Adidas: In 2008 we will surpass Nike in China

Business Week: Adidas became the third partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games on September 20. In 2005, Adidas became the 7th partner of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Does this mean that Adidas has obtained satisfactory income and expectations through sponsoring the Beijing Olympic Games?

Jan Ruanu: Sponsorship of the Olympic Games has always been an integral part of the Adidas Group's overall work. We are accustomed to this and consider it reasonable. From this point of view, there is a difference between the seventh and third figures.

However, Adidas does a good job in the Chinese market. In 2003, Adidas proposed to double its sales revenue in Asia by 2010 to reach 2 billion euros. Many people think that we cannot achieve this goal. But the fact is that we did this in 2006, which was just over. Of this 2 billion euros in sales, the Chinese market accounts for 50%. We expect that by 2010, sales revenue in China will reach 1.4 billion euros, enough to make China the second largest market for Adidas in the world. I think that all this has a lot to do with Adidas Group sponsoring the Beijing Olympic Games.

"Business Weekly": So, Adidas chose to publish the Group's financial report for the first half of 2007 on August 8th, which was a full year since the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Jan Ruanu: Well, no, we used to publish half-yearly financial reports in the middle of August. Therefore, this day is purely a coincidence, because Adidas Group has always expressed its importance to the Olympic Games and its determination to continue the development with the Olympic Games in a more tangible way. You know, there is no other brand in the world like Adidas that has a deep relationship with the Olympic Games. Our brand founder, Mr. Dassler, for the first time pushed Adidas products to the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928, more than half a century earlier than the Olympics' first official partner. The failure to sponsor three Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​Atlanta and Sydney has also become an unforgettable regret for Adidas.

"Business Week": But Adidas's rival Nike does not seem to agree with the sponsoring strategy of becoming an official partner, they are more to sponsor star players and sports teams, but also seems to be more competitive than Adidas contender for championship.

Jan Ruanu: I don't want to comment on others' words and deeds, but we think that becoming an Olympic partner, that is to say, working with the Olympic Organizing Committee, can make the Adidas brand get the most out of it. You can see our financial report shows that in the second quarter of this year, Adidas Group's net profit increased by 26.9 percentage points year-on-year, and our target for this year is an annual increase of 15%. It now appears that the Olympics are approaching and we are almost certain to achieve this goal.

BusinessWeek: However, Adidas' net profit growth in the first quarter of this year was only 3%, and even in the second quarter, Nike's growth rate was higher than Adidas, as far as I know it seems to have 32%.

Jan Ruanu: Well, this is not true. The fact is that our growth is faster. As for the growth rate in the first quarter, I would like to say that the current biggest goal of the Adidas Group is to overtake Nike as a whole, not a quarterly issue.

What needs to be emphasized is that in the process of striving to surpass Nike, we regard the Beijing Olympic Games and the Chinese market as one of the most important weights. You know that our Group President, Mr. Hainer, has visited China twice in the past two years. The number of times is the same as that of Prime Minister Merkel during the same period. In fact, in terms of annual performance, Adidas has achieved more than 10% growth in the Chinese market for six consecutive years. This year will be the 7th year. We are in close proximity to Nike in the Chinese market.