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The early years of Addias
Every great story has a beginning. This one started in a small town in Bavaria, Germany. After first steps in his mother’s wash kitchen, Adi Dassler registered the “Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik” in 1924 and embarked on his mission to provide athletes with the best possible equipment -
Founding Father
Adi Dassler started over again at the age of 45, registered the "adi Dassler addias Sportschunfabrik" and set to work with 47 employees and the small town of Herzogenaurach. On the same day, he registered a shoe that included the registration of the soon`to become famous addias 3 stripes -
The creation of reebok "the enemies company"
Two brothers working together for the best of the athlete. Well this story started across the channel, miles away from Herzogenaurach. While adidas continued to grow after its own 1954 miracle, two British men by the names of Joe and Jeff Foster gave their grandfather’s company “J.W. Foster and Sons” a new name: Reebok. Which would later play a big part in addias. -
"The start of addias apparel"
When the Franz Beckenbauer tracksuit model celebrated its debut, it became the first piece of apparel for adidas and opened a whole new business to a company that, so far, was famous for shoes. -
The Athletes trust
adi Dassler’s secret to success had an additional personal ingredient: he met with athletes ,and carefully to what they said and constantly observed what can be improved or even invented to support their needs. The best of the best trusted adidas and its founder from the beginning. And that would not change throughout the decades to come. -
One ball for all
In 1970, adidas conquered yet another branch of the sporting goods industry, delivering the official ball, TELSTAR, for the 1970 FIFA World Cup™. As the name TELSTAR already tells, the ball was designed to improve visibility on Black and White TV. It was the beginning of a wonderful partnership, with adidas providing the Official Match Ball to every FIFA World Cup and being the world national sponsor for years to come. -
The Olympic idea
In 1972, the world turned to Germany when the Olympic Games opened in Munich. Just in time for the event, adidas presented a new logo that was here to stay: the Trefoil. Then, symbolizing performance. Today, the adidas Originals collection stands for lifestyle and street. Times may change, but trefoiled quality will always remain -
TRUE MULTI-SPORTS SPECIALIST
time is reflected in the broad range of athletes who trust adidas to make them better: besides the usual suspects such as the world’s best football players, like the Argentinean national team, outdoor icon Reinhold Messner climbed mountains in adidas shoes and gymnast Nadia Comaneci scored a perfect 10, repeatedly. -
Death of a Shoemaker
Adi Dassler died on September 6, shortly before his 78th birthday. The man who almost single-handedly redefined the sporting goods industry and lifted the benchmark by a mile left behind a flourishing company. The end of one Dassler era became the start of another: Adi’s son Horst, with support from his mother Käthe, took over the company. -
A BROTHER-TO-BE FINDING ITS WAY – REEBOK ON THE MOVE
30 years after Joe and Jeff Foster renamed their grandfather’s company, Reebok was fit to lead. Literally. Following the booming fitness trend, women around the world work out in the Reebok Freestyle while fitness professional Gin Miller became the face of Step Reebok. And that’s not all: THE PUMP innovation hits markets in 1989, making Reebok a household name in other categories as well. -
Run DMC and Addias
When US-based hip hop group Run DMC released “my adidas” it was about setting the record straight about hard working people in troubled neighborhoods and about pure enthusiasm about their sneakers. adidas itself only found out about this love story when the band held up the 3-Stripes shoes during a concert in front of 40.000 fans – one of these fan was an adidas employee. The song became a hit and Run DMC and adidas unexpected and unique partners. -
End of the family business
Horst Dassler’s sudden death in 1987, two years after his mother Käthe passed away, meant troubled waters for adidas. After the Dassler family exited the company, it is changing leadership and questionable strategic decisions that caused a record loss in 1992 and brought the company near bankruptcy. -
A Sleeping giant's new master
Robert Louis-Dreyfus. The new CEO made an almost impossible job seem easy. Together with his partner Christian Tourres, he understood that the almost bankrupt adidas did not need to be reinvented, it simply needed a new direction. He turned the sleeping giant from a sales- to a marketing-driven company and steered adidas back on the growth path. In 1995, six years after becoming a corporation, adidas went public. -
Innovation Never sleeps
While the company was still dealing with financial challenges, a new marketing team refocused adidas on what it has been known for years: making athletes better. Some of the most famous adidas innovations, such as Torsion -
New team member
adidas added a new member to its team. With the acquisition of the Salomon Group and its brands Salomon, TaylorMade, Mavic and Bonfire, the company changed its name to adidas-Salomon AG. -
Home sweet home
adidas-Salomon AG committed itself to its roots and moved into new headquarters just outside Herzogenaurach. The “World of Sports”, a former US military base turned campus, is constantly renewed, extended and modernized over the following years to house the growing company and its employees. -
An Innovative leader
Herbert Hainer became the new CEO of adidas-Salomon AG and, with him, the company’s focus went even more to innovation. ClimaCool (2002), adizero (2004) and the F50 football boot, launched just in time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany, became market hits – as did the new CEO. Herbert Hainer will lead the company from one record to the next. -
Leader with a digital visual
Herbert Hainer passed the CEO baton to Kasper Rorsted. Transitioning to adidas after leading the German consumer goods company Henkel for eight years, the Dane was well received among employees, media and investors alike. As fashion and sportswear industries continued to revolutionize with health and fitness merging into a lifestyle concept, Rorsted began steering the company to new successes in a digital era, building on the previously established strategy, ‘Creating The New’. -
Impossible? Just a big word.
n one of its most memorable marketing campaigns, adidas lets its biggest athletes including David Beckham, Haile Gebrselassie and Muhammad and Laila Ali face their fears, defeats and challenges only to prove that, indeed, impossible is nothing. The slogan became the synonym for reaching one’s goals. -
Salomon leaves the team, Reebok joins the family
one year after adidas and Salomon go their separate ways, when the latter and its brands (excluding TaylorMade) were sold to Amer Sports, adidas acquired Reebok, including the brands Rockport and Reebok-CCM Hockey, and brought together two of the world’s most respected and best-known companies in the sporting goods industry. In June, the company was re-named adidas AG -
New teammates
adidas acquired the outdoor specialist Five Ten, and TaylorMade first the golf company , and the golf equipment company Adams Golf – making the company even stronger for the road ahead. -
Reebok and Its Fitness Roots
After Reebok dominated the fitness and aerobics wave / movement in the 1980s with groundbreaking products and marketing, the company signed a long-term partnership with CrossFit, a core strength and conditioning program, in 2011. -
The court to the catwalk.
adidas brought together sport, street and style for the first time in one campaign to tell the world what it means to go all in, heart over head, inclusion over ego. “all in” featured by Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Katy Perry and Derrick Rose lived from the idea that, no matter your goals or challenges, you have to go all in for the ultimate success. -
Endless innvoation
adidas introduced the Energy Boost running shoe which featured a completely new cushioning material. Created in cooperation with the German chemical company BASF, the material combines former contradictory benefits of soft and responsive cushioning for a running experience unlike any other. -
Focusing on The Old
2015 saw the divestiture of the Rockport brand. This allowed the company to reduce complexity and focus on the adidas and Reebok brands. These brands connect with consumers; therefore, their success defines the success of the business. With Creating the New, brands are closer to consumers than ever before.
