Adidas fires starting gun in bid to outpace Nike’s market share
ADIDAS yesterday pledged to accelerate product development and shift spending to some of the world’s biggest cities in a bid to take on world leader Nike and revamp the faltering German sports goods company.
Chief executive officer Herbert Hainer made the pledge as Adidas forecast currency-adjusted sales will grow by “high single digits” annually from next year through 2020 to top €22bn (£16.2bn).
Adidas aims to win market share in New York, Paris and other global hubs, get new trainers and other sports kit into stores more quickly and bring more athletes and designers into the fold.
We lost some of our brand desirability because we didn’t focus enough on the needs of our consumers,” Hainer said at the firm’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach.
“We don’t need to win everywhere, but we need to win where the halo effects are created. We need to put our money where we can make a real difference.”