Adidas Global CEO: Opening Stores To More Counties In China After The Olympic Games

Standing at the gate of Adidas's headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, you will find many interesting phenomena.

In German companies, this is probably the best employee shape.

The element of movement seems to be everywhere. There is a 100 meter runway in front of the headquarters building, and even the lampshade of the street lamp is designed with the three white lines of the ADI classic.

In the interior dining room, a sun is projected from a pparent ceiling that looks like the ADI skyline, designed by ADI's latest sports material.

Herbert Heiner, who runs the sports Brand Company, is the Herbert Hainer. As Adidas's global CEO, the photos hanging on the wall in his workspace are more like portraits of sports history.

Only from the side of the blue ocean strategy and other commercial books, can he appreciate the identity of his manager.

In this stylish office, Haina explains the Olympic strategy of Adidas and his views on China's sports market.

Sports spirit contract

Twenty-first Century: as the protagonist of the recent advertisement in Beijing, Sui Feifei, Hu Jia and others who signed the contract with Adidas are not very competitive, and Zheng Zhi's Chinese football team is again stopping the world cup.

Faced with such a dilemma, how do you view the advertising strategy of the Beijing Olympic Games?

Haina: first of all, I hope that those athletes and injured athletes who are not in competitive condition can recover their competitive state as soon as possible. It is the best opportunity for them to take part in the Beijing Olympic Games.

But when Adidas signed these sports stars, they didn't just win the gold medal.

We signed them because they proved themselves to be the best stars in the world.

And the motion itself is full of various variables, so in the face of such variables, Adidas actually signed a sports spirit contract.

Twenty-first Century: for the Olympic Games, the Chinese audience may expect more gold medals.

Some people think that Nike sponsored teams or athletes are more powerful in winning gold. Is this a threat to you?

Haina: it's not a big problem for us, because when we play the national anthem on the podium, the sportsmen's award dress is Adidas's.

I believe that the time of the shot is much longer than that of the athletes wearing other brand clothes to complete the 100 meter run.

Of course, TV and outdoor advertising are also successful strategies for us.

Wearing our clothes to the podium is just a means.

Twenty-first Century: can you introduce Adidas's expansion plan in China?

Haina: Adidas will have 6300 stores by 2010, and 1135 new retail stores in 2008, and Reebok will increase from 800 to 2200 in 2010.

About the number of Adidas brand shops, 97% is the Performance series, and the 3% is the Original series represented by clover logo.

Twenty-first Century: what specific measures does Adidas have to strengthen its share in the US market after the acquisition of Reebok?

Haina: at present, the economic depression in the United States has brought difficulties to us.

Therefore, we have repositioned to change the situation that we can buy Reebok shoes in any supermarket.

At present, we cooperate with some famous retail channels to sell Reebok shoes.

Twenty-first Century: what is the financial goal of Adidas group in 2008?

Haina: Adidas brand hopes to achieve high single digit growth, Reebok brand hopes to achieve medium to high single digit growth, Taylor Adidas golf series to achieve median digits growth.

I hope that the gross profit margin of the whole group will reach 47.5%-48%, and the gross profit margin of the group will reach at least 9.5%, and the net income of shareholders will reach at least 15%.

Low price strategy to seize more market?

Twenty-first Century: at present, China's CPI continues to climb, but I heard that Adidas's prices of some products are not rising or falling. What is the reason?

Hina: the strategy of Adidas is that after the most high-end products enter the market, more and more medium and low end products will enter the Chinese market as time goes on.

Now we have some products, which cost between us $80-90, which can be affordable in many cities in China.

Many county-level cities are also beginning to have Adidas stores, which will push prices down.

Twenty-first Century: what is Adidas's future competitive strategy in China?

Hina: the first is to raise prices, but it is far from enough to raise prices without changing other aspects.

Second, do more effective work, change the cost of the supply chain, and improve the production line.

The third aspect is to redevelop our existing products to see if we can pform existing products or recombine them with existing products.

Combining the three methods will be the real strategy of Adidas.

Twenty-first Century: at present, China is gradually losing the advantage of labor cost. I see that Nike has already pferred some of its factories to Southeast Asia. Will Adidas have similar actions?

Haina: first of all, it must be explained that it is not the Adidas group that pfers its own production line, but the company that supplies the product to Adidas for the pfer of the production line.

But I believe that China has already formed a considerable capacity of experience and capability, and Vietnam or Kampuchea will take a long time to catch up with China.

Twenty-first Century: will China continue to be the most important manufacturing center of Adidas group?

Haina: Yes.

In China, 264 factories have become Adidas group's product suppliers.

In 2007, Adidas accounted for about 49% of the total purchases in China, reaching 201 million pairs.

Clothing is 252 million sets, accounting for 32% of the total, and other accessories account for 65% of the total.