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HISTORY: The history of Adidas is one of consistently

meeting the evolving needs of the athlete. Focusing more on function and
less on fashion, Adidas strives to provide athletes with shoes that can make
a noticeable difference in their performance. Meeting athlete needs is what
makes Adidas the best. The company Adidas was founded in the early
1920s as Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik, in Herzogenaurach in Germany.
Adolf Dassler designed a pair of sport shoes in 1925 and few years later he
and his brother Rudolph were selling special shoes for tennis players and
began design specific shoes for different sports. The family company split
in 1948. After the split, Adolf (Adi) Dassler founded Adidas and his brother
Rudolph founded Puma. The three-stripe logo was designed in 1941 by Adi
Dassler and he registered it as a trademark for Adidas after the split.

The strength of Adidas was its product innovation. Adi Dassler registered
more than seven hundred patents. Adidas began selling its shoes in the
United States after 1968 and in few years the company dominated the
American market. The most important marketing breakthrough was the
active promotion of global sporting events, especially the Olympics. The
connection of Adidas to the Olympics has a rich heritage. At the 1972
Olympic game in Munich, every official wore Adidas.

Adidas has 107 subsidiaries in 20 countries, and exports to 160 countries.


Activities of the company and its subsidiaries are directed from AdidasSalomon AG's headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

Products: Adidas - footwear, apparel, and hardware such as bags and


balls. Salomon - Winter sports incl. skis, snowboards, snowblades, ski
boots and bindings, inline skates, hiking, apparel. Mavic -Cycle
components, Bonfire - Snowboard apparel. Arc'Teryx - Outdoor apparel,

climbing equipment, Clich - Skateboard equipment, footwear and apparel,


Taylor Made-Adidas Golf - Golf equipment, golf apparel, golf shoes and
finally, Maxfli - Golf balls, irons and accessories.

COMPETITORS : Rudolf Dassler , Adies brother, founded a rival


company, PUMA the chief competitors of Adidas are PUMA and
NIKE. In August 2005, the company announced that it had made a
deal to acquire rival REEBOK for$3.8 billion. The acquition would
increase its market share in North America and allow it to further
compete with Nike. This will propel Adidas to the number two spot in
the foot apparel market behind Nike. Adidas trademark saying is
impossible is nothing.

ENHANCEMENT
In the 1980s, Adidas sneakers became popular amongst teenagers
and young men. The Adidas sneaker was popularized by the RUN
DMC song My Adidas and became a huge fashion trend.
After a period of serious trouble following the death of Adolf
Dasselers son Horst Dasseler in 1987, the company was bought in
1990 by Bernard Tapie for 1.6 billion French Frances ($320million),
which Tapie borrowed. Tapie was at the time a famous specialist
rescuing bankrupt companies, a business on which he built his
fortune.
Tapie decided to move production offshore toAsia.he also hired
Madonna for promotion.
In 1992, Tapie was unable to pay interest from his loan. He
mandated the Credit Lyonnis bank to sell Adidas, and bank
subsequently converted the outstanding debt owed to equity of the
enterprise, which was unusual for then-current French banking
practice. Apparently, the State-owed bank had tried to get Tapie out
of dire financial straits as a personal favour to Tapie,reportedly
because Tapie was a minister of Urban Affairs in the French
government at the time.

February 1993, Credit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis Dreyfus,


a friend of Bernard Tapie, for a much higher amount of money than
what Tapie owed 4.485 billion francs rather than 2.85billion.
Forgetting why the bank actually bought Adidas, Tapie later sued the
bank, because he felt spoiled by the indirect sale.
Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company. He is
also the president of the Olymique de Marseille football team, to
which Tapie is closely linked.
Tapie went bankrupt himself in1994. He was the object of several
lawsuits, notably related to match fixing at the football club. He spent
6 months in La Sant prison in Paris in1997.

POST -TAPIE ERA


In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group, and its corporate
name was changed toAdidas-Salomon AG.

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