History Of Adidas

The founder of Adidas was born on November 3, 1900. His name was Adolf Dassler or “Adi Dassler”. With the help and competitiveness of his older brother, Rudolf Dassler, Adi built one of the most iconic and transformative businesses the world has ever seen. In the 1920s Rudolf Dassler owned a Bavarian shoe company that made the countries best sports shoes. Adi was also influential to the success. Although they were brothers, the Dassler boys had opposite personalities. Adi loved to work and was an introvert, while Rudolf was very vocal. In the novel “Sneaker Wars”, Barbara Smit writes “By sending offers to sports clubs, the Dasslers ranked in growing orders. They chiefly sold spikes and soccer boots” (6) Years later, in 1936, Both of the

The 1972 games were different though as Adidas would give their athletes shoes but also clothing. This innovation let Adidas not only sponsor athletes but entire teams. This is noticeable in the soccer world as Smit writes “But once the soccer players at Bayern Munich began to wear the suits, in the early sixties, many other clubs and federations ordered their own batches.” Adidas made huge earnings because of this at the 1974 world cup. Togo along with this, one of Puma’s star athlete, Johan Cruijff, hated his Puma cleats and started to wear Adidas. Adidas also had big name Franz Beckenbauer. Adidas’s growth in the Soccer realm was influential in their growth then and today. Without it, Adidas would not be the giant that it is

It then became a failing company after the seventies. In the article “How Adidas Found its Second Wind” Nicholas Ind, Oriol Iglesias, and Majken Schultz write “Adidas has transformed itself from a consistent loss maker in the late 1980s and early 1990s to a brand with a market cap of US$17.1 billion.” Because of Nike’s rise to the top and Adidas’s poor planning, Adidas faltered and needed to be stabilized. When Adidas brought in their competitor’s employees, the employees were soon given a plethora of ideas and materials to fix the company. The article says “Moore and Strasser believed that over the years since Adi Dassler’s death, Adidas had lost confidence. Consequently, instead of looking to its own capabilities, the company was foundering and looking over its shoulder at Reebok (a brand that Adidas would acquire in 2005) and Nike. This, Moore and Strasser believed, was a mistake. A brand like Adidas had to lead, not chase.” With the new ideas from looking back in the past Adidas was able to regain its former glory and start catching up to