: Apps for smartphones like Iphone, blackberry, android etc., miCoach
Connect Heart Rate Monitor.
Apparels: Clothing for men, women and kids as follows:
Men Women Kids
Tops Tops Pants
Jackets Jackets Shirts
Pants Pants Tops
Shirts Shirts Dresses
Jerseys Jerseys Jackets
Sweaters Sweaters Shorts
Sweatshirts Sweatshirts Socks
Swimwear Swimwear
Tracksuits Tracksuits
Pants Pants
Tights Tights
Sleeves Sleeves
Undergarments Gloves
Scarves Scarves
Sleeveless Sleeveless
Socks Socks

6. UCVC Assignment 2- Adidas | ShubhamSinghal (80303120053) 6
Gloves Undergarments
Denims Skirts
Fleeces
Uniforms
Jumpsuits
Denims
Dresses
Marketing Strategies Used by Adidas:
The Adidas Groupis a well-known and an established one in the market. It strives to be the
global leader in the sporting goods industry. It has brands built upon a passion for sports and
a sporting lifestyle and for those who love sports.
Porter’s generic strategies: Professor Michael Porter suggested that some of the choices
faced by companies are essentially the range of the markets and competition in their
respective markets. The profit of any organization is the difference between its total revenues
and costs. Therefore high profitability can be attained through achieving the lowest costs or
the highest prices with respect to the competition. The Porter's generic strategies are:
Cost Leadership
Differentiation
Focus
The main strategy of Adidas is Differentiation Strategy and Focus.
Focus:It basically focuses on a specific target groupas follows-
The target consumers are those who play sports, call them athletes, or simply those
who loves sports.
Main age group is 20-29 year old people.
High school athletes 14-19 years of age teenagers.
The key focus is on the sports like:
 Basketball
 Football/Soccer

7. UCVC Assignment 2- Adidas | ShubhamSinghal (80303120053) 7
 Running
 Training
 And Other Outdoor activities.
Differentiation Strategy:
Adidas’s commitment to product innovation and its rich heritage differentiates the
brand from its competitors.
Adidas Sport Performance – play to win. This is also a type of strategy used which
tells the customer that if he/she is playing then he/she should win, and thus use Adidas
products for the best performance.
Adidas has a strong history of connection with sports, which is stronger than all the
other brands (its competitors). It is present everywhere from the top of the tops like
where the world level events are happening like the NBA or the FIFA World Cup and
also locally where the people who watch and love sports use the Adidas products. So
it naturally better understands the market demand and the sports products.
Adidas Sport Performance focuses on interactive products, like the AdidasmiCoach. It
is the world’s first web-based personalised training service, it combines state-of-the-
art training with a personalised web service and real-time audio coaching.
It is compatible with all portable music players and is also available as an application
on various smart phones such as iPhone and Blackberry. miCoach thus help make
athletes better and “fit for performance”.
Adidas’s differentiation product strategy helps it in gaining a competitive advantage over its
competitors.
Recent Developments:
AdidasDryDye: Adidas has always been keen in innovation and with an even greater
global focus on finding solutions to save water,Adidas is all charged up to reveal its
latest sustainable advancement in the apparel industry: AdidasDryDye. Adidas has
supported the development of this new technology in partnership with the Thailand-
based Yeh Group to all together eliminate the need for water in the dyeing process.
Over the past 5 years, with endorsement from Adidas, the DryDye technology has
evolved to remove the need for any water during the dyeing process by using
pressurizedCO2 in place of traditional H20. For the summer season, Adidas has

8. UCVC Assignment 2- Adidas | ShubhamSinghal (80303120053) 8
produced 50,000 AdidasDryDye tee shirts promoting this great innovation in the
apparel industry and saving over 1,200,000 L of water in the process. This is only the
beginning as AdidasDryDye will be integrated into more apparel pieces over the next
few seasons.Using DryDye fabric from the Yeh Group, AdidasDryDye is the first
ever launch of DryDye technology globally. A line of four exciting graphic tees for
men, women and kids will be available in retail locations all around the world starting
now. So, this adds on to the Adidas Product Differentiation Strategy.
Adidas Olympic Legends visit Adidas London 2012 Media Lounge:On July 29
2012, Adidas welcomed Olympic legends Haile Gebrselassie (1996 and 2000
Olympic Champion 10K), Edwin Moses (1976 and 1984 Olympic Champion 400m
hurdles), Daley Thompson (1980 and 1984 Olympic Champion Decathlon), Dick
Fosbury (1968 Olympic Champion High Jump) and Maurice Greene (2000 Olympic
Champion 100m). They talked about their past achievements, answered questions
from attending media and participated in a prediction contest for upcoming track and
field events. So, this helps in keeping Adidas brand in news and popular amongst
people.
Adidaslaunches the adiPure 360 training shoe: A multi-directional and multi-
purpose training shoe, with both a men’s version, and a model especially for women.
The adiPure 360 is designed to let the customer’s feet move as nature intended and
help him/her get the most out of their workout by helping to help build natural
strength, agility and balance, - and designed to make muscles work harder during
exercise. So, this adds on to the Adidas Product Differentiation Strategy.